Anti-Gangsta Rap Petition Begun, directed at BET

[Jenn]

It's hypocritical for Don Imus to be fired after calling Black women "nappy headed hos" when BET still airs minstrel rap videos that say far worse.

Z, you're too smart to say such ridiculous sh*t.

Prove me wrong that BET doesn't air minstrel rap, and I'll retract the statement.

zeraze

You don't need to retract it. Stand by your stupid, for all I care.

[Static Froggy]

What I would like to see is a balance between various music videos shown. I remember in the late eighties and mid-nineties shows like Rap City and Yo! use to show different rap videos ranging from gangsta to conscious but it seems that when one type of rap blew up the rest was shoved to the back. I have no problems with gangsta rap (I still refer to it as "Hardcore Hip Hop"), but I would just like to see a balance of different rap styles represented on the music video tip.

Exactly.

Mainstream rap music before the mid-90s was simply more diverse and innovative.  If you didn't care for NWA or Snoop Dogg, you had alternatives like Will Smith, Run DMC, and Public Enemy.  And BET not only reflect this, but help encourage the range in the genre.

Now, mainstream rap is dominated by corporations that believe gangsta rap equals all of hip hop and will snub any act that doesn't fit this narrow view.  Once again, BET mirrors this trend.  Naturally, the network is getting criticized along with the corporations and sellout rappers who profit from the new status quo.

That's the issue.  Does BET and by extension hip hop stick with the current materialistic path?  Or will the network dare to take some risks that will defy people's expectations and result in real innovation?

zeraze

     you just totally took what I said. ........i'm left with nothing

It's kind of sad when you have MASTER P telling you to "Ayo, clean yo sh*t up!"

[Catch22]

What I would like to see is a balance between various music videos shown. I remember in the late eighties and mid-nineties shows like Rap City and Yo! use to show different rap videos ranging from gangsta to conscious but it seems that when one type of rap blew up the rest was shoved to the back. I have no problems with gangsta rap (I still refer to it as "Hardcore Hip Hop"), but I would just like to see a balance of different rap styles represented on the music video tip.

Exactly.

Mainstream rap music before the mid-90s was simply more diverse and innovative.  If you didn't care for NWA or Snoop Dogg, you had alternatives like Will Smith, Run DMC, and Public Enemy.  And BET not only reflect this, but help encourage the range in the genre.

Now, mainstream rap is dominated by corporations that believe gangsta rap equals all of hip hop and will snub any act that doesn't fit this narrow view.  Once again, BET mirrors this trend.  Naturally, the network is getting criticized along with the corporations and sellout rappers who profit from the new status quo.

That's the issue.  Does BET and by extension hip hop stick with the current materialistic path?  Or will the network dare to take some risks that will defy people's expectations and result in real innovation?

zeraze

     you just totally took what I said. ........i'm left with nothing

It's kind of sad when you have MASTER P telling you to "Ayo, clean yo sh*t up!"

Master P's just posing...he contributed to the shyt that is now rap music and now he wants to condemn it.

[Jenn]

I don't remember No Limit being that bad in the grand scheme of things. Or maybe I'm just being blind because they gave us Mia X.

[bluezulu]

No they were not that bad, but now P is middle aged. He has shown what the rap music can do. His son is a big success and will be hooping for USC, so now he has pimped the system for all that he can the only way to stay relevant is to do some sh*t like this. It wont work. The kids who grew up on his music are now young adults. How black folks mind work is wtf? who is this nigga to be preaching to me? Wasn't he the same mofo talking about bout it bout it rowdy rowdy and now that his a** is dried up he wants to start preaching? This is not going to work.

[Catch22]

No they were not that bad, but now P is middle aged. He has shown what the rap music can do. His son is a big success and will be hooping for USC, so now he has pimped the system for all that he can the only way to stay relevant is to do some sh*t like this. It wont work. The kids who grew up on his music are now young adults. How black folks mind work is wtf? who is this nigga to be preaching to me? Wasn't he the same mofo talking about bout it bout it rowdy rowdy and now that his a** is dried up he wants to start preaching? This is not going to work.

Exactly. 

[zeraze]

It's hypocritical for Don Imus to be fired after calling Black women "nappy headed hos" when BET still airs minstrel rap videos that say far worse.

Z, you're too smart to say such ridiculous sh*t.

Prove me wrong that BET doesn't air minstrel rap, and I'll retract the statement.

zeraze

You don't need to retract it. Stand by your stupid, for all I care.

Struck a nerve?

zeraze

[zeraze]

No they were not that bad, but now P is middle aged. He has shown what the rap music can do. His son is a big success and will be hooping for USC, so now he has pimped the system for all that he can the only way to stay relevant is to do some sh*t like this. It wont work. The kids who grew up on his music are now young adults. How black folks mind work is wtf? who is this nigga to be preaching to me? Wasn't he the same mofo talking about bout it bout it rowdy rowdy and now that his a** is dried up he wants to start preaching? This is not going to work.

Exactly. 

Actually, Master P sounds like any parent who owns up to his past mistakes in hopes of preventing his kids from repeating them.  He's not alone since a lot of rap fans turned parents are going through similiar soul searching.

On that note, check out this relevent column:

http://www.blacksuperhero.com/bsh/viewtopic.php?t=5308&highlight=hip+hop

zeraze

[Vic Vega]

Of course we could have a Rap Video program that showed nothing but Bahamidia, Classic Native Tongues, Lupe Fiasco, Pharoe Monch, Dead Prez and Mos Def.

