Mystikal sentenced to 5 years for sexual battery, promotes new CD

[Paragon]

Seriously - check the dates on these two sites:

http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=216416

http://www.bigtruckrecords.com/

Creepy.

[mmm]

1. Ain't he a peach tho?

[Cush]

2. Who?

never heard of him

[Bundbuster]

3. GWB spits hypocrisy on MLK's grave, moves on to another $2000/plate dinner

Thankfully, he was loudly BOOED while at the photo-op.

If ever the term "...would turn over in his grave" had meaning, this was the occasion.

[bigwillq]

4. Dang. Haven't heard that. Too Bad for Myst

[WillParkinson]

5. You are kidding, right?

What about the woman who was forced to have oral sex with him and his bodyguards?

[bigwillq]

6. Yes I'm kidding. Guess I should've put the rolling eyes smiley face

sorry if anyone took offense

[FunBobbyMucha]

7. Thank you, above posters!

I can't tell you how many times I've been called racist for stating my aversion to hip-hop's full court press misogyny in this place. I must have missed the meeting where we decided that a guy get away with anything if he was black. Mystical and Tupac are both convicted rapists, Eminem called for the death of his ex-wife and used soundbites of his daughter on a song about hacking the poor girl's mother up, and countless other cruel appellations and sexist slurs from various artists in gangsta rap...outside of the 'freedom of speech' chestnut, no one has ever made a compelling argument to me about why this kinda sociopathic stuff is tolerated, let alone celebrated. "Keepin' it real" doesn't work for me as a cohesive philosophical or artistic mission statement. It sounds more like a lazy excuse.

"F--k it, man, we just tryin' to get paid." -Snoop, 1993, in response to a reporter asking whether or not his and Dre's misogynistic and violent lyrics were having a negative effect on youth.

[private_ryan]

8. so the freedom of speech is not enough for you?

why are we tolerating your rant, then???????????????????????
Don't like? Don't listen to it and don't let your kids buy it.

true that Tupac and Mystical are rapists, but ever wondered why all of them can get plenty of girls?

[FunBobbyMucha]

9. I tolerate strip joints. Doesn't mean I rave about them and imbue them...

...with some artistic or socially significant power that they just plain old don't possess.


And to answer your question, I would assume they get plenty of girls for the same reason strip clubs and "Girls Gone Wild" auteurs never run out of them--because there are lots of abused, or shallow, or none-too-bright women out there who find it easier to co-opt their explotation than actively work against it.

[private_ryan]

10. I see

so they only get girls who've been abused or stupid. Any women who would like to have sex (or finds them hot) with Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop etc. is stupid, shallow, or has been molested as a kid.

anyway, what do you suggest we do about rap? They just want to get paid and will say whatever it takes in a song. What should we as a nation do?

[WillParkinson]

11. How about this?

Be taught, at all levels, that all life is special.

That no one should be taken advantage of or treated differently, physically or emotionally, because of age, race, sexual preference, sex, ability or disability or any other of a myriad of reasons for hate and violence.

That teachers deserve to be treated better than sports figures or singers.

That mothers should not have to work 3 jobs to support their children.

That NO ONE is more special than you or less special than you?

I think that's a nice start.

[FunBobbyMucha]

13. WillBowden, you are my hero.

I think an honest comparison of the levels of social concern and a call for universal respect in say, Al Green/Marvin Gaye's seminal works versus the stuff we're discussing would be a landslide.

"Brother brother, there's no need to escalate--see, war is not the answer, cuz only love can conquer hate...you know, we've got to find a way..."

versus

"Women ain't nuthin' but bitches and hos..."

Everything is everything.

[private_ryan]

18. who should educate? schools do /are supposed to do that one way or another

the government should run ads on TV? Forced re-education camps for misogynistic people? Should rappers be forced to rap about positive stuff? Maybe for every "bad" song force them to do another 2 "positive", touchy feely ones?

parents have obviously failed. More teens know who Eminem is, and rather hang out with him than Bush, Clinton, Mandela...

we need solutions here. You've been appointed king for a day. How should we do this education?

[WillParkinson]

19. First off, start young...

I hate to admit this but most of the teens today who are already listening to that kind of music are going to be harder than heck to re-educate. It won't be impossible but will not be easy.

First, show them the world they live in. Show them where people who have no homes sleep at night. Show them the shelters where abused women, you know, those 'ho' women, have to stay, afraid that someone will come after them. Get them into groups of abused children and let them hear the stories about why they were abused.

Kids think that the world is like what they see in movies and music video. They don't have a clue as to the truth.

And, finally, we have to make certain that parents take an interest in their children and have the time and money to do it. It's not easy when both parents have to work to make ends meet and kids just end up getting pushed aside.

I don't have all the answers, naturally. I never claimed I did. But all I ever hear is people who want to complain about the problem. Never to talk about the solutions.

[private_ryan]

20. but still no word on who is going to do this

basically, it all falls into the parent's and individual's lap.

