May 15th, 2007
AMW !.e. Talent: DJ Single Handed
The stigma attached to hip-hop and its artists has gotten in the way of rappers giving back to the community. The celebrity basketball fundraiser which was supposed to take place in Stamford, CT is the most recent example of this phenomenon. The reason for its cancellation: D-Block member Jadakiss was scheduled to make an appearance, and because of that, a high risk of violence at the event was present. An outcry of protesting from church and community leaders caused the event organizer to cancel the affair.
Among several e-mails that were written, some of them categorized rappers as “criminals” and “the worst of the worst.” One community leader called for the cancellation of the event or to have “‘clean’ entertainment” from “artists with ‘clean’ reputations.”
Last I checked, not all rappers have rap sheets (pun intended). If you ever have the need to make yourself look uneducated and unable to think for yourself, then generalizing a group of people using a negative connotation with no basis of truth is a great way to do just that.
Because of widely expressed negative opinion, the community missed out on a potentially great event which would have more than likely been an alternative to violence. I’m assuming the funds that were to be raised would have gone towards the community that the protesters claim to hold in such high regard.
This event reminds me of the time Nelly cancelled his bone marrow drive at Spelman College due to protesters. Violence was not the issue; misogyny was the topic at the forefront, specifically Nelly’s music video for his song “Tip Drill” and its degrading and overtly sexual portrayal of women.
I admit that I can see why the image of a credit card being swiped through a scantily-clad woman’s rear end would make people mad. I think the protesters had a legitimate issue with him, and their opinions deserved to be heard. However, the bone marrow drive did not deserve any action that was taken to prevent it from happening.
If a high-profile person that hasn’t hurt anybody (the music video pissed people off, but it did not hurt anybody that I’m aware of) chooses to use his/her money, connections, and other resources to give to those who need it, then let him/her do it! If we concentrate so much on the negative that it winds up hindering the positive instead of facilitating it, then how is necessary good work supposed to get done?
Regarding the Jadakiss issue, the main theme of all the protesting is that hip-hop brings violence. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Poverty brings violence. Lack of opportunity brings violence. Hopelessness with no foreseeable “bright future” brings violence. Hip-hop merely points it out. It reports on the violence that goes on without sugarcoating it.
Actually, hip-hop used to report on violence. Now it reports on Chevy’s with butterfly doors and Cadillacs with D’s on them. Boy, do I miss those days when hip-hop used to bring violence (to the masses via the words to its songs). There is still much to report on, and all of it deserves to be heard.
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