And no one will watch it. Maybe Reg can hire Cornel West to be a V.J., that might help.

One person's Minstrelsy is another's intentionally funny or just plain entertaining.

I'm no fan of Dem Franchise Boys. But my old self ain't the target market.
If I'm in a hip hop club at THIS stage of my life, you HAVE MY PERMISSION  to shoot me.    

BET is not and never has been a public affairs station to my knowledge. Its a business. Its in their intrest to give the kids more or less what they want. S and P considered, of course.

Really there isn't anything in those videos (as loathsome as many of them are) that are as destructive as poor parenting. The source from which all knuckle heads come.

Lets not take our eye off the ball here, shall we?     

IMUS got booted because he was live on public airwaves was deemed to be offensive and was thusly thrown under the bus by his bottom line bosses.

Pastor Tory only answers to Universal. Imus answered to his bosses and the public(those pesky airwaves again). THAT'S the difference.

end o' rant.

[Curtis Metcalf]

Z, you said this:

It's hypocritical for Don Imus to be fired after calling Black women "nappy headed hos" when BET still airs minstrel rap videos that say far worse.

And then this:

Of course, Black people should be angry about Imus insulting Black people. I just think we shouldn't give a Black person a pass for doing the same thing.

It's all about consistency.

And this:

Prove me wrong that BET doesn't air minstrel rap, and I'll retract the statement.

I think I understand the point you're trying to make but, in retrospect, don't you think "hypocritical" is overstating things.  There is no equivalence between Imus' insult and airing rap videos on BET.  Or as Reginald put it:

Imus has been doing his racist bit on air for a long time;  probably before RAPPER'S DELIGHT came out.  To tie the two together is absurd.

Moving on, what do you think of this statement:

My solution to all this is not focus on banning things (even through BET has the most stringent rules of ANY network that airs music videos) but to create a wider range of programming that LEADS the culture without LEAVING it.  If art reflects society and we don't like what we see, why don't we focus on fixing the culture, and the cultural expression will follow.

I agree with that.  I don't believe BET or any other media outlet has the power to lead the culture.  They seek to profit from its expression.  There is no gateway power there.  Whatever it is, if people will watch it and advertisers will buy ads, it will get shown.

[Curtis Metcalf]

Of course we could have a Rap Video program that showed nothing but Bahamidia, Classic Native Tongues, Lupe Fiasco, Pharoe Monch, Dead Prez and Mos Def.

And no one will watch it. Maybe Reg can hire Cornel West to be a V.J., that might help.
...
end o' rant.

Or not.  Dr. West may run off as many as he attracts.  Anyway, cosign that whole rant.

[Jenn]

Struck a nerve?

More like a funny bone.

I don't believe BET or any other media outlet has the power to lead the culture.

Nor should they. That's not their responsibility. BET shows what the people want to see. If nigger-booty videos are what the viewers want, then nigger-booty videos are what the viewers get. There's a reason why "College Hill" is on its 4th season and "Season of the Tiger" went down in flames. Hudlin has to eat, too, so why the hell should BET waste millions of dollars in resources for programs that black folks aren't going to watch? It's much easier to bitch and moan about representation in Hollywood than to support films like "Akeelah and the Bee" or "The Gospel", both which did miserably in theaters.

I got into a ton of trouble once because I said that I don't watch BET (or read dot com, for that matter). But it's true - I don't, except for "Ballers". When things don't interest me, I turn them off. That's all these whiners need to do. You don't like BET? TURN IT OFF. If you can give me an hour-by-hour rundown of what's going on, then shut up.

[Reginald Hudlin]

There was a great thread in the previous incarnation of this site called WHO'S A COON? 

What was interesting about it is the debate over...well, who is a coon.  There were a lot of names on that list that I disagreed with.

What may be painfully apparent to you as "minstrel rap" may not be to others.  Who gets to judge?

[Jenn]

I was confronted in a parking lot today by a white woman who was very upset that her children heard me blasting a song with the word "nigger" in it. She more or less told me that it was blacks like me that made it hard for the black race. The song? "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey", by Sly & the Family Stone. She couldn't understand why I couldn't stop laughing.

[Pantherfan]

Of course we could have a Rap Video program that showed nothing but Bahamidia, Classic Native Tongues, Lupe Fiasco, Pharoe Monch, Dead Prez and Mos Def.

And no one will watch it. Maybe Reg can hire Cornel West to be a V.J., that might help.

One person's Minstrelsy is another's intentionally funny or just plain entertaining.

I think it would be better if videos by artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Dead Prez and the like run on the same music video show as Chamillionaire, Akon, 50 Cent, G-Unit, MIMS, Dem Franchize Boys, etc. Diversity is what's lacking in hip hop. It would be nice if there was at least one gusty program director who decided to think outside the box and show one music video and rap style that was unlike the rest you usually do see.

Not too long ago, I seen Mighty Casey's video "Black Rapping School" on Myspace. That video had me rolling, but you don't get diversity like that on any of the major music video outlets. If you want to see a music video where the artist is diverse as far theme, topic and style goes you have to watch it on youtube or something. Why not expose  the audience to something different every now and then? It's like if you feed your kid nothing but cornflakes when there are different breakfast cereals at the supermarket