Rap music and the Black community.

[Daniel]

Recommendation to the Recording and Broadcast Industries:
A Statement by Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis on behalf
of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network


April 23, 2007

The theme of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is "Taking Back Responsibility." We are consistent in our strong affirmation, defense, and protection of the First Amendment right of free speech and artistic expression. We have recently been involved in a process of dialogue with recording and broadcast industry executives about issues concerning corporate social responsibility.

It is important to re-emphasize that our internal discussions with industry leaders are not about censorship. Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African Americans and other people of color, African American women and to all women in lyrics and images.

HSAN reaffirms, therefore, that there should not be any government regulation or public policy that should ever violate the First Amendment. With freedom of expression, however, comes responsibility. With that said, HSAN is concerned about the growing public outrage concerning the use of the words "bitch," "ho," and "nigger." We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words "bitch" and "ho" and the racially offensive word "nigger."

Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as "extreme curse words." The words "bitch" and "ho" are utterly derogatory and disrespectful of the painful, hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African American women have experienced in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and suffering of women. The word "nigger" is a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple forms of racism against African Americans and other people of color.

In addition, we recommend the formation of a music industry Coalition on Broadcast Standards, consisting of leading executives from music, radio and television industries. The Coalition would recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards within the industries.

We also recommend that the recording industry establish artist mentoring programs and forums to stimulate effective dialogue between artists, hip-hop fans, industry leaders and others to promote better understanding and positive change. HSAN will help to coordinate these forums.

These issues are complex, but require creative voluntary actions exemplifying good corporate social responsibility.



-----

So, alot of people were throwing out the fact that the black community was at fault for the negative stereotypes of others. I'm curious as to what people have to say about the above and how it effects these same opinions.

For reference, Russell Simmons is the founder of Def Jam and probably the single most influential person in Hip Hop. Ever.

[Back]

60 Minutes had a good article on this last Sunday. Rap sales are down 21% from 2005. There was not one rap album in the top ten best sellers of 2005. Is that indicative of an audience thats already changing?

[Gan]

I think its a step in the right direction. Especially considering how influential music is to impressionable youth. However, this does not replace the need for consistent parenting required to reinforce these ideals which should already be taking place.

You cant get around the fact that music will affect youth, you cant get around the fact that sometimes this effect affects future behavior with regards to self image and treatment of others. However, you can, through consistent parenting AND now with the help of the industry that seems to have been influencing (negatively) the black youth, help reestablish a more positive identity and mindset of self image, in my opinion.

[LMingrone]

I was listening to the radio on Monday morning last week. So they have a newsflash explaining that there has been a shooting a VT, and how sad these shootings are. The next song they play? Uncle Murder - Bullet Bullet.

[Tsa`ah]

Well it's pretty clear that Jackson and Sharpton aren't going to target their own people. Jackson made this abundantly clear with his brush off comment made on a CNN panel.

Sharpton will nod and allude to action ... but won't make a step unless there's a large favorable push for it ... and he can cash in at the same time.

Russel Simmons isn't exactly the best candidate to make this push since he has backed and promoted a hefty amount of talent to used the rhetoric, just not comparable to what is out there today, nor the same fashion.

I really wonder what he thinks about the genre now. It has evolved, but probably not in the best direction. Most of the rap I listened to as a teen didn't really have a message, most were stories. In college I listened to rap as it evolved into a more hard core message about reality.

Hip hop now? I don't thinks there's a message of reality there ... rather a bullshit image that doesn't really give a rat's ass about the communities the artists come from. The message is pay me, buy what I buy, buy my albums .. and fuck your problems.

[Keller]

"So if your message aint shit, fuck the records you sold.
Cuz if you go platinum it's got nothin to do with luck.
It just means a million people are stupid as fuck."

-- Immortal Technique, Industrial Revolution

[Keller]

rofl

Just call me Nostradamus.

[Makkah]

Stop Snitchin.

[ElanthianSiren]

I don't believe a society can address such deeply ingrained problems as misogyny, disrespect toward differences (races, creeds, cultures), glorification of violence, and lack of respect for authority by voluntarily editing some music. That takes mediating the culture you're looking at so that it eventually finds those activities and views unacceptable. That's bigger than one small slice of culture (music); it sort of reminds me of the whole "KMFDM CAUSED COLLUMBINE" riot.

Plus, say it catches on for ten artists/labels out of twenty. Isn't one group going to just run over to another label or an indie label to get what they want? Isn't this just capitalism/consumerism? I might be wrong on this, if the guy is as influential as was said.

It seems like a good step toward people trying to "do their part", my only concern is that the whole is so big, that part is going to be swallowed by some other influence (movies, peer groups, other labels etc). I was always under the impression/had read that rap is geared toward white, middle class, suburban males anyway. I might be dead wrong, but it seems like, if it is, it's much bigger than a "black community" problem.

