My Censored Rap?!

In recent news, Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons announced that he is putting a call out to have three words censored out of rap music. The culprits? The words "Ho", "B!tch", and "N!gger" are the ones he's trying to censor. While many rap artists are of course fighting for freedom of speech, his stance isn't against freedom of speech, but rather for a call of limits. The founder of Def-Jam Records (a major hip-hop record dealer) says that the public's outrage to the use of such words casually is growing rapidly. Let's take a look back for a second in the past of some hip-hop moments.

A while ago, the first hip-hop/rap artist won a Grammy. His name was Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers III. Okay, well maybe he wasn't the first, but he was the first to get such an outrage from the public. When public got word of his nomination, outrage was found everywhere. Many parents were against having such a profane artist winning a Grammy. Never-the-less, he won, and the industry would never be the same. Ever since then, there has been an explosion of artists rising from "no-names" to rich hip-hop artists.

Way back in the 80's, when hip-hop was first introduced, it was a way for people to get funky and put rhymes and rhythm together. Take a look at Will Smith or even MC Hammer; they never used a cuss word in any of their hit songs. Now, you can't go very far in hip-hop without using a profound word. However, many people will agree that many things have changed since the 80's; censor laws, popularity, and most importantly - public acceptance. Many people look down upon hip-hop for it's vulgarity, but many teens and young adults can't get enough of it. So, this issue is more than a fight over rights, it's gone to a moral level.

Russell Simmons' decision came only two weeks after DJ Don Imus was fired for talking smack about the Rutgers women's basketball team. The Rutger's Cinderella story to the NCAA championships stopped just short of losing the heart-breaking championship game. To make sure that nothing like that happens to his empire, he (R.S.) called for the ban of "extreme words." Now people have to decide what is exceptable and what is not. People have to remember that this is a form of art and self-expression. Don Imus' remarks were uncalled for, but is rap too out of control too?