My concern with hip-hop is not language in the least. My problem with hip-hop is the exploitation of women and its effect on young people. There are intelligent and powerful hip-hop artists, and there are jackasses that know how to work drum machines. The hip-hop community needs to weed it’s garden…

I’m very glad theyre are finally doing this. Although I don’t think anything will be done. Rappers make too much money for being professional assholes. This will just make Al Sharpton “look legitimate” and not racist for being an ass to Imus. But in reality, it won’t, unless Sharpton & Co. do all they can to get Snoop & Co. fired, which won’t happen.

the lyrics are the least of my worries. what goes on behind the scenes is the issue. to know that my son looks up to a rapper who has a jail record and admitted he has shot people in interviews has me floored with concern. people want to know why kids kill each other at schools and outside of schools, look at it this way. i am not saying rappers are 100% guilty but someone who has a big influence on the younger generation needs to stand up and say something about this. i am scared one day my kid is going to get into an argument with someone and feel violence is the only resort. it isn’t! real gangsters dont belong in the music business and should have never been allowed in.

When will somebody just shoot Al Sharpton and the Rev Jesse Jackson?

“Hip hop artists’ poetic expression”? I love hip hop, but–’life ain’t nothin but b*^ches and money’ isn’t poetry.

I hope that they decide to ban “hip-hop” forever…That would be AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

In ancient Greece, Plato thought they should only have art that exemplified virtues and positive things, as to do otherwise would encourage vice.
And while that is a rather naive, idealistic way of looking at the world (evil doesn’t go away just because you ignore it), it doesn’t mean it is without merit, especially in the context of role models not just for children, but for society as a whole.
That said, some things are not for children, even if we know they are somehow going to get their hands on them. Rapping or singing about bitches and killing people shouldn’t be entertainment for ten year olds. That’s what those parental advisory stickers are for. This is where good parenting comes in.
Responsible adults (and there’s too few of them around, as well) shouldn’t be penalized with a limited choice of all forms of entertainment because our media suddenly has to revolve around what is safe for children.

Hip hop poetry! What a joke. All hip hop does is poison the minds of good kids from good backgrounds. The language is exactly waht you teach the kids not to use and they all seem to enjoy this Music (noise is more like what it is). The Hip Hop community is a mess and a terrible influence on our children.

If we are going to do some soul searching {pun intended}into hip hop lyrics will we do the same with metal and rock….or is that a racist question ??

I was at the filling station the other day and an suv with the windows down was blasting this rap misic and in the time it took to drive by it called white people crackers and used the f word and n word. Driving with the windows down like I want to hear that garbage.

if a white metal band used the n work all hell would break loose.

good call joe c….. you’re awesome.

is it me, or does this wreak of Rafeal Palmiero and when he pointed at the supreme court saying he never used PEds, only to be banned for using PEDs? i mean, come on! yeah, there is poetic expression in each form of music, but to artistically use the ‘n’ word or the ‘f’ word is a very rare occurrance. and becuase you put a catchy beat to it, doesn’t make it right.

and i agree with mark d. above, so many times white people are called ‘crackers’ yet it’s overlooked, racism goes both ways, how ever poetic you make it out to be.

so russel, as you are scared to see your own actions and words put to test by the media whoring duo of al and jesse, do you really want to justify how all of hip hop is poetic or admit everyone has some of these flaws? i mean wasn’t mystikal, mr. shake that ass whom is now in jail for domestic assualt a member of your poet’s society on def jam south?

censorship is a pain, but if people can point the finger at one person while not bearing to look at their own reflection of guilt, it’s a must, and i hate to say that.

we need to grow up people and stop the witch hunt unless you want your closet cleaned too.

imus was wrong, but to justify your own evils when they reflect those you criticize is wrong.

stop counting money and start counting your blessings, russel, your brother run would have much to say about that. and i’ve never heard him call me a cracker!

