Russell Simmons Fires Off on Obama's Hip-Hop Criticism
Monday April 16, 2007
Now that Don Imus is off the airwaves, the conversation on offensive slangs has swiftly shifted to hip-hop. Democratic Presidential hopefuls who once courted rappers before suddenly realizing that "filthy rap lyrics" are the leading cause of all problems in society, are now calling for hip-hop's head on a platter. Ignoring the larger issue at hand—the role played by corporate stewards who make huge dividends from derogatory rap songs and the socio-economic climate that breeds such music, politicians have been quick to rail against the usual scapegoat, hip-hop.
Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Records, responded to Obama's observation that Imus' racist remarks were inspired by hip-hop lyrics."My response to Sen. Obama is that you have to talk about the poverty and ignorance that creates such a climate that the poets can talk like that. People who are angry, uneducated and come from tremendous struggle, they have poetic license and they say things that offend you," Simmons told ABC News. "You have to talk about the conditions that create those kinds of lyrics. When you are talking about a privileged man who has a mainstream vehicle and mainstream support and is on a radio station like that you have to deal with them differently."Obama is not alone in all this. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has also caught some bad rap for her association with hip-hop figures. Maybe she should consider returning the $800,000 Timbaland helped raise for her campaign.
Photo © Matt Law
Comments
I’m so angry over this crap that i can barely comment. I’m not going to say that rap doesn’t have offensive lyrics but can you really blame all of hip hop for societies problems. I’m sure they’re is a contribution but i don’t think everyone in America is influenced by 50 cent. Come on now
Do I think the black race is cursed?
When I first got saved back in the early 80s and gave my life to Jesus. I started to go to church and met some old men in the church who loved the Lord, who told me how they believed that the black race was cursed all the way back to Noah’s day. They gave me scripture to back up there claims. I didn’t think too much of this after all I had grown up in the 70s and 80s and I was use to old men being prejudice. But now that I have grown older nearing my 50ths.
I ask my self the same question is the back race cursed?
Everybody was upset about the remarks that where about a ladies basketball team which they had ever right to be upset. But if you really want to know who is to blame (and you won’t like this) I blame the black community for this radio entertainer’s foul comment.
Have you seen what black comedians call each other n this and n that ho this and ho that.
Black music is the same way n this and n that ho this and ho that, and lets not forget B.E,T. black entertainment network. Have you seen how black women dress and dance on those music videos. What they call cloths I call attire of a prostitute. What they call dance is 2 or more people having sex with there cloths on.
And America watches and hears all this degrading entertainment and naturally we should have respect and honor for women. Good luck there.
Do I believe that blacks are cursed?
I don’t know about cursed but there is a segment of its populations enslaved to the welfare system, drugs, gangs, demoralizing entertainment and fashions.
And who does the black community have to guide them, lead them, the two reverends
(Good luck there)
The only man I know who will stand up to the black community is Bill Cosby but nobody likes him because he tells the truth.
Where are the Martin Luther king Jr that are feed up with society?
Martin Luther king Jr dream wasn’t so every black family could have a government apartment, welfare stamps and cheap rock cocaine
Immigrants come to this country live 10 families in the same house save there money. For years that means they don’t go to McDonalds. Till they can buy themselves a business and a piece of the American dream
But the black man he believes the lie
He’s being discriminated
He can’t make anything out of his life
Where does the black man get this kind of thinking?
Welfare system.
The welfare system was produced by people who were making money and wanted the poor to stay poor. Jesus even said Mat 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. But instead giving the poor man a hand up, they gave him a foot down they make the poor man dependent on a handout.
What’s a black man to do?
The bible says
2 Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2 Cor 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
That means if you’re going to make a difference in your race, in your community and for your family you’re going to have to separate from the thinking of the world.
Stand up like Martin Luther king Jr I wont stand for it any more. I won’t allow any type of entertainment that puts down my race. If it means boycotting black comedians so be it
If it means boycotting black music so be it. If it means boycotting the fashions of this world so be it. I will not tolerate it in my home anymore. If it means cutting the welfare check in half and moving out of the government projects so be it. I didn’t say it was going to easy but nothing worth having is easy.
