Thug Life Army

"Dig a Hole! Go ''Head. Burry Yourself!": White Power Behind Black Poison in Hip Hop by RevolutionMary

Yes, the Black community within Hip Hop needs some serious introspection. I make no excuse for rappers, video "chicks", video directors, or Black-owned media about that. However, that is "family business" that we must address ourselves, and I feel outsiders have no real place in that particular conversation.

I must say something however, when rappers are blamed for the representations and distribution of the troubling content of rap songs and media images. The investigation into these matters have simply stopped too short. Some have said it before me, but it bears repeating. We mustn''t fall for the big diversion of scapegoatting rappers for doing the job their EMPLOYERS pay them to do. The heart of the matter goes deeper than the misogyny or violence embedded in the psyches or lyrics of rap artists.

The real question to ask is why is it that the record executives who employ them—Jimmy Iovine (co-founder of Interscope Records), Clive Davis (founder of Arista Records and J Records, President of RCA Records, the RCA Music Group and the North American division of BMG) Lowry Mays (Chairman of the Board of Clear Channel Communications ), David Geffen (Geffen Records and Barack Obama's biggest backer), Sumner Redstone([formerly Rothstein] majority owner and Chairman of the Board of the National Amusements theater chain and majority owner of Midway Games, Viacom and CBS Corporation) , Jeff Smulyan (CEO of Emmis )—are so comfortable with disseminating the messages and music of Snoop, the Ying Yang Twins, 50 Cent, etc. and are likewise so uncomfortable disseminating the messages and music of Mos Def, Jean Grae, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Little Brother, and the countless unsigned talents who rap about more positive, balanced, and honest portrayals of the wide spectrum of Black experience that counters the monolith that those executives have fed us for the past ten years or more?

What we see in commercial rap is no different than what we see in urban communities. The promotion of gun-play and disrespect of women is as mysteriously pumped into our communities as it is mysterious how liquor stores, narcotic drugs, guns, and prison-prep schools appear there. All are poisonous to the growth of the inhabitants of our communities, and the truth of the matter is that it takes forces with a lot of power, wealth, and influence to distribute poison so widely, and for so long. As "rich" as Snoop, 50, or any other rapper may be, we all know their real power does not stretch that far.

So, "O.kay," I say to the buzz around hip hop being the ilk of American society. Because it is sparking the investigation that will inevitably lead right past us. "Keep digging" white corporate media who keeps harping on this. "Dig a hole! Go ''head…Bury yourself!"

RevolutionMary

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