i like to thank rev al for attacking hiphop with the very bad words bitch and nigga also he need go after hiphop stations so we clean hiphop up what yall think

The media has always been the missing link. Artists have the RIGHT to say anything they want, and Broadcasters have the RIGHT to air most of it. But Broadcasters have a Responsibility which must balance that right. Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

I worked for the President of RKO Radio, who would have gone to the wall defending radio's right to carry Howard Stern, but who often told us that he would leave radio before one of his stations did carry Stern. If that was what it took to be successful and responsible to shareholders, then he'd rather find another line of work.

The media needs to spend a great deal more time examining and clarifying its role as a gatekeeper.

Wasn't there a song written that pretty much details the medias role "Dirty Laundry" at least for news @ 5, 10, and 11! If it ain't bad news it ain't news!

The gatekeeper is guarding the bank vault where the profits from irresponsible radio managers is kept.

shhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeet.....i dont tink dat the rev shood atak hip ho stationz

djfrresh>>also he need go after hiphop stations so we clean hiphop up what yall think

Let's not forget record/music company executives who are the "gatekeepers" that decide to mostly sign artists that give us the usual bitch/ho tripe. While I don't have statistics, I would venture to guess most of these executives are white males.

The rapper, KRS One was refused a major recording deal because his lyrics were too "positive" and did not contain the usual cliche's the executives insist the public wants to hear exclusively. It appears to be the same old story of the white man trying to keep the black community "in their place."

While I don't agree with Sharpton's pleas for censorship, applying market and peer pressure on rappers and the companies that promote them can be a good thing in pushing for a more progressive message in lyrics.

While I'm in rant mode, let's take a look at the word "ho." As a college professor friend of mine pointed out to a student who is an aspiring rapper, "prostitution is a form of SLAVERY!" What business do black rappers and white (as well as black) executives have in promoting a form of slavery?

Hip Hop stations are playing well-edited versions of songs, as they should. I believe that socially conscious Hip Hop lyrics should be encouraged by the industry. Ludacris' "Runaway Love" and "Slap" are good examples of this.

I'm thinking the Hip Hop music is only reflecting an existing attitude. Controlling the music isn't going to change the basic culture that leads to the creation of the music.

I am so old school.

the title of this thread is offensive.
remove it.
tdanner might like it but I dont.
nappy headed white chick

>>I'm thinking the Hip Hop music is only reflecting an existing attitude.

Yes, and no. There will always be the argument of whether media and art influences real life, or merely reflects it. Some of both are true. If expressions only reflect, advertising and social advocacy, as two examples, would not continue to exist.

Trash lyrics, regardless of musical style, don't accurately reflect entire cultures, just as mindless sitcoms don't reflect how all Americans live.

Yeah they should have banned that "Louie Louie" song, how dare they lay that "tripe" on the children of America! :-)

and who ARE those Beatle guys, with all those songs that imply and glorify drug use... talk about trash lyrics!!! ;->

Who posted anything advocating a ban? Certainly not me.

Songs glorifying drug use were all over the airwaves in the late '60s but there is not much of that today. Change occurred, not through banning song lyrics, but due to market and peer pressure.

Now "Louie Louie" is a case unto itself. Four-letter words like "girl," "ship," and "fine" should never be targeted at young people.