Rock the Vote….Somewhere Else
AMW !.e. Talent: DJ Single Handed
August 15, 2007
As much as I can’t stand continually writing about this issue, I feel a responsibility to keep on bringing it up since something has to be done about it. Another rapper has caused a show to be cancelled because of a “blanket condemnation of hip-hop” (words used by author of The Hip Hop Generation Bakari Kitwana on a segment with Bill O’Reilly).
Nas was supposed to headline a Rock the Vote concert in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which was to encourage attendees to vote in the October 10 Ontario elections. The concert was scheduled to take place October 1 at the Ottawa Congress Centre. However, Rock the Vote and student sponsors from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa are looking for a new venue since the Congress Centre no longer wishes to host the event.
Conflicting stories have been given to student representatives from the universities. Spokeswoman Lynne Martichenko said the centre is designed for meetings, trade shows, conventions, and congresses of that nature. A concert would not be suitable for the set-up of the building. This explanation makes the most sense.
Peter Seguin, the vice president of food and beverage, spoke of the Congress Centre’s internal policy banning rappers altogether due to them bringing “an increased security risk” and “a vulnerability that the Congress Centre was not willing to take on.”
Paul Keogh, vice president of client services, reasoned that because Nas’ lyrics “promote gun violence,” the centre could not hold the show. I know that somewhere right now, Bill O’Reilly is smiling. Obviously somebody not only heard his tirade about Nas’ scheduled appearance at a concert at Virginia Tech honoring the shooting victims, but also took it to heart.
Banning one of the most positive rap artists left in the industry is a fantastic idea. O’Reilly cited the songs “Got Urself a Gun” (which was all braggadocio and no actual encouragement of violence) and “Ether” (a battle rap which by nature is all braggadocio and contains no actual encouragement of violence). This type of song makes the occasional appearance in a catalog filled with positive, uplifting songs (see “Black Girl Lost”, “If I Ruled the World”, and “I Can”) and compositions painting unbiased pictures of life on the streets (see “New York State of Mind”, “One Love”, and “One Mic”).
So, where are the songs that actually encourage gun violence? And why on earth would anyone think Nas would be dumb enough to perform “Got Urself a Gun” at a memorial to shooting victims?
Rock the Vote organizers are currently looking for another venue to hold the show in Canada, and Nas is still scheduled to perform at Virginia Tech despite complaints to university officials from families of the shooting victims. Score two victories for the Illmatic one.
The next time a rapper gets banned from a show due to lyrics that promote gun violence, I hope the rapper actually spits lyrics that promote gun violence. Gangsta rap has been out of the mainstream for quite sometime now. Hopefully anti-rap protesters and conservative pundits alike will leave that issue alone and complain about crass commercialism in hip-hop. Now that’s a constructive idea!
