BET NEWS Presents HIP HOP vs. AMERICA, a Powerful Special Addressing the Current State of Hip-Hop Honest, Candid Town Hall Meeting Features Voices Across the Full Spectrum of Opinion Including Nelly, TI, Chuck D, MC Lyte, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Reverend Al Sharpton, Stanley Crouch, Cornel West, Mike Jones, Master P, Kim Osorio, Dr. Ben Chavis, Judg Parts I and II to Premiere on Tuesday, September 25 and Wednesday, September 26 at 8:00 pm ET/PT, With Part III to Air Exclusively on BET ON BLAST NEW YORK, Sept. 10 /prnewswire/ — Hip-hop culture and controversy have always made for familiar bedfellows. Yet, in the wake of the Imus controversy and in a year when the genre’s sales have tumbled, hip-hop finds itself under an exceptional amount of scrutiny and pressure — and the stakes have never been higher. BET NEWS takes a powerful and compelling look at the state of hip-hop today in a three-part series titled HIP HOP vs. AMERICA. Hosted by bet’s own Toure and Jeff Johnson, this special showcases a candid, heated forum that will allow audiences to hear the opinions of prominent leaders in the hip-hop industry, the political realm, academia and the Black church.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
another mayor said he “didn’t inhale”…lol
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
@lisalynnette77 yes he is. Very articulate.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
but the people works in the govrment sleeps with hoes,and steel money from people and killing the people.but i forgot rap,hip-hop are the issuses.didn’t a mayor come and say he was gay??didn’t another one say he cheated on his wife.but rap and hip-hop are the issuse.like they said in this video.video games has a hand in it too but parents are buying the games and music that not right for the kids under the of 18.stop blaming rap,hip-hop for your issues.you can make your own mind up.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
i agree with the comment about the rappers who don’t talk about the street life.cuz there are more to life then the street life.people put down hip-hop and rap because that have nothing else to do but pick on the singers and rappers about they music.afroman didn’t put a blunt in my hand and told me to smoke it,rappers didn’t tell people to kill or steel,or rape.but people are to full of shit to understand the people who are making the music.mos def make great music.i like rap,hip-hop.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
WOW! even though I’m not a fan of 50, T.I, or Nelly, they handled themselves very well.
However, it annoys me how they only go after rappers with negative or uncouth lyrics and then decide that all hip hop is like that. Why don’t they have a hip hop argument with rappers who are fortunate enough to have had a good education and that are positive/artistic such as Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Common, Mike Shinoda, Geologic, Raw Poetic, Dessa Darling, i’d LOVE to hear them talk about this beautiful music.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
50 cent is very well spoken!
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
Jay-z is a great asset. Did scholars call William Faulkner misogynistic: In a Rose for Emily he wrote, “Emily is unflattering: she is a small, fat woman in black who looks bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. How about that!
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
When t.i stoped talking look at that monkey behind him, hahahahahahhaaa
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
T.I. be speaking the truth yo…
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
the audience is full of clueless kids who arent intelligent enough to realize that this whole debate is a hoax!!! to keep people distracted from what’s important and to promote that “Hip Hop is Dead” bullshit!, non of these people make sense on what they talk about, the only one there who spoke about the positivity in hip hop was Chuck D,
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
T.I. is a father of 5??? Holy crap!
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
@RealHipHopTunes I agree with you because hip hop is hip hop. Clowns like 50 and TI are rappers, and rap and hip hop are like saying day and night.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
@EZ95 I agree with you also, but in T.I’s case, the rapper IS the father. And it just has a scent of hypocrissy in it.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
i agree with you on the mos,common, and talib comment on how BET wouldn’t dare try to back those 3 into a corner because they are educated, and the comment about ti & 50 bein hypocrites but ti unlike has evolved from his beginning albums to where he has more higher standing on why what happened with him on the gun cases and what not.i’m not a ti fan per say but i do agree what he says in the 6: minute about his kids seeing these rappers on tv and not dealing with them but their father.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
this debate is pointless, hip hop has never been about violence, 30 years of its existence and it has never been about violence, hip hop doesnt belong to clowns like TI and 50
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
Whenever yall get done checkin’ out this video, click my username and peep out my songs “Illuminati” & “Ridiculous. Let’s kill the foolishness forced into our ears by these leeching record executives.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
first off you talk about riverdale like its not bad riverdale is horrible but bankhead is 10 times worse T.I. is one of the only few mainstream rappers that talks about real shit
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
Why is Nelly yelling? Punk ass.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
TI is from riverdale not bankhead. they are trying to make money and influencing people in a posititve way comes seconds. Rap music could chance if they wanted but its about the money. Keep it real guys.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
I think that cause to finish with violence no is finish the hip-hop.I belive that hip-hop is selled in all world..
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
Pam is still sexy!! i always thought she looked better than Gina.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
funny how everyone classifying 50 and T.I as dumb…
listening and watching those videos i had to reject that idea coz they do some good points!! especially 50 damn never thought that man can talk like that lol n Nelly too WTF!!!
see i was made to believe rapper are dumb fuck if they sell!!! and iam black and i sometimes pause and admire like akon n such the music shit but they sell meaning they clever enuf to make us buy but i never thi they can be deep like i sqw in this videos good job BET
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
….. and what about when Mos Def and Common rap about higher education, now they won’t DARE invite them to these summits because you can’t fucking full an educated man, instead 50 and TI look like cornered animals being probed, they wouldnt dare try that shit on Kweli. WHY? Because they know he’s not a hypocrite, he’s about his wits, and his music is SO much more than trying to sell a Power Drink, or a pair of jeans.
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
Regarding ALL of that you said: And the politically conscious rappers aren’t self made? The only difference is that guys like Talib Kweli aren’t rapping about selling dope or guns and shit like 50 and TI do, and don’t tell me they don’t because I have listened to them. THAT makes them hypocrites to rap about that shit and THEN turn around and say “Hey, I’m doing this to teach kids to strive for better” The BETTER politically conscious artists dont preach that dumb “gangsta” shit…..
Anonymous 01.31.10 at 7:58 am
What TI said don’t make him a hypocrite look up the word, his point clearly worry about yours and I worry about mind.
yes u have A rite to say that but it’s false. Saying that he is uneducated is kind of dumb the man signs his own checks he is A self made black man with a lot of money. If I have to be non educated to have millions well dAmn i don’t know to sAy.