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Rappers and 'Free Speech'

After a famous white DJ called a women's basketball team (made up of several black women) 'Nappy Headed Hoes' and got fired, a hip hop summit was called. Russell Simmonds wants the words 'nigger','bitch' and 'hoe' cut out of the clean versions of rap songs. He is calling for censorship still he is upholding free speech as rappers are seen as artists painting a picture of society.

I agree with Russell in this case as I believe everyone should be free to say what they think and believe is right i.e. express their opinion on any matter (apart from the holocaust 'sarcasm') well that is free speech for you today. However if someone is exaggerating and glorifying something with ignorance then something must be done about it.

People in the black community have been complaining about rappers calling women bitches and hoes for a while now. Yet the situation comes to light when a white man called some black girls 'nappy headed hoes'. It is true that that there are actually females out there from all races that behaves promiscuously. However the upstanding and independent ladies bare the brunt of the others by being referred to as hoes and bitches. The confusion starts when the majority of rap albums are bought by white people and when they hear this they become all too familiar with the words in the black community and dare to use them to a black person. The only ones to blame in this case are the rap artistes themselves as they should know by now that hip hop/rap is the voice o the youth and bigger than any other music genre at the moment. Therefore it is followed most young people regardless of their colour. Rappers should be responsible enough to have a say in their lyrics despite money being offered to them to make endless use of these demeaning words to describe a people.

I see this whole hip hop rap sales thing as a big exploitation i.e. selling their black culture or struggle. To sell records a rapper may say things that he never sees however horrific it is and say it is code of the streets and the rest of it. Still some rappers are millionaires and claim to be still on the streets. Instead of trying to uplift their communities they try and continue with the same gang banging and drug selling not realising that as a community they are destroying themselves faster than external forces. These rap millionaires could easily buy the projects where they are from and rent them out to the people there, in this case they could rightly say 'this is my hood', encourage business activity and create jobs among the young people, why not start something real big? Instead they are still telling their ghetto story despite living outside the ghetto in mansions. Why not allow someone else to tell it and you move on to bigger and better things, be innovative!

The majority of the black folks seem to having ill feelings against this rappers as to be honest if it wasn't for the record sales which are responsible for young white youths etc then they wouldn't be as big as they are now. Therefore you could say some rappers pimp their communities of their struggle and hardships, glorifying to make big money, not helping to solve any of them. They'd rather say stop snitching, if a black person murders another then you shouldn't tell the feds? I mean if these were some Black Panther revolutionaries it would have been a different story, however these 'gangsters' are all too afraid of the police to gain my respect and sympathy. However they are too quick to prey on their own often for no important reason. The situation is complex but a set of rules and basic principles and loyalty should be respected disregarding money.

I don't want to stray from the point however I believe this thing is way deeper than hip hop and free speech. It must be said that money plays a big part and respect and loyalty to your people comes next. I believe a few rappers such as NYOil, Nas, Dead Prez, Common, Papoose understands this whole scenario and are intelligent to know the differentiate between being a gangster and being a revolutionary. The others are just caught up in this 'American Dream' story forgetting their past etc. Like I said selling the struggle of hardworking people as their own and giving other people the right to take the piss out of black folks.

I'm still all for free speech as I myself like to say whatever I feel is right, still there must be some responsibility on the part of these rap artistes who are followed by the mass of the young people today. Some of these rappers are well into their thirties and still talking about gang banging or other issues only teenagers would find interesting.

This censorship thing brings me back a couple years ago when reggae/ dancehall/ bashment artistes were under pressure from gay groups for 'the murder of gays in their songs'. Apart from Sizzla, Bounty Killa and Capleton, the other artiste accused were too quick to apologise to protect their pockets. Yet rappers feel unrepentant when using the N-word as well as murdering black people mainly males in their songs. The point I'm making is that these artistes are afraid of the gay community yet when it comes to their own community they don't give a damn! These rappers and dancehall artistes continue to murder black people in their songs. Take this lyric for example 'I murder Niggas Free of charge'. This song is played on radio oblivious to people, yet if the rapper said ' I murder gaysor white peeps free of charge' then there would be an uproar and the rapper would have been made to apologise for their behaviour. If other white young youths were being murdered on the scale of black young males then the hip hop community would be cautioned and stopped from using those lyrics in their songs. The argument is that this is going on in society and they are allowed to say it. How about having some responsibility and denounce these murders inyour songs. If the rappers rap about it enough then he message will eventually come across. A better idea would be the rappers to come together and create a new industry which could benefit each community torn apart by gang warfare. This will not be easy but its worth a try. After saying this I must commend the rappers who are doing something as many are doing good works and we are not hearing about it so well done to them.

Despite its name 'Free speech' is not as clear cut as it seems as there are several communities or topics that rappers dare to mention in their lyrics. They would be called hate speakers etc. However if rappers are not alking about them then free speech i.e. rappers can continue to 'kill niggers in their songs' and it's perfectly fine. The black community must stand up and persecute those who aim to destroy their communities.

Click here to see Russel Simmonds speakon national tv about rap and freespeech

Click here to See Jump Off TV's coverage of this story..and more!

Click here to watch Camron on CNN talking about his views on 'snitchin'

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