Like many folks out there, I watched the 2-day grilling of hip-hop on the Oprah show. It was the latter part of day 2 of this special where it entered into a “kum ba yah” moment as loose commitments to address the sexist and stereotypical culture of hip hop as a united front were made. If the following article is any indicator of the level of seriousness the hip hop industry is treating this issue, watching paint dry would probably be a better use of your time.
(suntimes.com) NEW YORK — In the wake of Don Imus’ firing for his on-air slur about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, a high-powered group of music-industry executives met privately Wednesday to discuss sexist rap lyrics.
During the furor that led to Imus’ fall last week from his talk-radio perch, many of his critics carped as well about offensive language in rap music.
The meeting, called by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, was held at the New York home of Lyor Cohen, chairman and chief executive of U.S. music at Warner Music Group.
But the summit, which lasted several hours, did not result in any specific initiative.
Organizers billed the gathering as a forum to ”discuss issues challenging the industry in the wake of controversy surrounding hip-hop and the First Amendment.”
Afterward, they planned to hold a news conference at a Manhattan hotel to discuss ”initiatives agreed upon at the meeting.” But by early afternoon, the news conference was postponed, because the meeting was still going on.
After the meeting ended, it was unclear whether there would be another one. Simmons’ publicist released a short statement that described the topic as a ”complex issue that involves gender, race, culture and artistic expression. Everyone assembled today takes this issue very seriously.” (more…)
(Emphasis added)
Remember, it took the actions of ONE White man to get folks this upset on such a large scale to address these issues.
Related:
Before you get on that war wagon…
Hip Hop Summit Action Network responds to criticism
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