Hip-Hop Community Prepares For Onslaught Of Articles About Hip-Hop Community

Brian Raftery | April 16, 2007 12:00 pm

According to AllHipHop.com, Russell Simmons, Lyor Cohen and several artists will take part of a closed-door meeting this week to discuss “the future of hip-hop and how the genre can be moved forward in a positive direction” (we checked the guest list, and you’re not invited). The pow-wow comes less than a week after Don Imus was fired for his now-infamous Rutgers remarks, and just as the first wave of “Is hip-hop harmful?” articles are popping up on our Google Alerts and on the front page of Drudge Report. As AllHipHop notes:

A number of activists are now shifting their focus to Hip-Hop, including Reverend Al Sharpton, who has received a number of death threats over the past few days due to his involvement in the Imus controversy.

On Friday (Apr. 13), Sharpton announced that he would turn his attention to the music industry, specifically Hip-Hop music. Sharpton said his National Action Network wants to also meet with performers in the industry about lyrics that he claims are racist and demeaning to women.

Hard to tell just how much traction Sharpton’s campaign will have, but expect several mainstream media outlets to take a hard look at hip-hop in the next few days, with an emphasis on the negative; those stories will likely followed by a cycle of navel-gazing, apology and atonement, until 50 Cent puts out his new album, and everything essentially reverts back to the way it was before.

HSAN Chairman Russell Simmons Calls For Closed Door Meeting To Discuss The Status Of Hip-Hop [AllHipHop.com]

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