How can you compare Rap to Imus. Too many white ppl upset. I know Rev. Al Sharpton is misguided and does not represent all Black ppl.
However you dumbasses should know..Rappers do not OWN mainstream media and does not choose which gets heard and what does not. In addition (for Blacks Only) hip-hop is a culture of rap and other genres that depict ghetto life, poverty and other stories. WHAT ABOUT EMINEM??? If the record companies/ media moguls (VIACOM, DISNEY etc)stopped the airwaves from playing such filth then what the hell could anyone of you boneheads say. Control the media then you control the message……but..we have Freedom of Speech…Hoes.

If we are honest with ourselves, we know that Imus was borrowing a term from hip-hop. He certainly did not coin it. The vernacular of pop culture has a way of spreading into the mainstream. In this particular case, I believe Imus casually parroted something he picked up from TV, radio or film and has been unfairly castigated for it. Either everyone can use a word or nobody can. To try to have it both ways is to limit free speech.

well let’s be honest people…imus was right and i am sure southpark will have an episode on this incident which means absolutely nothing to me. this is about as important as sammy hagar and david lee roth both coming back to van halen.

GET REAL!!!! Now you white ppl are mad cuz this guy called black women nappy headed hos and got fired for his comments. He targeted those innocent women and insulted them for humor and on a National platform. At least with RAP we can pick and buy/ donwload what we want to HEAR and I do believe if it contains bad language the music ust have a PARENTAL ADVISORY stamp on it.

all the hoes in hip hop is uzin da hoe language dey was razed up uzin.

I personally believe that this is the last thing this country needs to worry about. I think our focus should be with the families and friends of Virginia Tech victims.

I’d love to be there. Sounds like fun.

FYI Hip hop and ghetto rap are two diffrent things.Hip hop was originaly made to uplift and inspire its really sad what is now called “hip hop” ghetto is a choice pople choose to live the way they do and blame the “man” for keeping them down wich is a bunch of BS. I hate hearing idiots singing about crack and drugs in music. You would think after all the things african americans have been thru you would do more to inspire than to be proud of holding your people down.

I wish Martin Luther King Jr. was still around. He would talk some sense into Al and Jesse.

Other than that, I only have 2 things to say:

1. Using every curse word in the book and degrading women is not poetry. I don’t care how rough your life is or how poor you were growing up… women deserve to be treated with respect.

2. It’s a double standard to let some people say a word, but not let others say it. Black or white, a word is a word and it creates bad feelings across the board.

dreadloco, you are are exactly right, and this is what I’ve been saying since it happened. People think Imus just made this language up? People think he somehow conjured up the most offensive epiteth on the spot, completely spontaneously? Puh-leaze!

He apparently thought it was okay to say because, well, up until it came out of his mouth, it was okay to say. Combine that with who it was directed at and that’s where the furor has come from.

Do I blame hip-hop? No! If they had been repeatedly and loudly admonished for the use of such language, that’d be one thing. But we, as a society as a whole, have decided to accept it, and it’s made them rich. Why would they stop?

He tried to be funky like Primus
but they cracked on Don Imus.
He’s just an old, rich white man
Ignorant about all thngs African-American.
Black girls ‘aint Ho’s
Unles they charge for the show.
Just like the white girl that
got the sugarddady that know.
We all got to represent
When it comes to humanity and bein’ decent.
Call it racism
Call it censorhip
Call it Black
Call it white
We got to educate and tolerate
or we just perpetuate the hate.
Love starts with one
Then two becomes many
Teach your children well
or it will be their hell.

all dem crakas be seyin we need to cleen it up but dey thank we dont no day is da hoes of dis hoe mess.

I was watching the movie “Happy Feet” with my son the other day and in the middle of the movie there is a song in it where the term “Nappy Head” is used.
The next step is to make sure some penguins lose their job over this, because all of this really hasn’t gotten ridiculous enough yet.
It’d be good to think this whole mess would bring some new wisdom on the other side. But the only legitimate movement where heads could change for the better would have to be lead by common people instead of figureheads with images and agendas to protect.
And have we as the public become so gullible that we need rappers and talk show hosts to tell us what’s right?

I’m sorry, but most of the minority girls I know are ,like, nasty.
But those Rutgers girls are really good basketball players!

