This is all controlled, they never have people from the grass roots level on these panels they only have both sides, but what about those of us that are buying the records!!!!! what do we have to say with out us thier is no Nelly or TIP

Well I am glad somebody is dicussing this topic. If I don't like the degrading music I don't listen to it or watch the video. I still don't think rap artist should be censored because other music in other genres of music are not censored. Although I do believe some rap artist take it too far with the lyrics and the images that is their prerogative.

I think the whole thing is ignorant. Why does it have to be hip hop verses America. We are Americans, black white all americans. United we stand divided we fall. I wish I was on the show to discuss this issue. Why do we have to be seperate? This is our country. Yes our ancestors roots are from Africa but now we are American. If you really think about it, nobody is from the America's. Nobody is from Brazil, pueto rico, Colombia, etc. Everyone is from Europe or Africa or China or Russia. I dislike this divide we have of trying to make an identity within one. Its like saying you are a jelly bean but I am a black Jelly bean thefore I am not really a unit with all jelly beans in the box. Call me something different. I am black myself but I just want to say United we stand as a country and divided we fall. 1 race, 1 nation, 1 unit.

I grew up in Miami. My mom and dad did not like rap music. However, I still found a way to listen to rap music like NWA and Luke Skywalker (2 Live Crew). I loved the beats and the music then and I still do now. My question is: Why is it solely hip hop's resposibility to serve as a role model to our children? Even though I listened to 2 Live Crew and we all know how they degrade women. I never felt as if they were referring to me. My mom and dad instilled values that hip hop, movies, nor TV could break. I'm on the side of hip hop. Once we start censoring people, we cut our constitutional rights.

I wish that everyone would stop saying hip-hop started everything in reality the people in hip-hop are just copying what they see. The violence has been around way before hip-hop and so have the gangs. The violence is just more prevalence because of the increasing access to guns. I'm from New Jersey and I can remember murders and kidnappings and drive-byes, way before hip-hop even thought about talking about it, back in the late 70's early eighties.  A lot of what hip-hop talks about is what is going on in the streets now and has been going on for decades in Philadelphia the black mafia was commiting murders and leaving bodies in the streets back in the sixties and seventies. In Detroit the Chamber’s brothers and those before them were murdering and displaying fancy cars and jewelry in the 80’s. The whole concept of the so called make it rain, came from dealers in the 80’s and 90’s who used to do that in regular clubs and now you see it in video’s. The movie Paid in Full best describe rappers today, they are the 80’s and 90’s drug dealers. Because you have to understand most of these rappers grew up in the 80’s and 90’s.  As for the violence today what you have to understand is the crack era hurt our people, a lot of the youths raised themselves, and became cold and unremorseful. Most of the youths were looked out for and somewhat raised by dealers and gang members. We must come to an agreement on this issue or we as a people will be further separated and this we can not let happen. Our youth need us more than ever and ridiculing their likes and dislikes will not serve their purpose. We have to sit down with them and not just the ones in the good neighborhoods but the gang members and dealers and find out how we can help them. We all remember we were young and our parents wanted us to do certain things and we ended up doing the opposite. We have to figure out a way to help our youths or more will end up in the streets the prisons or in the cemetery.  And me personally have been in the first two situations and have numerous friends in the last. You have to keep an open mind that most rappers only can write about what they seen or been through thus the phrase keeping it real they can not write about france if they haven't been there.    

with all the debating on whether or not hip hop has a bad infulence on america, where is all the other "americans" who do have beef with this genre of music?

and as i watched the show last night i noticed that there was NO ONE on that stage that represents "ME" and my views on this issue.

everyone sat up there telling me how nelly's tip drill influenced me and how T.I.'s and NEllY's music influences my actions and my thoughts. How would any of them know if they are not asking me?

when is someone going to ask me how i feel about this issue?

Hey, wassup BET

Its the one and only DJ smoove. Im an up in coming DJ and Producer from Atlanta. The bottom line music is entertainment. It is no different from Movies, Porn or sitcoms. I feel that if  your children or mimicing T.I., Nelly or any "Gangsta Rapper", then the parents are to blame. You would not allow your kids to watch porn or a R- Rated movies why allow to listen to "Parental Advisory" music. At some point parents have to put their live aside and raise their children and stop blaming their mishaps on America /Hip Hop.

but before you can even get into the topic of hip hop;

you got to understand that there are more fake artist than there are REAL.

and the problem is; we use these "fake rappers" sort to speak; as an example of the black community as a whole.

people are prone to recognizing the BAD in every video.

the worst in every verse; and the ugly in every person.

