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If I had my way, this would be the last time "Imus" and "hip-hop" would be used in the same sentence.
By now, we all know about Don Imus' "nappy-headed hoes" comment and the stir it created. But what has spawned in its wake is an open attack on hip-hop. How did this happen? Well, Imus stated that rappers talk about black women the same way, if not worse, in their lyrics.
This is a valid point in general -- but irrelevant to the situation.
Don Imus used hip-hop as a scapegoat - and we let him do it.
Imus' comments and issues with hip-hop are separate, distinct issues and should be discussed as such first before any consequential debates are launched.
Hip-Hop
It's difficult to talk about the two simultaneously, but since we are here now, in this post-Imus era where the debate as already begun, let's work our way backwards and start with hip-hop first -- the evolution of which has come a long way from rhymes that make you think to phat beats that mask mindless tirades.
In no way do I advocate for the use of "bitch" or "ho" in lyrics. Personally, I hate the words, but I also have come to understand their use in certain songs and scenarios.
I firmly believe that rappers, good rappers, are not only poets, but philosophers. They speak of their world, their experience, through a gritty, unfiltered lense. Thus, the picture is not always pretty. There are women who do carry themselves in a less than ladylike, classless, tasteless way for whatever reason. There are women who are promiscuous, who prostitute themselves willingly and of their own accord. Although derogatory, although I do not support it and do not like it, although I do not use these words myself, I understand an artist's creative license to use such terms in describing his or her own experience or world view. Would I let my (future) kids listen to these lyrics - hell no! As intelligent artists, I would love for them to use other terms, but that's not up to me. I don't support the use, BUT I do understand it.
At the same time, I would say that I also think that misuse and overuse these terms and this view is exhausted. It is the blanket use of these terms that makes my blood boil - when all women are referred to a "bitches" and "hoes." To me, this is asinine filth. There is no excuse and no leg to stand on when advocating for it. If all you have to talk about are the 'hoes' and 'bitches' from the block, and see all women as such, that's sad. It's been said before and done to death. Move on.
The problem I see with hip-hop now is that many rappers are not artists, but merely entertainers -- they are not concerned about their world because they are not worldly - they are earthy, materialistic, and self-absorbed, rapping only about chains, rims and women who will give them some. This is sad, but this is hip-hop's current state. Rappers who are just in it to entertain often do so by subscribing to gimmicks and stereotypes to do so.
When I call rappers (good rappers) philosophers, it is because they spit the knowledge that no one wants to see or that most see as inconsequential, not reflective of mainstream life. They are often disliked and ridiculed because of their truth, as was Socrates in his time who was not embraced by the wider community as a brilliant thinker until well after his death.
The words of Tupac, a man who came under constant attack during his life by people hoping to reign in his brazen lyrics, are now studied in university courses nationally. Renowned poet, professor, activist and author Nikki Giovanni even got a tattoo in honor of Tupac after his death that reads "Thug Life," the same as his. In a book she dedicated to him, "Love Poems," she laments, "What a beautiful boy to lose. Are you happy Ms. Tucker? Tupac is gone, are you happy?" 'Ms. Tucker' if you don't know, would be C. Delores Tucker who was, at the time of Tupac's death, the National Political Caucus of Black Women chair and a fierce opponent of all rap music on the grounds that it corrupts the minds of the young and depicted women in unflattering, disparaging lights.
In an interview with Essence magazine Giovanni shares her admiration for Tupac even more saying, "I love him because he was an artist who gave us as much as he had to give. If we all did that, we would change the world."
Imus
First things first - let's not get it twisted.
Imus was not fired because he said something messed up; he was fired because he messed up the money.
CBS took a minute, but ultimately decided to suspend Imus for two weeks following his statements. However, it was not until the comments -- and the backlash from those comments -- caused his show to lose MILLIONS of dollars in product endorsements, that CBS actually canned him. What is now being spun as an altruistic, "we-did-the-right-thing move" was not really. It boiled down to business and staying with Imus became a bad investment. The company pulled out. It made - what it deemed - a business decision. If you have a bad stock, what do you do? You might wait it out a bit, but sooner or later, you are going to sell.
Whatever happened to Imus was ultimately up to the company. I thought a suspension was fine (although, when it was first announced, I wanted to see it longer). Some wanted him fired. I am not going to lie, at the time, I wouldn't have minded that either. But the thing is - it wasn't up to me, it didn't matter what I felt. It was up to his company. And, like it or not, if you cast the company you work for in a bad light for any reason, it is that company's right to give you the axe. Imus did that.
Imus' reference to the Rutgers girls' team insulted a group of collegiate athletes both racially and sexually. It was purposefully directed at women who are, collectively, of the utmost most character - women more women should strive to be like. In one statement, Imus attacked them for the sake of "trying to be funny." He did it on an open mic for the world to hear what he really thought about black women (no matter their caliber).
As a journalist myself, I will defend "freedom of speech" until I am blue in the face, but I argue that Imus' freedom of speech was not infringed upon. He said what he wanted to say. He wasn't jailed. He wasn't killed. He lost his job because other people's "freedom of speech" spoke louder! It rumbled with concern, disdain and outrage.
When I say that Imus used hip-hop as a scapegoat, I mean exactly that: it became a sophomoric attempt to wiggle out of the hot seat and point the finger away from himself. I thought it was a fruitless effort because I immediately realized it for what was: humorous. Instead of defending himself intelligently, he aligned himself with bottom of the barrel entertainment (not true hip-hop artists) and said "Well, they do it so, I can do it." It didn't make sense - as an intelligent man, he should have known that (and probably did). I expected that others would see right through it as I did. It was actually funny until.... We let him get away with it.
Imus succeeded in switching the focus to hip-hop's ongoing faults in part because of our own acknowledgement of those faults. The issue of misogyny in hip-hop is nothing new; in fact, it's something the community has talked about in length over the years. However, that acknowledgement -- and for many a self-imposed guilt for letting it perpetuate -- allowed us to draw parallels between two distinct issues, Imus and hip-hop, and make excuses for an defensible offense.
Imus was not taking any sort of creative license. He was being sexist and racist because he is sexist and racist. Some people are just more apt at covering it up. He was not an artist making any social commentary. He was a shock jock who decided to let his true colors show.
As for hip-hop, it, like all many genres of music, is undergoing a schism, a disjoining. There is the hop-hop that fosters the mind and there is the 'hip-hop' that destroys the spirit - both may at times use the same derogatory words, but only one has a deeper message - a truth.
Regardless, black or white, we all see green. When the green left, so did Imus. If you want to really change negative language in hip-hop, try the same. I pulled my money, the same way Imus' endorsers pulled theirs. I don't buy the CDs, the clothes from those rappers' lines, or the drinks that they market. I just don't sponsor it... just like I refuse to co-sign on the Imus/Hip-Hop connection.