I am literally rolling over in my grave.
This whole situation and subsequent public discourse is extremely discouraging.
I took a bullet for this?

It is a sad day in america when we have to watch a puplic lynching of a white man, Don Imus for a very small and incredulous stupid statement that he apoligized several times for. He did more good works than any of his dumb distracters will ever know.Long may we remember Don for the class he showed while going down.

It’s a sad day when racist, hateful monsters such as Al “the race hustler” Sharpton and Jesse “the Fraud” Jackson consider themselves the moral examples of our country. The liberal biased media also assisted them in the firing of Imus. We certainly have not moved forward at all in our country when a President cannot call Barrack Obama articulate and it takes two actual racists and their cronies to destroy another person’s first amendment rights. What Imus said was stupid, even racist. But what about all the things other people say, including African-American commentators, comedians, musicians, celebrities, etc.? Certainly two wrongs don’t make a right, but neither does hypocrisy on the part of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. And on a sidenote for a much bigger issue: when are these two going to apologize for publicly convicting the Duke students for being falsely accused? When Sharpton? When Jackson? You pathetic pieces of shit. May justice find you sooner, and not later.

Russell Simmons needs to have a conference with the Norton Anthology people to discuss what constitutes poetry.

I’m thinking that Snoop and Nelly are not in the same league as Keats and Ginsberg.

In My Opinion it is a Racist remark to call someone “Black” becuase technically we, as African-Americans are of different countries and tribes out of Africa, so Imus calling a bunch of women nappy-headed Hoes is not as disrespectful as all of America referrinbg to “Us” as Black.

Imus started something that I hope will fix an issue that has been a problem for years. The glorification of a culture that consistently demeans women, and its own people. Imus doesn’t understand the term, or where it comes from and therefore it is offensive but since Snoop does understand it it okay.

The problem is that Imus isn’t the only white person that says it or cops other slang from hip-hop culture. Go to any affluent nearly all white high school and you will find that youth culture is almost exclusivly hip-hop culture, mostly because everything aimed at adolecents apes hip hop culture. Whether it is MTV or a soda commercial most adults over 40 see hip-hop as youth culture and cannot distinguish between a fifteen year old and a rapper when they speak, and certainly not a man in his sixties.

Hip-Hop, Gangsta rap, all of that, is just as offensive and demeaning to African-American women as the one comment Don Imus made. I really think our society would be better off without the kind of gangsta-rap that many find the most offensive. Rap itself can be used as a positve medium in music, but people are seeing the gangster life of violence glorified in rap, and they want to emulate it.

As Americans, many of us are unsure about our ethnic make-up. If you know your are Igbo or something then tell everyone to call you that. I am NOT a German-Irish-Scot-Dutch-etc American, I am white. Racism is a major problem in America, but I can’t tell if an “African-American” is from Jamaica or the Dominican Republic or not so I will say black. That is correct and not racist

We should just listen to Russell Simmons and ignore the links between Imus’ and rappers’ misogyny. It’s not like Simmons has anything to gain, right? I mean other than BILLIONS of dollars in record sales that exploit and demean his own people?

Dave Matthews is an African American. He was born in South Africa and currently lives in America.

I for one do not condone any sort of foul language, but this has got to stop. Language is our primary means of communication. When we as whole, combining every race, color, background, and gender, are condemned for using certain words, though they may be vulgar, racist, or what have you, we will have lost everything this country is about. “The Man” will have complete control and will have taken away our sense of self. Though this Don Imus thing seems mundane and overglorified, this is a very serious issue. No, he shouldn’t have said what he did, but this is a country where we’re supposed to be able to voice whatever we choose. Should he have been fired because of this?