If the black community wants respect its going to have to learn to respect itself and stop tolerating any disrespect especially from its own race.
Do I believe that blacks are cursed?
I believe every black has the keys to his own shackles and has to make up its own mind I wont let the welfare system, poverty, my own people or others discourage me from making something out of my life.
I will overcome
And I will not be placed in a stereotype.
As long as blacks keep calling themselves n word don’t be surprised if a non black uses the same word toward you.
I hate to tell you this but until the black community start having some respect for itself it won’t get any from the rest of the world.
Pastor Lupe Sanchez
Bible Baptist Church
Conroe Texas
Mac T-
No one talking about Imus is blaming rap. What they’re talking about is the selective outrage of the media and civil rights activists. Imus gets the villagers with torches treatment- Jackson and Sharpton pushed very hard against Imus’ advertisers and bosses. In contrast, they meekly condemn the lyrics in rap music and that’s about it. When are the Revs going to march on the record companies and rap stars?
So, Ludacris is not a also “privileged man who has a mainstream vehicle”? Or is “privileged” just a code word for “white” and not for something like “multi-millionaire”?
I’m not saying hip-hop should be censored but I think all people’s right to offend should be treated equally. Let the advertisers and ultimately the listeners figure it out, not people like Russell Simmons.
As an African-AMerican woman i don’t want to hear ANYONE calling me or any other woman a nappy-headed hoe.
I work with students in a university setting and if i rolled down the hall along side another co-worker and started pointig out nappy-headed hoes, i would like to think it would be my last days too.
Let’s cut it ALL out. but let us not forget, that c. delores tucker, jesse jackson, al sharpton, and countless radio stations, moms and dads, and others have been trying to get rap music to cut out the violence. this is not new.
where ya’ll been???
Pastor Lupe Sanchez said what was needed to be said, go back and take time to read it I did!
If rap is responsible for the ills of society, what about artists and actors such as Britney Spears (disgusting pantyless crotch shots), Lindsay Lohan (drug/alchol abuse, Paris Hilton sex tape actress, Nicole Richie, the dearly departed Anna Nicole Smith, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Shannon Doherty, Madonna, etc. Haven’t they contributed as well; however as with the rapppers, they are constantly pushed down our throats by the media. Don’t even get me started on “Girls Gone Wild”, “Real World and many other tasteless reality shows, and Jerry Springer has been on tv show for years. Most of the culture is sick and loves extreme sex and violence portrayed anywhere and anytime. Depserate Housewifes, Sex and City and the Sopranos - the behavior of folks on these shows are no better than the disgusting music put out by rappers.
i do agree we need a clean sweep so in order to regain our greatness as true original africans
One of the comments on the show was from a woman who stated she worked in the education system. Her comment was that we as mothers and fathers have alot to do with what our kids watch and listen to. I agree with her. As a parent of two children, I do not even allow either of my children to listen to hip hop. We have young women and young men singing and rapping about love and sex, drugs, money and cars. They do not even know who they are yet. You in turn have young people listening to this who also do not know who they are and unfortunately are getting who they are from the music. Instead of we as parents instilling in them that they are strong black men and women. To go to school and get the knowledge which is something no one can take away from you. I understand that everyone does not grow up in an environment where they can get this up bringing. I grew up in the hood and in a household where I saw drinking, arguing, fussing and fighting, but I did not choose to be sucked up by my environment. Whether hip hoppers, rappers , singers want to admit it or not they are role models for some of these kids who may not have the best lifestyle. They look to them as to what they want to be when they grow up and they hang on to every word and every action. I’ve heard some entertainers say “I do not consider myself a role model”. Whether they want to or not, the reality is that they are and they must begin to take responsibility for this. Yes, Imus made the comment, but have we as a people said or shown anything better?
“When you are talking about a privileged man who has a mainstream vehicle and mainstream support and is on a radio station like that you have to deal with them differently.”