--

hip hop isn't manual. they speak of it as if it’s an instructional guide.

rappers, such as T.I & Nelly aren't telling these young kids

"buy a gun, and go shoot everyone up" ( if that was the case I would be on the streets)

what they are doing; is telling their story. if they grew up in the projects; that's what they're going to rap about. if they got all the money they want, that's what they going to rap about.

they're not going to say WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS TO HEAR. what the "white man" thinks we should say. Hip Hop is our voice; and without it.

all of us will fall under deaf ears.

 

First of all I would like to state I am not replying to anyone else's comment. I would like to say that hip-hop is a form of expression. Times have changed, so has our music in some sense. I know that being 30 years old, and looking back on my life the kids of my generation did alot of Growing themselves up. Alot of our parents were so self-involved that they did not have time for us. We did not have the parental influence or guidance that these kids do now-a-days. So we, and I can surely speak for myself, turned to the streets to find a void-filler of the love we were lacking from our parents; we found familial ties, love, and security from the streets. With that being said we were subjected to alot of things we may should not have been. And alot of us grew up with "F*#k It" mentalities, and we have stories to talk about whether it's in the form of Hip-Hop, rock, pop, any music genre. Listen to other genres, we're generally saying the same thing. And living the lives that we have on the past, strengthening ourselves, and pulling our own selves out of the trenches that we've so long dwelled we...and I say it loosely...capitalize on our struggles and put it in rhythm form, add the 808's or however it is produced and now our kids hear it. Where the instruction comes in: It starts with parenting. If America has a problem with hip-hop, then it's up to America to monitor what they kids listen to, to make sure you know what your kids are doing when they are not around you, to quit making excuses for a lack of parenting that I so feel is going on in "America". Hip-Hop is a form of self expression. And guess what...Hip-Hop is doing major cross-overs and to me it's taking over in a major way. Give hip-hop a break..Invest the time you all take be-littling hip hop music and artists and put it into miscellaneous activities that occupy your children's time and you won't have to worry about the impact hip-hop has on your kids lives. Hip-Hop Lives Forever!!

i was just wondering if u dont listen to the music how do u know that is degradind?  What by word of mouth?  We seem to be running across alot of people that want to point the blame but really dont know what is going on they are just so ready to jump on the bandwagon because it seems like the thing to do to be accepted in "society" so to speak.  The last time I checked there were bigger things to worry about other than what the rappers are talking about in their songs.  Since u are so glade that these issues are being addressed what are u doing to change the world or give back to the community other than your two cents

 I think what's authentic is that blacks as a generation has fallen into the whole rap thing. Were're trying to be the chracter that T.I. and others are trying to betray, that's not the way we as blacks need to be reflecting our lives with. Videoes are like a movie non fictional, so why have all our energy on trying to be something that were're not. I think if T.I. and others think rap don't influence our culture, then take a look at our hood, our ghetto, I don't think nothing Positive is happen there. Trying to have things that is on those Videos. Females trying to be Beyonce, but don't have the money Beyonce have, so she will go broke trying to  look like her. We need to focus on the moral values of life paying bills on time, trying to establish good credit, doing something positive in our community where some child coming up will have something positive to go on, instead of all the negative that Rap brings to the table. Let T.I. and others start bringing positive role play to our hoods and ghettos and watch the change and different that makes. The rap game isn't trying to help the people that look up to them, only trying to out do each others there's nothing positive there, only more drama added to reflect on. If we feed the minds of our young generation on ways of trying to make a different and change our Hip Hop industry we will make a different.We've wouldn't be killing ourselves with Guns, Drugs Sex and violence.        

 

 

 

"EVERYTHING" you do is by choice regardless of what you think. You pee in the restroom because you "choose" not to use it on yourself. You "choose" to do wrong because it's what you yourself have decided to do. You cant blame the falts and wrong doings of the different cultures and ethnics on a simple music video by those that have experienced it. Children know about crime, drugs, and everything eles way before it is implied on music videos. The videos that are shown just give them a just of what goes on in the black neighborhoods!... Living and growing up in those types of enviorments you can not blame hip hop and their artists for the negative that is ocurring in America and everywhere else. Not once have any artist whether it be pop, rock, blues, hip hop or what ever say/implie "its right or cool to commite wrong doings" i agree with nelly.. out of all that was done throughout the video you were only offended by the end of it. If you were offended you should have been offended starting the first 10 seconds.! all in all.... "NO ONE PERSON OR GROUP OF PEOPLE CAN TRULLY AND HONESTLY BE HELD ACOUNTABLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF EVERYONE"

