Master P and David Banner both testified at a Congressional hearing held in Washington, D.C. to discuss the lyrical content and imagery of African-American women in hip-hop.
During the hearing, music videos showing scantily clad women were played and the uses of the word "b***h", "h*e" and 'ni**a' were discussed.
"This hearing is not anti-hip-hop. I am a fan of hip-hop," Rush, who was known for founding the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers during the 1960s, said. "[But] there is a need to address the issue of violence, hate and degradation that has reduced too many of our youngsters to automatons."
All parties seemed to disagree on who was to blame for the offensive material but they all opposed government censorship as a solution.
David Banner took the panel in hip-hop's defense saying the culture shouldn't be blamed for society ills.
"If by some stroke of the pen hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present in our communities," he said. "Drugs, violence and the criminal element were around long before hip-hop existed."
Master P, who chose to clean up his lyrics this year, told the panel he plans to continue to release non-explicit music and hopes his peers will follow suit.
"I just made the music that I feel, not realizing I'm affecting kids for tomorrow," explained the No Limit founder. "So if I can do anything today to change this, I'm going to take a stand and do that."
E. Faye Williams, chair of the National Congress of Black Women, said the entertainment industry should be held accountable.
"We have allowed greedy corporate executives - especially those in the entertainment industry - to lead many of our young people to believe that it is OK to entertain themselves by destroying the culture of our people," she said.
Industry executives argued that they go out of their way to edit material that may be deemed offensive but they are not in the business of censorship.
"We have a responsibility to speak authentically to our viewers," said Dauman. "[But] we also believe that it is not our role to censor the creative expression of artists."
SOURCE: SOHH.COM
During the hearing, music videos showing scantily clad women were played and the uses of the word "b***h", "h*e" and 'ni**a' were discussed.
"This hearing is not anti-hip-hop. I am a fan of hip-hop," Rush, who was known for founding the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers during the 1960s, said. "[But] there is a need to address the issue of violence, hate and degradation that has reduced too many of our youngsters to automatons."
All parties seemed to disagree on who was to blame for the offensive material but they all opposed government censorship as a solution.
David Banner took the panel in hip-hop's defense saying the culture shouldn't be blamed for society ills.
"If by some stroke of the pen hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present in our communities," he said. "Drugs, violence and the criminal element were around long before hip-hop existed."
Master P, who chose to clean up his lyrics this year, told the panel he plans to continue to release non-explicit music and hopes his peers will follow suit.
"I just made the music that I feel, not realizing I'm affecting kids for tomorrow," explained the No Limit founder. "So if I can do anything today to change this, I'm going to take a stand and do that."
E. Faye Williams, chair of the National Congress of Black Women, said the entertainment industry should be held accountable.
"We have allowed greedy corporate executives - especially those in the entertainment industry - to lead many of our young people to believe that it is OK to entertain themselves by destroying the culture of our people," she said.
Industry executives argued that they go out of their way to edit material that may be deemed offensive but they are not in the business of censorship.
"We have a responsibility to speak authentically to our viewers," said Dauman. "[But] we also believe that it is not our role to censor the creative expression of artists."
SOURCE: SOHH.COM