I have to say Imus should know better than to make such a obviously stupid statement at all never mind over the air waves. Should he be fired for it? hell yes he should. Has he done good things? Probably but that does not excuse this kind of crap. If he is supposed to be some sort of role model then??? As far as hip hop / rap whatever kind of music that says the the same crap, these people sould do a little self censoring. It seems these artists want to be taken seriously by the mainstream media, but people don’t make a distinction between n***as and n***ers. If this kind of language is frowned on by these people why to they perpetuate it? These kind of phrases were created by ingnorant white people to make them feel better than the black people. If the black people have addopted this for them selves the that makes them just as ignorant as the white people they hated for it. I don’t have any problem with people expressing themselves and singing about what they know, but wouldn’t it make more sense to show a way to rise above this crap rather than wallow in the mire? I don’t think blaming others can’t really hold up if you are doing nothing to change the situation positively. Rap used to say something other than hos and bitches and praiseing being a pimp. This is to unreal to even understand how this can be a positive message. As far as children go they should have parents that are paying attention to this and showing them the meanings of these songs.To close I would like to quote Frank Zappa, and say “You know people, I’m not black but there’s a whole lotsa times I wish I could say I’m not white.”

I wonder when Jessie Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton will go after Santa Claus? A German racist-sexist… who uses the H-bomb! St. Nick well one form of his name is German decent. Anyway…. Poor Mrs. Claus she needs to smack Santa real hard when he goes ( HO HO HO!) Next we’ll bleap St. Nick’s H-bomb from ( A Christmas Story) Young children won’t get the jokes… Christmas movies will be runied! Thanks Jesse and Al! GRINCHES! Merry Imus to you both!

Mr. Simmons is nothing but a hypocrite. The money this man has made off off these so called “poets” and these poets know what sells and are just following the money train. There are some socially conscience rappers but those are not what our children get a chance to hear. Mr. Simmons get over yourself and try being honest to yourself as well as the educated public who don’t believe the garbage you are tying to sell. We can see through you and your phony persona.

“Comparing Don Imus’ language with Hip-Hop artists’ poetic expression is misguided and inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship.”

Listen, I am no biggot… but if you’re going to say that there’s a problem with an old white man saying it… then there HAS to be a problem with some undeservedly rich rappers saying it.

Don Imus’ definition of comedy = poetics of today’s hip hop

Either take both, or non at all.

This is America damn it, let’s remember that.

Dang that “summit” sounds like school! I guess hip hop really is dead.

Bring back the Sugarhill Gang!

What was the last hip-hop album that could be considered poetic expression? Does anybody see parallels between hip-hop and hair metal of the 80’s? Hip Hop: First single is the “club banger”, second single is sappy love song with whoever the hot R&B act is singing the hook. Hair metal: First single is party anthem, second single is the “power ballad”….hmmm…If history repeats I think we are seeing the last years of hip hop for a long time. Arena rock has yet to recover from the disaster of the 80’s….

the reason imus is off the air is because advertisers bailed on the show. if sharpton is serious about changing rap lyrics, he needs to after the radio stations that play it and their advertisers..

who knew imus still had a show? or that anyone still listens to rap music??

Al Sharpton is a bungling idiot. He has made Don Imus seem like a hero to alot of people for taking the ‘fall’ for FREEDOM of SPEECH. America is driven by money. Imus’ sponsors got nervous and pulled his plug. The truth is that Hip Hop will now take an even bigger hit when it’s main cash supporters, suburban white kids quit buyin it….great job Al.

the hair metal thing, i think you forget this has been a continuation since p.diddy floating in a garbage bag suit in a zero gravity simulator. it’s been the same bull@#& for ten years now, only instead of supposedly tough guys pussing out for ballads, it’s “real” niggas talking about the bling they wished they’d had well after they’ve already attained it. i’m all for club bangers and music that makes people dance and be happy for a couple of hours, but the singular approach of rap music focused on the single, or an album worth of singles, is hampering everything about the genre. the most obvious case to me was Common sh#t talking his own electric circus after he made it and it didn’t sell a bazillion copies when it was one of the most musically exciting albums in years, regardless of genre, in terms of scope, adventurousness, and execution. not only do they eat their own, their own feel like failures for actually coughing up something amazingly good. if it’s not status quo, i blew it. the absolute antithesis of everything creative and worthy of striving for.

No matter who you are or what you say, someone will not like you or what you have to say. Some will dismiss you based on looks, some will misinterpret what you say. Regardless, people will have thin skin and loud cries. Invest in Kleenex.

