Rap mogul, Russell Simmons wants to make rap less misogynistic and racist

Did you watch Oprah last week when she had Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records, and other moguls in the rap industry discuss misogyny and the sexist treatment of women in rap music? The show was the second part of a 2 part show where Oprah and company talked about the Don Imus situation including how rapper culture is derogatory towards women. If you missed it, here's a recap of the show I'm talking about it.

What I found interesting about the show was that there was a group of female students from Wellman college with Gail who satellited in from campus, and these ladies basically cornered the rap execs and said, "What are you going to do?...No more talking...What action are you going to take to fix the problem of misogyny and sexism in the rap industry?" I applauded the girls for sticking to their guns, and making these moguls declare some kind of action.

So now, Russell Simmons has very publicly asked the recording and broadcasting industries for a uniform standard for eliminating offensive words from rap songs like "Ho", "Bitch" and "N*gger," considering these terms extreme curse words. By holding the rappers, the producers, and broadcasters to a higher standard, the rap industry can start demonstrating corporate and social responsibility.

There has been mixed reactions to Simmons' declaration. The big music companies like Sony, Universal Music Group, and Atlantic records are keeping mum, for the moment, and Joan Morgan, author of the book "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down," says,

"The announcement amounted to "absolutely nothing." She called the recommendations "short-sighted at best and disingenuous at worst." It's an "anemic, insufficient response" that failed to address homophobia and other issues in certain strains of hip-hop culture and rap music.

Calling for the removal of the three epithets assumes "all of the violence, misogyny and sexism in hip-hop is only expressed in" those words...It's says let's take the responsibility away from people creating the content and put it back on the corporations."

Those are some tough words from Ms. Morgan but I agree with her. Just calling for the elimination of three words is not going to even make a dent in what is a monumental issue in the rap/hip-hop culture. It's like trying to put a band-aid on a severed limb gushing blood. But, I give Russell Simmons at least some credit for starting some action. What will be more telling is, in time, how much he actually he uses his power and influence to make real lasting changes. As well, one man can only do so much, there has to be a united group effort made by the entire rap/hip-hop industry. Let's see what happens.

[via CNN.com]