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In the wake of
the firing of Don Imus for his racially charged remarks, people began pointing the finger at
hip-hop artists for regularly using crude and
potentially offensive language. At first,
Russell Simmons—the Def Jam label’s co-founder and hip-hop mogul who’s made millions in this industry—
defended rap music as “poetry.” Now he’s whistling a different tune. In response to public outcry in some circles, Simmons is now calling for a ban in music on the words “
bitch,” “ho,” and “nigger.” Simmons says they should be considered “extreme curse words.” OK, well, maybe they are. But are people really ready to toss
the First Amendment out the window that easily? Don’t people remember the Tipper-Gore-led PMRC? The Parents Music Resource Center tried to put a similar ban on lyrics in the music industry. That’s why we’ve got those
“Parental Advisory” stickers on CDs that warn concerned parents about the lyrical content of certain records. Wasn’t that enough? Apparently not. Now you’ve got Simmons, usually a staunch advocate of hip hop’s role as a means for African-Americans to flex their cultural muscle, calling for
a crackdown on language. Simmons tried to get influential record industry execs together recently for a private meeting about this issue. Where that goes is still any body’s guess.
OK, so it’s not cool, or in good taste, to use the language Simmons is suddenly opposing, but neither is being a member of the KKK and they still have the right to exist, express their views, and assemble in public, last time I checked. That’s one of the central principles that makes America the country it is. The onus here is on the public, more specifically the music-buying public, to stop patronizing the artists they find offensive. The last thing we need is the government eventually stepping in here to tell artists what they can or cannot say. And the record companies shouldn’t fold on this one because suddenly Russell Simmons wants to be a corporate sissy and kowtow to the sensitivity of conservatives who’d rather clamp down on free speech than have to listen to a few words that make them uncomfortable. Learning to live with occasionally being offended is just one small price to pay for getting to live in a free society. Russell Simmons, “Check yo head!.”
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