[WillParkinson]

21. Parents and individuals

If the parents and the individuals don't care enough to get involved why should anyone else?

Who would you rather handle it?

I recall a bumper sticker that stands out to this day:

Whose job is it to protect their children?

The answer should be apPARENT.

A bit general, yes, but I don't hear you offering any other solutions.

[private_ryan]

26. this is the solution

I only replied after you replied to me

[NashVegas]

12. Hip hop mysogeny?

Anyone old enough to remember the Fabulous Thunderbirds videos on MTV?

UHG.

There are plenty of hip-hopsters who have a great message. Trouble is, the promoters can make more money from the crap. Path of least resistance.

The problem isn't hip hop. The problem is hip-hop promoters who give certain fuckheads the time of day in order to make a buck. It's no different from the free pass we give to other celebrities.

[private_ryan]

14. the real problem is the people who buy it

let's not blame others or kid ourselves. Why do the promoters do that? because it SELLS!!! If it didn't they'd be promoting somethign else that sells.

[WillParkinson]

15. I'm sorry, it's not just the promoters...

It's the kids who listen to the music, too. They drive what is put out. If the kids didn't listen to it then it wouldn't be getting made.

The strange thing is that I remember my mom hating my music. I know that my Grandma hated my moms. I guess it's something that every kid knows (remember Elvis?). I think this is different, though. Our kids are being taught that musicians and sports stars are like gods. They get paid millions of dollars to sing or throw a ball. Meanwhile those who teach them have to go out and spend their own money to get enough stuff to work with in the classroom. They get to see the "Snoop Dog - Girls Gone Wild" video and the "Kobe Bryant sex scandals" and hear about how sports men/musicians get laid every night by women whose name they don't even remember.

I'm all for freedom of expression and our other freedoms but I don't want to hear the good ones get drown out by the bad.

[Susang]

24. We always think that this time it's different

It isn't different. Maybe because I don't have kids, I don't have as much anxiety about the youth of today. Because people have been bemoaning the state of "today's youth" since Aristotle and before. Same as it ever was......

Maybe it's because my Mom didn't hate my music and went to concerts with me for fun, not just to be a chaperone. She found something to like in every genre and at 64, she still anticipates the best-of-year mix cd I make for everyone in my family. This year's had Wycleaf Jean, David Bowie, Warren Zevon, Pretty Girls Make Graves, The White Stripes, The Stills, The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Basement Jaxx, Lisa Germano and Missy Elliot. She often ends up buying cds of the artists I include on the cd. So my white, 64 year old mother loves Black Eyed Peas and Erykah Badu because she took the time to listen to their music.

Hip hop is not the problem here. If anything, the violent hip-hop that you're talking about is a symptom, just like violent movies, tv shows are. I believe if the effort is placed on curing the disease, the symptoms will take care of themselves.

[FunBobbyMucha]

17. You'll get no argument from me, Crisco, it's just that

I think the community that hears hip-hop almost exclusively (I'm talking inner-city black kids, not mall-hopping suburban wiggers), that has basically one musical genre out there speaking to and for it, is dis-served by the constant chest-thumping, violence-endorsing, it's-all-about-gettin'-paid-at-any-costs rhetoric they're fed. I've been working with inner-city kids for almost two generations and have anecdotal horror stories to this end.

And you're right--it's supply-and-demand as far as who actually gets promoted.

But word--all of youth culture, even popular culture in general, seems to be getting lowest common denominator. Get me started on reality television sometime for THAT pious rant.

[Susang]

22. Exactly

Misogyny isn't restricted to hip-hop, in fact, I find it more often in "classic rock". Stereotypes are stereotypes, no matter what genre the music takes.

There are fantastic hip-hop performers who have great music and interesting points of view. My question is, when discussing hip-hop, why do most posters ignore these acts?


Wycleaf Jean/Lauren Hill/The Fugees
Blackeyed Peas,
Queen Latifah
Missy Elliot
Eve
LL Cool J
Erykah Badu
Mos Def
The Roots
De La Soul
Salt n Pepa
Dead Prez
Blackalicious

[private_ryan]

23. why do most posters ignore these acts

becuase they're no where near as popular as the other ones.

[Susang]

25. I disagree

Lauren Hill had the hottest album in the country for quite some time with her first solo release. Black Eyed Peas are all over the radio and television (did you see SNL last week?). Salt n Pepa were huge, almost everyone I know can recite the "What a man" song verbatim.

Posters who rail on and on about the evils of rap and hip/hop ignore these acts because they don't fit into their definition of hip-hop/rap that they have and therefore don't work in the narrow context of their argument.

I'm not saying that there is no misogyny and hatred in hip-hop, far from it. However, the violence in music is a symptom, not the disease. It may sound like a cliche, but it's true. Rap music often mirrors the reality of teenager's lives. Change that reality and you'll get a different sound.

[Red_Storm]

16. Danger !