Matt Lauer Keeps It (Kinda) Real

jharv | July 17, 2007 11:58 am

Being a fan of fellow bald dudes Al Roker and Willard Scott, I have a sick, semi-inexplicable obsession with NBC’s Today. So when I heard that the show would be “taking a look at hip-hop lyrics” this morning, I went in late to work specifically so I could rubberneck in front what I expected to be your typical “It’s 2007…do you know what your children are listening to?” media scare story. But the interview with author Michael Eric Dyson actually offers as balanced a view on the whole A.I. (“After Imus,” not Haley Joel) landscape as you’re going to get in a five-minute network TV interview, and for an NBC morning show it’s practically revolutionary to hear anyone talking race and class, with Dyson praising the art form while dissing the record execs: “Do you want to hear a critique of white supremacy or do you want to hear somebody shaking their behind?” Hell, I was just excited to hear the words “bell hooks” sneak onto a program that usually features such paragons of female empowerment as Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart.

Today [Official site]