[sankofalist]FW: Hip-Hop Press Praise Rapper Criminals
William Feagins, Jr.
will@highimpact-designs.com
Fri, 10 Jun 2005 17:19:01 -0400
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Hip-Hop Press Praise Rapper Criminals
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
=A9 2005 DiversityInc.com=AE
June 09, 2005
=20
Analysis of today's diversity news from Indian Country Today,
AOLBlackVoices.com, The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Herald, the Advocat=
e
and more:
Hip hop has its good and bad acts, but some artists are giving the easily
misunderstood musical genre a bad reputation, and it seems as if the worse
they behave, the more attention they get by the media and the better their
albums sell.
Rappers such as Lil' Kim, who recently was convicted of perjury, have put
artists on notice that prosecutors are closely watching the Wild West=ADlike
gunfights that have become common among rap crews in recent years. Lil'
Kim's case has put hip-hop radio stations that instigate potentially lethal
disputes among rap artists over the airwaves in the cross-hairs.
=A0
The high-profile and often violent episodes involving rappers highlight the
counterproductive role played by the hip-hop press, which has too often
embraced the culture of lawlessness.
The July issue of the magazine XXL, "The Jail Issue," touts "exclusive
interviews" with "hip-hop's incarcerated soldiers." This issue is consisten=
t
with the material found in similar magazines that praise rappers like
C-Murder, who is serving time in connection with a shooting, and Drama, who
was put away for armed robbery and assault, as well as several others who
are hailed as geniuses yet show little apparent concern for their victims,
says New York Times opinion writer Brent Staples.
"=8A Makers of luxury goods seem to have embraced this "crime pays" marketing
(registration required) strategy. They buy into the disturbing vision
offered by some of these magazines," says Staples. "The message is
disastrous for minority young people, who are already at risk of spending
their lives in prison or of dying prematurely from street violence."
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</SPAN></FONT><FONT SIZE=3D"6"><FONT FACE=3D"Arial"><SPAN STYLE=3D'font-size:19.0=
px'><B>Hip-Hop Press Praise Rapper Criminals<BR>
</B></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#808080"><FONT FACE=3D"Verdana, Helveti=
ca, Arial"><SPAN STYLE=3D'font-size:11.0px'>Compiled by the DiversityInc staff=
<BR>
© 2005 DiversityInc.com®<BR>
June 09, 2005<BR>
</SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT FACE=3D"Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><FONT SIZE=3D"4">=
<SPAN STYLE=3D'font-size:13.0px'> <BR>
<BR>
<I>Analysis of today's diversity news from Indian Country Today, AOLBlackVo=
ices.com, The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Herald, the Advocate and more:=
<BR>
<BR>
</I>Hip hop has its good and bad acts, but some artists are giving the easi=
ly misunderstood musical genre a bad reputation, and it seems as if the wors=
e they behave, the more attention they get by the media and the better their=
albums sell.<BR>
<BR>
Rappers such as Lil' Kim, who recently was convicted of perjury, have put a=
rtists on notice that prosecutors are closely watching the Wild West–l=
ike gunfights that have become common among rap crews in recent years. Lil' =
Kim's case has put hip-hop radio stations that instigate potentially lethal =
disputes among rap artists over the airwaves in the cross-hairs.<BR>
=A0<BR>
The high-profile and often violent episodes involving rappers highlight the=
counterproductive role played by the hip-hop press, which has too often emb=
raced the culture of lawlessness. <BR>
<BR>
The July issue of the magazine <I>XXL</I>, "The Jail Issue," tout=
s "exclusive interviews" with "hip-hop's incarcerated soldier=
s." This issue is consistent with the material found in similar magazin=
es that praise rappers like C-Murder, who is serving time in connection with=
a shooting, and Drama, who was put away for armed robbery and assault, as w=
ell as several others who are hailed as geniuses yet show little apparent co=
ncern for their victims, says New York Times opinion writer Brent Staples.<B=
R>
<BR>
"… Makers of luxury goods seem to have embraced this <FONT COLOR=
=3D"#902C28">"crime pays" marketing</FONT> (registration required) s=
trategy. They buy into the disturbing vision offered by some of these magazi=
nes," says Staples. "The message is disastrous for minority young =
people, who are already at risk of spending their lives in prison or of dyin=
g prematurely from street violence."<BR>
<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><SPAN STYLE=3D'font-size:12.0px'><BR>
<BR>
<BR>
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