I AM FROM THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS AND I JUST WOULD LIKE TO SAY WE NEED TO STOP BLAMING HIP HOP FOR OUR ACTIONS.  WE AS PARENTS NEED TO STOP LETTING TV BE THE PARENT.  I HAVE A NEPHEW WHO  JUST TURN 18 TODAY AND GREW UP ON HIP HOP. HE GRADUATED WITH HONORS AND IS ATTENDING GEORGIA STATE STUDING LAW.  HE IS NOT OUT ON THE STREETS KILLING ANYONE OR SELLING DRUGS. BECAUSE HIS PARENTS AND I DID NOT LET TV BE THE PARENT.  WE HAVE TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN RIGHT FROM WRONG.  A MATTER OF FACT IF WE WANT TO BLAME HIP HOP WE ALSO NEED TO BLAME ROCK AND ROLL AND ALOT OF OTHER THINGS LIKE RATED-R MOVIES.  WHY ARE WE SO CONCERN ABOUT NELLYS' TIP DRILL VIDEO NO ONE BLAME OSIE OSBOURN WHEN HE BIT THE HEAD OFF OF THE BAT.  AS FAR AS I AM CONCERN THE WHOLE WORLD IS FULL OF DISTRUCTIVE THINGS THAT CAN INFLUENCE OUR CHILDREN TO DO WRONG.  BUT IT IS UP TO US AS PARENTS TO START THE TEACHING AT HOME AND NOT LET THE STREETS BE THE TEACHER OF OUR FUTURE.

Ok, my thoughts. First off what Crouch was saying was right and exact. We have historically been known to change illnesses in society for the better. Nelly, bless his soul was using excuses of what the power was and how to be in harmony with it. What happened to fight the Power? It's too bad we don't have many True Fathers in the game, peace to NYOil and the few that are though, most cats who supposedly "hip hop" really just don't give a *8*. There are responsible people who realize the impact and influence this culture has on kids whose parents are not present and are challenging the artist to be more accountable and I have no problem with it. To me it's more of a crusade against ignorance. I pretty much said all I felt on this in my Hip Hop's Identity Crisis editorial on Art of Rhyme here http://artofrhyme.com/aorblog/AORBlog.php?id=16 Cats need to be educated on hip hop primarily, that term is used so loosely by heads who don't know how and why this way of life was birthed. T.I. said it best "It's not that deep, we just having fun." Babies are dieing over this hip hop ish, but it's not that deep? There is a problem and some people need to be set straight. Those that are poisoning the minds of the youth need to be run from amongst us, that's how I feel. Because a culture moves as one toward one common cause, if one is detrimental towards that, be gone! This culture was not birthed to glorify genocide or disrespect our women but magazines that supposedly come in the name of hip hop will throw an artists doing just that on the front cover. They will get heavy rotation on "so called hip hop" video outlets. I would just say look at hip hop as your child and then you can see why some attack it the way they do because there are some things you will not let your kids get away with and if some artists are tired of being attacked then they need to grow the *8* up. Hip hop is Moses's people wildin' out at the base of Mt. Zion and when Moses comes down with the word to check em, they aint trying to hear it, and that's why it's in the state it's in. Like Bobbito said in the intro to the show last night, "hip hop peaked.........a long time ago" That was when it was used as a tool for cultural change and not just to make money. All these heads these days care about is these lil green pieces of paper with slave masters faces on it. Where are the moral values and principles? If you don't want knuckleheads sliding credit cards between your daughters butt cheeks, then why do it to sistas yourself? It's not that complex. All in the name of entertainment right? That's entertainment.................chicken george shuckin and jivin' ****8*az! Cousin Jeff is cool, but Toure's a dumb *** and the worst hip hop journalist ever, just check some of his work with Rolling Stone. This fool bragged about so called ruining Public Enemy's career. So many questions that need to be addressed that they have not asked yet, hopefully part 2 and 3 will. I took off work today for them. These rappers really need to stop playin themselves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8e76XpXD1o PEACE

I'm just so sick and tired of Hip-Hop being blamed for everything that's going on this world today. I mean it's like the world is being looked as a negative image. I mean come on, man, Hip-Hop didn't create violence, booty shaking, the way we talk and respond, none of that. The world created that. It's the media that always want us black people to be looked at as a bad influence. But you know, all I got to say is that I love Hip Hop music and I'm going to continue loving this music until the day I die. I mean people have their own opinion about things. And I don't care if they like the music or not. I'm just worried about my own opinion. And I feel that what I'm seeing today from most of our black people is lessons that are being taught and to show how money is made today. That's all that it is.