Russell Simmons and the Fight against Hip-Hop

Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons recently made a bold statement on the Oprah Winfrey show which called for the cleaning up of lyrics in rap and hip hop music. Specifically citing the dreaded ‘n-word,’ Simmons believes that there is a war of racial tension in this country, especially when it comes to language and who can use racially charged language. Simmons believes that African Americans use the ‘black right’ of using these derogatory terms too much, and are lessening its historical implications.

Simmons stated on a radio talk show that “I think it’s ok to take the n-word, bitches and ho’s off the radio and rap records, but what I’m asking for is another level of corporate responsibility from the radio and record companies, not from the artists themselves.”

Simmons is largely regarded as one of the founders of the hip hop movement through his work as the CEO of Def Jam Records, one of the preeminent rap labels, which he founded with producer Rick Rubin in 1984. Since then, Simmons has become the moral voice in hip-hop; the one that everyone turns to when anything goes wrong in the hip-hop community. Simmons has been looking to clean up the state of rap music for a long time, and this latest urge comes in the wake of the Don Imus scandal. Simmons believes that this scandal would not have even happened had the music been cleaned up.

Imus calling the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team, “nappy headed ho’s” was completely out of line, but these words are frequently used in popular songs all the time. If rap music complied by a set of regulations, would this event ever have happened?

I believe that Russell Simmons is not trying to censor rap artist’s expressions, because he knows where they are coming from and understands the language spoken on the streets. What he is trying to do is eliminate the linguistic dichotomy that exists in America, where it is ok for one group to use a certain set of words, but when someone else uses those same words, in the same context, it become a big deal. Hip hop and rap music are a humongous part of our current popular culture and is no longer seen as an art form that only African Americans can appreciate.

The regulations that Russell Simmons and the Reverend Al Sharpton are proposing will ultimately help American society. When these contested words are taken out of the discussion, the overall quality of rap music will go up, and there will be fewer cultural debates about the social implications of this genre.

This is an instance where censorship is necessary. We need to do something about the demeaning language and derogatory phrases used in almost every popular rap song. These regulations will not only decrease the racial divide in America, but will also challenge rap artists to express themselves in a more intelligent way. It seems that the only thing an artist has to do these days to make a hit record is to insult women over a catchy hook. This is not what the creators of rap had in mind for this art form and it should not remain this way. When hip-hop began, it was about telling the story about life on the streets and about the hard times they were facing; it had a message. Simmons is not aiming to censor young talents, but he wants to challenge them to bring these messages back to hip hop music, and not perpetuate these stereotypes that continue to damage the reputation of the hip hop community.

In order to get equal respect from the mainstream media, the hip hop community needs to embrace these regulations, and not look at them as a form of censorship, but as an opportunity to grow as artists and to bring people together.