Let’s see…Snoop Dogg is 35 years old, husband, father of 3, multi-millionaire entertainment mogul, pitchman for iconic American brands like Chrysler, audience of millions, globally, through tv, cd’s, radio and concerts. To me that’s about as privileged and mainstream as it gets. Because he was born of the ghetto–hasn’t been of it for more than 15 years–rather than a trailer park, he get’s a pass?
From an artistic perspective alone, he should be embarrassed that after 15 years, he’s still rapping about the same thing–bitches and ho’s. It’s not an issue of poverty, but greed and immaturity.
Come on now people, you can not possibly blame rap/hip hop for these types of tirades. This same type of thing was going on before hip hop made its mark in the world today. Where did all the negative language come from? Hip hop…NO!!! If you going to point the finger at anyone in music that uses this language. I’m sure that hip hop is not the only form of music that uses negative language.
“My response to Sen. Obama is that you have to talk about the poverty and IGNORANCE that creates such a climate that the poets can talk like that.”
I guess he is saying that he and other rappers are just ignorant. It is not their fault that they refer to each other using the n word, they do not know that word is used to refer to a person who is inferior, lazy, simian in appearance, stupid, and criminally inclined.
This is for “Pastor” Sanchez. What an incredibly racist rant in the name of Jesus.
The only other thing I have to say is that this world is cursed by its wickedness; not just one group of people.
Lew, u need to wake up! i cant say i aggree with everything the pastor said, but come on now, how can u start shouting racism, from that statement!People playing the race card, calling everything that doesn’t fit their way of thinking racist, has caused endless trouble for black peeps, the term racist has been turned into a bit of joke, especially over her in the uk. Its been used in comedy sketches with people calling each other racist for non-racist behaviour. This may seem minor, but in turn has a huge effect on the black community. Because people that are accussed of being racist, are forced to keep there feelings and thouhgts to themselves, then end up joining sum right wing group that allows them to express the thoughts, So basically these people whob are not racist are forced underground, and in turn (with the influence of mad minded people) are turned racist!!Thats Fact! Polictical correctness has done more bad than good. People like the pastor are needed, i listen to hip hop, uk grime and more, the n word is used alot in this scene, but the reasons for its original use have ben lost. slaves used then word, to take it back from the slave traders/masters, to take it back as there own!Peeps nowadays use it on the regular, not even understanding the mtrue meaning of the word. Due to the frequent use of n word,its become easier to say (for non-black and black people). So a white guy talking may slip up and say the n word, due to the fact he listens to hip hop, hip hop hasnt made him say, its just a word in his vocab, that he frequently hears, but refrains from saying. Look at the word gay, originally offensive, now people use it in everyday terms, for acting stupid etc, we as black people need to stand up and recognise that if we want change it isnt just going to dropp at our feet,anything we think we are owed isnt going to come to use, so we need to wise up.
I live in a black area, but pleaes tell why all the shops are owned by asian shop keepers? Dont blame them, its balck people who have lived there for years that didnt have the drive/motivation/ubderstanding/business mind/money to take advantage of the oppurtunity that was there! It kills me when i see this, ive just come back from travelling around the world and black people are in the same situation everywhere, france, spain, england, austrailia, fiji, new zealand, maybe we are cursed? But a curse can be lifted if people come together a wake up to real life and stop living in a time-warp!Things wontvget better unless we change things now!
I hate what imus said….. But I’ll defend untill death his right to say it. (well maybe not death, but you get the point) THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEACH TO PROTECT IS THE SPEACH THAT YOU DISAGREE WITH !!!!!!!DONT YOU AMERICANS GET IT!!!!!I’d hate to live in a country where you have to watch every thing you say at all times. Didn’t they fight that in the soviet Block……or are you all too young to remember the soviets???? Damn
I agree, I have only heard the N word a hand full of times, in the past year from a white man. But, I hear it at least 20 times a day from african-american co-workers. I hear it every day and no one gets offended when they say it, but I say it once and I am a racist? It doesn’t make sense to me.
Should Imus watch his words, especially as a public figure? The answer is yes, but he shouldn’t have been cooked over an open flame for them. Now he is labeled as a racist. Just like I am labeled a racist if I want an all white entertainment channel, an all white college, or an all white college fund. Turn the tables and african americans are visionaries for starting the same thing.
