The Mighty O
I doubt it was a coincidence that Imus was fired, only minutes AFTER Oprah had the Rutger's women basketball team on her show. They were only on there a short time but...well, it is Oprah.
Before more advertisers could call CBS to cancel their spots, Les Moonves, CBS Head, pulled the plug, himself.
No one wants The Mighty O on their bad side. Got that?
In a related, but not yet discussed twist, the irony is that O has also blasted Hip Hop for its use of "ho" and other derogatory terms against women. She's made no bones about seeing no need to give credence to the genre's success by having Hip Hop artists on her show.
Her verbal barbs and outright disdain for some of the music, however, did not negatively impact Hip Hop music sales.
Not a real head scratcher. Oprah's audience members are, I'm guessing Adult Contemporary fans, not Hip Hop.
But, I think it's time for her to touch on this issue again. The time is ripe. The right type of show, with the right guests on both sides of the issue may be necessary to bring about a solution to the misogyny in rap culture.
An article in today's, Baltimore Sun, "Remark renews old hip-hop debate," jump starts the topic.
Some of the article I flat out disagree with.
Especially this comment by author, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting: "Hip-hop gave Imus the language. He wouldn't have known what a 'ho' was if it weren't for rap records."
That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard in MY LIFE!
So dumb, it's got me exxagerating.
Do you really think Don Imus listened to Hip Hop on the regular other than snippets from news bits about some of the music's misogyny?
And please, let's continue to use the word "some." Because ALL rap music is not created equal. And all rap artists aren't misogynistic.
We can start the discussion, in earnest, by leveling all of the broadbased, generalizations.
Being that the term existed long before the popularity of rap, I hardly think rap music taught Imus the word "ho." He's an old bird from way back.
I would't even blame 70's blaxploitation movies for the term going mainstream.
What would that say? That the mainstream's ears were virgin until a movie or song taught us naughty words?
Okay!
However, most of the article I agree with.
Like this quote, where Ms. Sharlpley-Whiting redeems her former remark: "The sad thing is that there seems to be no moral authority in the hip-hop community. We are creating the soundtrack to our own opression."
And, especially this: "Eventually the powerful white guys who bankroll these misogynistic rap albums may think twice about the lyrics."
Here is where the rubber of this entire discussion meets the road!
It's about the green, the cheese, the scrilla, the cream! The money. It's about the money.
One of the reasons CBS took a "wait and see" approach on Imus' firing was because they needed to do a quick P&L to decide if he'd earn them more money than he'd lose.
Guessing here, but once GM, Proctor & Gamble and American Express pulled out, those numbers quickly went from black to red.
Same with Hip-Hop. It's earning major record labels billons. What's a little "ho" between friends when you're laughing all the way to your swiss bank account?
When the label executives decide to wield their power over creative artistry, it'll only be after the P&L numbers turn red.
As an author, I'm not thrilled about the powers-that-be telling someone what they can and can't say creatively. But rap music wasn't always misogynistic and plenty of contemporary hip hoppers still manage to produce good music without being so.
So it's possible.
Note to rappers: Misogyny is NOT creativity!
Still, it's not Fifty Cent or Jay-Z that needs to be on Oprah's couch being grilled about lyrics. It's the head of Sony, Universal or Def Jam (oh wait...that is Jay-Z).
Let's make them all squirm and admit, publicly, that as long as they're making green they could care less what their rappers spit. They don't care how those lyrics depict women or the number of young listeners that may take the lyrics to heart.
At least then, the entire issue could be laid to rest in a sense. It's sort of like a parent saying, "You can't have that because I said so. Now that's that."
Because we can debate the good, bad and ugly of rap's bad side all day long. But to cut down rap's lyrical content while ignoring the fact that label executives green light CDs jam packed with negative, downright ugly lyrics, every day, makes about as much sense as Imus learning the word "ho" from a rap song.
Before more advertisers could call CBS to cancel their spots, Les Moonves, CBS Head, pulled the plug, himself.
No one wants The Mighty O on their bad side. Got that?
In a related, but not yet discussed twist, the irony is that O has also blasted Hip Hop for its use of "ho" and other derogatory terms against women. She's made no bones about seeing no need to give credence to the genre's success by having Hip Hop artists on her show.
Her verbal barbs and outright disdain for some of the music, however, did not negatively impact Hip Hop music sales.
Not a real head scratcher. Oprah's audience members are, I'm guessing Adult Contemporary fans, not Hip Hop.
But, I think it's time for her to touch on this issue again. The time is ripe. The right type of show, with the right guests on both sides of the issue may be necessary to bring about a solution to the misogyny in rap culture.
An article in today's, Baltimore Sun, "Remark renews old hip-hop debate," jump starts the topic.
Some of the article I flat out disagree with.
Especially this comment by author, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting: "Hip-hop gave Imus the language. He wouldn't have known what a 'ho' was if it weren't for rap records."
That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard in MY LIFE!
So dumb, it's got me exxagerating.
Do you really think Don Imus listened to Hip Hop on the regular other than snippets from news bits about some of the music's misogyny?
And please, let's continue to use the word "some." Because ALL rap music is not created equal. And all rap artists aren't misogynistic.
We can start the discussion, in earnest, by leveling all of the broadbased, generalizations.
Being that the term existed long before the popularity of rap, I hardly think rap music taught Imus the word "ho." He's an old bird from way back.
I would't even blame 70's blaxploitation movies for the term going mainstream.
What would that say? That the mainstream's ears were virgin until a movie or song taught us naughty words?
Okay!
However, most of the article I agree with.
Like this quote, where Ms. Sharlpley-Whiting redeems her former remark: "The sad thing is that there seems to be no moral authority in the hip-hop community. We are creating the soundtrack to our own opression."
And, especially this: "Eventually the powerful white guys who bankroll these misogynistic rap albums may think twice about the lyrics."
Here is where the rubber of this entire discussion meets the road!
It's about the green, the cheese, the scrilla, the cream! The money. It's about the money.
One of the reasons CBS took a "wait and see" approach on Imus' firing was because they needed to do a quick P&L to decide if he'd earn them more money than he'd lose.
Guessing here, but once GM, Proctor & Gamble and American Express pulled out, those numbers quickly went from black to red.
Same with Hip-Hop. It's earning major record labels billons. What's a little "ho" between friends when you're laughing all the way to your swiss bank account?
When the label executives decide to wield their power over creative artistry, it'll only be after the P&L numbers turn red.
As an author, I'm not thrilled about the powers-that-be telling someone what they can and can't say creatively. But rap music wasn't always misogynistic and plenty of contemporary hip hoppers still manage to produce good music without being so.
So it's possible.
Note to rappers: Misogyny is NOT creativity!
Still, it's not Fifty Cent or Jay-Z that needs to be on Oprah's couch being grilled about lyrics. It's the head of Sony, Universal or Def Jam (oh wait...that is Jay-Z).
Let's make them all squirm and admit, publicly, that as long as they're making green they could care less what their rappers spit. They don't care how those lyrics depict women or the number of young listeners that may take the lyrics to heart.
At least then, the entire issue could be laid to rest in a sense. It's sort of like a parent saying, "You can't have that because I said so. Now that's that."
Because we can debate the good, bad and ugly of rap's bad side all day long. But to cut down rap's lyrical content while ignoring the fact that label executives green light CDs jam packed with negative, downright ugly lyrics, every day, makes about as much sense as Imus learning the word "ho" from a rap song.
posted by Paula at 10:57 AM
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