I just wish they would have a conference on how to return hip-hop to its golden age, I think it would probably involve Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth somehow

Like it or not, companies are legally obligated to be politically correct. They are…

Anyone who has ever worked for any type of company, has went through Diversity Training or Sexual Harassment Training. If you work for a company, you cannot say racist or sexist things on their dime.

Companies play by different rules than we do as individuals.

There is no way one can defend much of the rap music that is out there right now. It’s all about making and selling drugs, getting rich, and killing anybody who looks twice at you. But, all that aside, much of the rap out today is nothing but “grunting” choruses with made up words, repeated 89 times in three minutes. Its not even good.

At least when a talent like snoop talks about weed and hoes, he does it in a way that is clever and somewhat amusing. Most rap today is really a sad downer.

HIP HOP is dead! Imus is GOD!!
ur all a bunch of nappy headed ho’s but seriously hip hop is not what it used to be!! its all a bunch of shit to make money! its no longer poetry with the execption of nas and a select few but …HIP HOP IS DEAD!

cant say “6 fo” no mo

But satanic and right wing death metal is perfectly fine. If you people think al sharpton and jesse jackson are that powerful, you are all wrong. they dont have that kind of power to shut imus down. the market place has spoken, as a TRUE conservative says. the govt. didnt censor them. anyone who thinks otherwise is a redneck hypocrite, and no one knows a redneck better than me!

moral of the story;

if you point out an individual or group of individuals and slander them, you lose your job and are labled a racist, seems fair.

but if you refer to a whole group of people, whether defined by gender (not loving them bithces or hoes!) or race (too many terms to offer and self deflamation), with slanderous terms, you’re poetic?
come on, shouldn’t it be worst, rather than freedom of expression!?!?

when did stereotyping with racist tendancies and slanders become poetic?

yes don imus was an idiot, he said what he said, and though i don’t think he meant it as a meliscious attack, he was very wrong to display that publicly, and should lose his job.

and now we attack the music industry, because we can’t make a rationale decision on what to listen to? there are advisory labels for that, though what the music says is still wrong, you are protected by a warning.

with that said, some of that shit shouldn’t be here and an easy way to rid it? don’t buy it, than they will move on to a more lucrative career.

and there is a difference in hip hop and ghetto rap, to whom mentioned that, kudos. hip hop is an uplifting cluture with many facets; rap, graffiti, break dancing, djing, style and customs. ghetto rap is shit, no content, all fecal matters. if you don’t like it, don’t buy it, or turn off the radio.

bottom line is we need to stop pointing fingers and start holding hands, not to sound corny, but where is the love?

we shouldn’t make this a race issue, i have way too mnay friends and family of all sorts of backgrounds, we should make this what it is, a slandering, and Imus paid the price.

but if you really want a witch hunt, let’s go after those two media whoring tricks al and jesse.

where was an apology to the duke boys after being found innocent while al danced all over their campus trying to build credibility off their bum rap?

the only race that should be mentioned is the human race.

Simmons calling these guys “poets” is a joke. Rap and hip hop are garbage. Most of the people involved do not play an instrument and cannot sing. As others have said, Mr Simmons lives in a big house and ridicuously rich from this crap. A lot of pop culture has become black/rap culture. We have tons of little white wannabe gangstas talking the lingo (Wiggers. Is that an offensive term? and if so, to whom?).
Check out any TV commercial. Notice how they always have to a white guy and black guy buddying around? Not something you see too much in real life. Tons of commercials are using funk or hip hop as the music beds. Do they ever think this offends a lot of white people’s taste?
Aren’t white people still the majority in this country? You wouldn’t know it by examing pop culture including Rolling Stone.
Imus is a lame DJ, but his firing is a cowardly act by the white nerds in charge at MSNBC and CBS. White guilt lives on..

Imus was wrong, but, I think he was more wrong for calling those women “Hoes” than for the nappy-headed part because if u freeze frame the TV or pause it and look, those girls do have NAPPY Hair, its the Truth.