Somewhere along the line the racism line got very skewed and it became only “whites against blacks” and that is all that is focused on. We need to work on shifting the focus to helping each other out. Can you imagine a world where you weren’t looked down upon because of the color of your skin?
If people talked about fixing the poverty stricken areas that nurture the mentalities and lyrics that are in question as much as they hate on the evils of hip hop, then there wouldn’t be raunchy songs with horrible images. There wouldn’t be any inspiration for such lyrics, or reason to publicize these issues if they didn’t exist.
I think the devil is to blame for all of the abominations that are happening in our world. I am not going to waste my time saying that Hip Hop is the reason to the vulgarity and obsenity in our society. Even before Hip Hop became what it is now, it never used such degrading language or exploit women as sex objects. I remember a time when Hip Hop was inspiring and not degrading. Does any body remember old skool rap or even the sugarhill gang?
People need to stop blaming the whole of hip hop for all of the bad things that we are seeing and hearing today. Besides how come nobody is complaing about people who are vulgar and have been offensive to the world like HUGH HEFNER AND HOWARD STERN? They degrade mostly white females. Instead of people only looking down apon the “video girls” in the modern day hip hop videos, they should be looking at what Hugh Hefner and Howard Stern have been doing for a number of years of degrading all women, especially caucasian females. What about Jerry Springer? Look at Joe Francis and his Girls gone Wild videos. They are all disgusting yet people are sielent on those kinds of celebs. Let’s not forget about Madonna’s sex book, Pamela Anderson’s sextape, and the countless movies that feature promiscuos white hollywood atresses having sex with their male costars. It is absolutely insane that people are blaming Hip Hop for the Don Imus controversey. I do think that people just forget that there is good and bad in every race or ethnicity. It is so sad that racial inequality and superiority still exist in our modern world.
Hypocrisy and Racism are still out there and alive as well. Is Hip Hop really to blame for vulgar words like the b-word, f-word, s-word, or even terms like slut, tramp, bimbo,whore, and c***? I did not think so. BUT the rap stars are to blame for the new slang to describe prostitutes like HO. Modern Hip Hop is also to blame for reusing the offensive term, the n-word. Remember,Hip Hop is not the only thing killing our society. That includes Drugs,Violence, and Sex seen in movies and in television shows around the world.
I must agree with Mr. Benjamin Muhammad when he said, “with freedom comes responsibilty”. If you were to take a poll on the number of times people watch the news or actually keep up with their current events on a regular basis, as opposed to watching music videos or knowing the latest songs, there would be a dramatic difference. Because hip/hop is such a major influence especially within our black culture, there should be a better deliverly of the way that things are said. I’m sorry, it just comes with the territory. We hold teachers, preachers, doctors, mentors, basketball players, as well as actors to the same responsibilty. It takes a village to raise a child, so why not help out with figuring out a solution rather than aiding to the problem. Yea it sucks, for better lack of words, but it is life. That is the problem with our culture, and I say our culture because this is the one that affects me. We choose not be accountable for ourselves. We also dont know how to communicate effieciently. Their is lack of knowledge, poor education and as well as morals/values in our people.
If you feel indifferent from these facts then it is something wrong with you. No, I dont hold a position of power, I am just a student, but if I must stand alone for something that is I can prove to be correct then I will. If you have any comments you can contact me jdavenport2005@yahoo.com
Friday, July 13, 2007
thank God somebody got some sense
N-word buried in mock funeral
NAACP | ‘We’re taking it out of our spirit’
July 10, 2007
BY COREY WILLIAMS
DETROIT — There was no mourning at this funeral.
Hundreds of onlookers cheered Monday as the NAACP put to rest a long-standing expression of racism by holding a public burial for the N-word.
Delegates from across the country marched from downtown Detroit’s Cobo Center to Hart Plaza. Two Percheron horses pulled a pine box adorned with a bouquet of fake black roses and a black ribbon printed with a derivation of the word.