[TheEschaton]

I think rap in general should tell more stories/be more socio-political as Tsa'ah said it once was. I remember that kind of rap, and the "n*igger this, n*gger that" didn't strike me as gratuitous, but part of the rage and coping these artists were coping with at the time.

I'm on a Dilated Peoples kick right now. Got the Platform scaring off all the freshman in my car.

-TheE-

[Keller]

TheE, are you coming to Rock the Bells in NYC this summer? It's a hip-hop festival centered around social activism.

[Keller]

I was always under the impression/had read that rap is geared toward white, middle class, suburban males anyway. I might be dead wrong, but it seems like, if it is, it's much bigger than a "black community" problem.

cf: Rhett.

PWNT

[TheEschaton]

I am going, yes. I'm mainly going because I've always wanted to see Rage Against the Machine live (I was gonna go to the Farmworker's thing in Chicago a few weeks ago, but had a major memo due on Monday).

It's gonna ffucking rock.

-TheE-

[Parkbandit]

Isn't it easier to just blame a has been shock jock for everything?

He was fired.. so let's just wait until the next white cracker fucks up a joke.

[Sean]

How exactly does Rap/Hip-Hop effect your senior citizens community PB?

[Gan]

cf: Rhett.

PWNT

:rofl:

Gemstone's Vanilla Ice

[Tsa`ah]

Eh .. you give him too much credit.

Snow

[Artha]

I was always under the impression/had read that rap is geared toward white, middle class, suburban males anyway. I might be dead wrong, but it seems like, if it is, it's much bigger than a "black community" problem.

Most of the bullshit radio rap is geared towards preteen/younger teen girls. See: Laffy Taffy, and all the songs that sound just like it.

[Makkah]

Oh, I'm definitely in favor of a "rap game" overhaul. I came up on some underground shit that was definitely not of this mainstream, bubble gum rap bullshit. I'm not one for all that "socio" rap that you're all talking about, seeing as that's mostly an East Coast thing. I mean, I like old school Nas and Rakim like anyone else, but I'm more into the original Three 6, Playa Fly, Skinny, GB, 196, Graveyard Productions, Tom Skee, Al Kapone, [enter early-mid-nineties Memphis Mixtape here]. To tell you the truth, I've mostly grown out of listening to new rap music. I am, however, on the lookout for Playa Fly's new CD.

I really don't know where I was going with this post, but... eh... rap is like anything else; it can evolve or most certainly regress.

[Jazuela]

I don't listen to rap or hip hop. I don't know the words to the songs (are they songs, or are they just odd-rhyming poetry spoken with music as a background?). What I do know is what I see. I see blacks and whites and hispanics riding around in cars with black-out tinted windows and subwoofers taking up the entire space of their trunk, with their bass set to max and at the highest volume their cars can handle without poking out the windows. I hear the beat, I can tell someone is saying something but have no idea what it is, and when the people get out of their cars they are almost always wearing pants that expose their ass cracks, with the crotch down to their knees. I hear them calling each other nigga. I hear them joking about popping a cap in each other's asses. I hear them talk in a manner that makes me wonder if they even know the correct word for what they're trying to say (Yo yo yo ah be axin ya sumpin, apparently means, "May I ask you something?). I see TV commercials encouraging the speech of the illiterate (where you at?). Mostly, I see ignorance, slovenliness, selfishness, and degenerative behavior lacking any manners usually found in civilized company.

I don't see as much of a "black" issue as I see a "subculture" issue. This subculture is filled with young adults, mostly, of all races. The predominant word that gets everyone riled up is "nigga" but that's just one of many words with negative connotations, such as bitch, ho, pimp. If it started with blacks, then okay, it started with them. But it isn't exclusive to them and it troubles me that so many people of all races find this stuff socially acceptable.

It's degrading to women, to well-dressed men, to blacks, to the police, to anyone who are the "usual" definitions of the words used by this subculture. It glorifies violence, while at the same time, desensitizing people to it, so that murder and drive-bys and gang fights are such a common concept no one even considers that these occurrences might not really be the most desireable lifestyle a person would choose to live. It's common, because this subculture has promoted it as a common thing, and its members have embraced the "commonness" of it.

Again, I see it spread beyond racial barriers. It's scary, and saddening, and *whoever* is responsible for promoting this subculture would do themselves, their fans, and the rest of the world a huge favor if they'd find some way to bring more positive messages to the masses, instead of messages promoting violence and degradation.

[Makkah]

Money talks, sadly.

[Keller]

I think there are a number of people who listen to rap/hip-hop who don't do any of those things.

But I hear what you're trying to say. Just this week Cam'ron (a shitty rapper w/o much "street cred") said that he'd never help the police locate a violent criminal, even if he was the victim. It wasn't a mistrust of the police, either. It was him trying to be "thug" or some stupid shit.