I think anyone can say whatever the hell they want whenever they want. Like right now I want to say that most of the mainstream rap you hear today takes very little if any talent. But, the fact is, gansta rap is what sells in middle America. You have white midwetern kids calling each other niggaz and thinking they are thugs. If you want to stop them, stop buying their hideous albums.

Also a thing on Race in America: if we term all so-called Black people as “Black”, than thats just ignorant and inaccurate because all people of a more darker skin tone are not “Black” just as all people of a fairer skin tone are not “White”, u can’t call a Italian-American person a “White” person because they are Italian, you can’t call a Irish-American person a “White” person because they are Irish, if u call a Mexican person a Puerto Rican than thats Disrespect, so why are all dark-skinned or browner toned people labeled “Black”? Also when is it EVER intelligent or advanced to label ourselves after Crayons?

Hip-Hop today is tacky self indulgent garbage that takes nothing more than minimal talent and an image that suggests you’re tough. What Russel Simmons refers to as “art” and “poetry” is something long gone, or at least on the virge of extinction. Hip-Hop started out as generally thoughtful, proud, message centered musical expression, thats not what it is today. Naturally there was crap out there, but the tables have turned and Russel Simmons need to acknowledge that, not call one man a racist and then justify hip hop “artists” with the flimsiest argument ever. How does the saying go? Oh yeah, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”. Lets all face it Hip Hop as it was intended is dead, and all it does is propagate a self centered message of intolerance, violence, materialism and sexism. It’s a shame really.

joe c.

a white metal band did indeed use the “n” word.
guns n roses on the song one in a million.

but anyhow. don imus is a douche bag, along with his 2 buffoon sidekicks. al sharp and jesse are snakes. and HIP-HOP is dead. I haven’t bought a rap record since 2pac died. Don’t get me wrong, he used the word’s “bitches” and “hoes” just as much as the others, but at least he could release positive songs towards african american females as well.

rap is the worst excuess for music ever i hope this shit dies but as long as there are wiggers and 14 yr olds it will be around

I believe that once again we have resorted to assumptions about what the Black community tolerates and what it doesn’t. Every time a non-black person is called on the carpet for making a racist remark, the reply is that people of African descent allow this in their community and so it license for non-blacks to engage in this. The MAJORITY of the Black community does not allow the degradation of its own people. We are constantly taking those to task that do it, and we will continue to do so as long as the problem persists.

Some rappers have talent, like the ones who can freestyle, because I can’t do that, you know? But most of the crap out there, the so-called “soldiers” claiming they’re bringing the “truth of the streets to the people”? They’re just lazy and looking for a way to continue their lazy lifestyle, only with bigger necklaces, more pitbulls to abuse, and a bigger house. They should learn how to speak English and get a real job so they can contribute something good to the world, instead of drugs, violence, diseases and neglected babies.

The problem is that Hip Hop- like all other urban musical manifestations of the African diaspora (dancehall from Jamaica, Rapso from Trinidad, etc) has a ‘conscious’ side which has been hidden by the industry. Where are all the great rap artist (and spoken word artist) that produce the counter-music, the positive, King and Queen music? They have been marginalised and silenced. Rap has been reduced again to one dimension. Hopefully now the panorama of other voices can get an equal play.

who voted al sharpton moral authority anyway? where is his appology for tawanna brawley and totally ruining a mans life
no one fires jesse jackson for calling ny hymie-town!

This is my two cents:

Mainstream, commercialized “hip-hop” is shit. It is only considered mainstream and profitable because the majority of Americans are ignorant and uneducated. 95% of the population that listens and/or creates mainstream rap, as opposed to indie or underground hip-hop, is retarded as well. If you have retarded people making shit “music”, you will have retarted people buying shit “music”, and behind the scenes of it all will be the slick, White businessman capitalizing on continued American stupidity.

Also, I’ve about had it with the argument of Black people advocating and approving of the use of the word nigger. This is a completely derogatory term, regardless of race or skin tone. Martin and X have got to be rolling over in their graves. Any person who chooses to use that word is about as uneducated as it gets.

Fuck mainstream rap, fuck the word nigger, and fuck people who support that general lifestyle. Don Imus was just voicing his opinion. I agree: white guilt lives on.