The coffin is to be placed at historically black Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery and will have a headstone.
‘’Today we’re not just burying the N-word, we’re taking it out of our spirit,'’ said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
He continued: ‘’Die N-word, and we don’t want to see you ’round here no more.'’
The N-word has been used as a slur against blacks for more than a century. It remains a symbol of racism, but also is used by blacks when referring to other blacks, especially in comedy routines and rap and hip-hop music.
‘’This was the greatest child that racism ever birthed,'’ said the Rev. Otis Moss III of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, where presidential candidate Barack Obama worships.
The NAACP held a symbolic funeral in Detroit in 1944 for Jim Crow, the Southern system of racial segregation.
I believe this is a good step for blacks.
Pastor Lupe Sanchez
“Somewhere along the line the racism line got very skewed and it became only “whites against blacks” and that is all that is focused on. We need to work on shifting the focus to helping each other out. Can you imagine a world where you weren’t looked down upon because of the color of your skin?”
You said it all…but some people black and white are incapable of thinking in skin color…and it’s a doggon shame…America is regressing to its past but the tables are simply turned…what a nightmare!
You can’t categorize all hip hop in the same category. Hip Hop comes from creativity. Most people just hear rapping and assume it is degrading. Just because their is cursing doesn’t make it degrading. Their are various forms of rapping. Conscious, Party music, Gangster rap to name a few. The people who listen to hip hop understand this. Each kind is based off what setting or whats going on. A. Conscious hip hop (common, talib kweli, Mos def, SOME kanye, Consequence) This form is usually uplifting and knowledge based. The cursing used is usally a expression of the anger felt, as in real life when you curse in situations. B.Gangster Music(Some snoop, ice T, ice cube, Styles P, The Game) is basically a reflection of the places many black people grew up in. A town where if you don’t have a hard image, you might not make it. It also is just anger for the extra struggle to make it in a segregated nation. There are a few acceptions to the rule, for instance, individuals that see the success in the industry so rap about such to get a fan base. C. Party music (lil jon, ying yang twins, dipset, lil wayne, soldier boy) These songs are usually rich in instrumental, flow, and hooks. It is meant to meant for partying, dancing and singing, to let loose. These songs have certain catchy lyrics. And are usually the most offensive towards woman And are usually the one that mostly play on the radios. Why is that…because people bought their singles. Statistics says white people are the main buyers of hip hop albums\singles, basically if you don’t approve to that audience, you don’t get record sales. For some reason, even though their is in fact positive hip hop out there, the music that rappers make money off of is music with good instrumentals, flow, and hooks. Nothing to do with good lyrics. So people who wish to MAKE MONEY in the industry follow suit to succeed. In other forms of music, the most popular usually has the best lyrics. For some reason MOST people see hip-hop they never think of it on a “music to help me get through days” tip other many black people(people who statistically download albums more). Even though those were the roots of the hip hop movement. The only way people were ever able to get through the commercial barrier is if they added good instrumental, catchy lyrics, sometimes even NONSENSICAL cursing just to be heard. soory bout the rant but I’m tired of the constant downplaying of hip hop
A lot of people who are against hip hop are hypocrites.Sure its violence in hip hop but so is hard rock music but nobody says anything about that,and yes it they talk about women in
a way that express how they feel about.I heard a rapper calling women a bitch in one song and and than calling them lovely ladies in another song on the same album.That show how mad he was at the time when he was made that song and the opposite in his other.You have female rapper that talk about other females the same way the male rapper do but nobody mentions that,and for anybody who says rap music is not talented
RAP stands for Rhythm and Poetry
witch means its about the rhymes and the sound of the drum not notes or melodies
but it has to rhyme except for the hook.
And for those squares out there that say the words don’t make sense if you don’t know the slang terms and hip hop terms you don’t understand it and that’s why you think it don’t make sense.
r u kidding me?!? the think all the leading problems come from all the political retards that we have in this country not our hip hop society
i think that there are some words that could be left out of the lyrical composure that the piticular artist has produced but in no way do i agree that the lyrics are the leading cause of all problems in society!