[Parkbandit]

(my wife listens to hip/hop and so do my kids)

[Drisco]

~~~~PROBLEM~~~~

Rap music is very racist towards white people, women, cops, and all diffrent people. I don't have anything against black people but when they start saying racist things are they not doing what they want us to stop doing?(Black People Are SOOO mutch more racist than white people) Imagine if a white person started making cd's and said "nigger" and saying things about black people and women, what would happen then? I know a lot of teenagers that like rap music 90% of them are men. My sister for one can't stand it, my brother likes it. My sister find it truly hurtful to her and other women and hates it. I for one can't blame her I even find it extremely overly offensive to women. I first realized this when my brother disagreed with my sister of how it was offensive to women. She said find me a song that doesn't have "Bitch Ho" or anything sexually referencing a women.... He couldnt find one from over 50 songs we went through.

So till today We go in my brothers car we listen to rap and you hear my sister complain. We go in my sisters car and we here .... avril lavigne and nelly furtado, and you hear my brother... and me complain. We go in my car and we listen to rock we hear no one complaining:).

~~~~PROBLEM SOLVER~~~~

Its simple solution we take all rap Cd's of the shelves and replace them with rock. FTW

[Artha]

Rap music is very racist towards white people, women, cops, and all diffrent people.

A.) Bullshit on it being 'very racist' towards white people. Money's green, and that's really all the record companies are looking for - they're not going to sign someone who doesn't have a wide appeal. You might be able to find some underground anti-white rap, but you can find underground racist versions of anything.

Women and cops aren't races, so whatever there.

Anyway, last month the Street Dreams tour came through Richmond, and of course me and two of my nerdy white friends went. The headliners were Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, and Rich Boy, all of whom you've probably heard just flipping through radio stations. Seriously, we were kind of sketched out and worried going in, but the people around us (every single one of whom was black) were nothing but nice, friendly, and totally into just having fun at the concert. There weren't any troubles afterwards as we walked, alone and in the dark, to my car. We weren't even so much as bumped into, and I don't think we got so much as a single dirty look either.

[Keller]

People need to distinguish racism and prejudice.

It's a vital distinction to understanding racism.

[Skeeter]

Artha was too stoned to notice the h8

[ElanthianSiren]

What I do know is what I see. I see blacks and whites and hispanics riding around in cars with black-out tinted windows and subwoofers taking up the entire space of their trunk, with their bass set to max and at the highest volume their cars can handle without poking out the windows. I hear the beat, I can tell someone is saying something but have no idea what it is

That's probably German. Stop slamming industrial! You make the baby Jesus cry! :( :( :p

Really, what you're addressing here is more of an issue with how some people play music, but it's not limited to rap. I like my music very loud too, and I like feeling the bass down the back of my spine and through my ribs. Most rap gives me headaches though because of the vocal style. Again, we're coming into a culture thing. For instance, I don't play loud music late, regardless of where I am, but I know people who do.

[Artha]

Rap music is very racist towards white people, women, cops, and all diffrent people.
I was really into techno for a long time, but I found it's a pretty easy transition to rap.

Techno has: Loud, thumpy, electronic beats behind vocals which are sung and spoken in roughly equal proportions.

Rap has: Loud, thumpy, electronic beats behind vocals which are sung and spoken in roughly equal proportions.

The subject matter's the only difference, really.

[Warriorbird]

And the subject matter can even blur.

I dunno...I could see Def Jam using Russell Simmons' little crusade to sell out more effectively. I don't think most anyone else would go for it. Then again, they aren't really the forefront of rap any more.

Seriously, to make this work it'd need to be like Jimmy Iovine and L.A. Reid's bosses suggesting this.

[Gan]

I saw a korean lady standing at a bus stop yesterday wearing a bright green t-shirt with "Ireland" screenprinted on the front. Does that count?

I was eating lunch at James Coney Island on Monday and saw an asian teenager wearing FuBu shirt, Seany pants, and FuBu (FuBu makes shoes?) speaking like a gangster standing in line in front of me. It was quite funny. Does that count? (Yes, he had metal in his grill too). I would have snapped a cameraphone shot but I think he would have been offended.

[TheEschaton]

Russell Simmons is irrelevant (now) to hip-hop.

-TheE-

[Back]

There is plenty of hip-hop out there that does not use those words. I have plenty of it. Now, thats not to say that some of the rap I have does not objectify women or glorify alternative lifestyles... men will always find a way to do that. In fact, some of the stuff I have is some of the coolest, thought-provoking, social commentary I have ever heard. Kerouac would have been a big fan.

[Anebriated]

I'm on a Dilated Peoples kick right now. Got the Platform scaring off all the freshman in my car.

-TheE-

haha, just need to throw in some J5 and swollen members now to complete the trio...

The pen is mightier than the sword
Cause the pen gives the word sending swords to war
They twisted it when he pulled Mao Tse-Tung
And said political power comes from the barrel of a gun

[Anebriated]

A.) Bullshit on it being 'very racist' towards white people.

LIES! I SAW 8 MILE

[Warriorbird]

Here's a very good analysis of the situation by Saul Williams, a hip hop poet. The source is immaterial. It's his writing.

http://www.counterpunch.org/williams04192007.html