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Simmons: Ban these words
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By Michael Clancy, amNewYork City Editor
[email protected]
April 24, 2007
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called on the music industry Monday to make "bitch," "ho," and the 'N-word' obsolete in rap songs, calling the slurs "extreme curse words" that should be banned.
"We recommend that the recoding and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words 'bitch' and 'ho'," as well as the N-word, Simmons, the founder of Def Jam records said in a statement with Benjamin Chavez, the co-chairmen of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, an advocacy group.
Or whether the standards would change rappers' minds.
"It's not going to change anything," said Joell Ortiz, an emcee from Brooklyn who's recording an album for Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. "I'm going continue saying it -- I don¹t think [the N-word] is OK. And I don't think it is wrong. It just is."
The announcement, which followed Don Imus' dismissal from his radio and cable program for calling the Rutgers' women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," stinks of posturing and grandstanding, said Jeff Chang, the author "Can't Stop Won't Stop," a history of hip hop.
"It's misleading and it's disingenuous to act as if this hasn't been happening and that somehow the rappers are to blamed," Chang said. "They've been getting subsidized for millions of dollars. The leaders of the corporations who make the decisions are not people of color. They're not from the hip-hop community."
One of the people who pioneered hip-hop and has been actively fighting the music's devolution into a bitch- and N-word culture, Afrika Bambaataa, said he welcomes the music industry to the cause. He said removing the N-word would be a small step toward restoring a high-minded nature to the music.
"The [N]-word is disgusting and it will always be disgusting," Bambaataa said. "The meaning of it will always be what it meant to be. And I don¹t care which way you spell -- with four Ns, two Gs, ER, with an A. It doesn't matter. It's disgusting."
By Michael Clancy, amNewYork City Editor
[email protected]
April 24, 2007
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called on the music industry Monday to make "bitch," "ho," and the 'N-word' obsolete in rap songs, calling the slurs "extreme curse words" that should be banned."We recommend that the recoding and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words 'bitch' and 'ho'," as well as the N-word, Simmons, the founder of Def Jam records said in a statement with Benjamin Chavez, the co-chairmen of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, an advocacy group.
Though Simmons recommended the creation of an industry panel, comprised of record, radio and broadcast execs, to set standards for lyrics and visual context, it wasn't clear Monday how the new standards would be policed and enforced.
Or whether the standards would change rappers' minds.
"It's not going to change anything," said Joell Ortiz, an emcee from Brooklyn who's recording an album for Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. "I'm going continue saying it -- I don¹t think [the N-word] is OK. And I don't think it is wrong. It just is."
The announcement, which followed Don Imus' dismissal from his radio and cable program for calling the Rutgers' women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," stinks of posturing and grandstanding, said Jeff Chang, the author "Can't Stop Won't Stop," a history of hip hop.
"It's misleading and it's disingenuous to act as if this hasn't been happening and that somehow the rappers are to blamed," Chang said. "They've been getting subsidized for millions of dollars. The leaders of the corporations who make the decisions are not people of color. They're not from the hip-hop community."
One of the people who pioneered hip-hop and has been actively fighting the music's devolution into a bitch- and N-word culture, Afrika Bambaataa, said he welcomes the music industry to the cause. He said removing the N-word would be a small step toward restoring a high-minded nature to the music.
"The [N]-word is disgusting and it will always be disgusting," Bambaataa said. "The meaning of it will always be what it meant to be. And I don¹t care which way you spell -- with four Ns, two Gs, ER, with an A. It doesn't matter. It's disgusting."
