Much
of the Hip-Hop community feels like the recent wave of condemnation are
aggressive maneuvers to starve a younger generation out of creative
existence. Rev. Al Sharpton doesn’t want to dictate expression, but he
does want to obliterate certain terms from our collective. Some agree,
and many sharply disagree. A small group of rappers like Snoop Dogg
have already petitioned against the efforts of Sharpton, considering
them antiquated relics. Either way, Sharpton feels that he’s got the
power and the will to stop the negative elements of rap that he deems
undesirable. His plan will test the fortitude of companies and expects
that the affects will trickle into results through the artists.
Sharpton isn’t a new critic to Hip-Hop, however the 52-year-old once
saw promise in the sounds of the young. An excerpt of his book, Al on America,
the civic leader offered a slightly different view on the culture that
seemed optimistic. (The following passage was published on AllHipHop in
2002) “When I look at the Hip-Hop generation I am disappointed, but
I also see promise. I see potential unrealized. I see tremendous power,”
he wrote. “These young people have created a culture.”Now, in the ashes of the Don Imus fiasco, his goal is focused. Now,
Sharpton, his National Action Network and others in the Black Community
join the likes of Bill O’Reilly in an offensive against the seedier
aspects of the music. From a historical point of view, Al
Sharpton’s contribution to society should paint him as an individual
that has dedicated his life to helping the Black Community and others
as well. Sharpton, a tireless activist, has been a foot solider for
change even though his own past has been peppered with its share of
controversy along the way. Some have regarded him a racial “ambulance
chaser” while others a Civil Rights champion. What will he be perceived
as by Hip-Hop? Read on. AllHipHop.com: Your march for
decency, what affect will this have since these things have gone on
before with the likes of Calvin Butts and C. Delores Tucker. For the
labels it has been business as usual. Al Sharpton: I commend
C. Delores Tucker and Calvin Butts for warning that this was going to
happen. I was one that didn’t know that it would get this bad, but it
did. I think the times have changed. First of all, this isn’t all of
the Hip-Hop community [we are marching against], it is just an element
that does this. What they don’t realize is that the corporate
entertainment industry has become corporate and what they could stand
up to 10 years ago, they can’t now. That’s what happened with Imus. By
going after the advertisers, and not the producers of Imus’ show of the
head of the [Don Imus show], but by going to the owners of the
[network] – those corporate guys have to deal differently.
Let me give you an example. Time Warner owns a piece of Warner Music.
Time Warner also has a cable franchise in New York that has a contract
with the city of New York. Councilwoman Darlene Mealy (D-Brooklyn) is
going to the city council saying, “We are going to pass a resolution
against the N-Word.” If Time Warner wants to continue investing in
Warner Music, using the N-Word, then I want to move that we cancel
their contract [with the city]. These companies are owned by major
publicly traded companies that cannot afford this. Ten years ago, a lot
of these companies were independent. [Hip-Hop] is only a fraction of
the business they do and they could lose much larger chunks of the
business, which is why NBC and CBS dropped Imus. Rappers cannot
distribute without [the companies’] big money. Then people say, “Well, it will just go underground.” Fine, well it won’t be mainstream.
AllHipHop.com: Once it goes underground, do you feel it will only
continue to fester? I mean, you are trying to eradicate real social
problems, not only clean up corporately funded rap. Al
Sharpton: I think we have to deal with that and there has to be a
strategy for that. First, you gotta get it out of the mainstream. As
long as it’s mainstream, it’s not even accepted. When it’s underground,
it was like listening to “light bulb” music when I was a kid. You
didn’t have those guys doing Chrysler commercials and Pepsi commercials
and going to the White House representing voters. It has gotten so bad
now that these guys are the symbol of Black culture.
AllHipHop.com: When is somebody going to address the social problems?
To me, rappers actually do represent the really the ugliest parts of
life that society wants to ignore. Al Sharpton: And my answer
to that is, I do not accept that at all. When are the rappers going to
address it? The [protesters] attacking them are the ones out here every
day. I am one of the guys out here every day fighting police brutality,
poverty every day. They have never showed up. That’s a pimp excuse they
use. When Sean Bell got shot in New York, one rapper didn’t show up.
[Sharpton would later correct himself and say that New York rapper
Papoose did protest the shooting.] When we fought about poverty, when
we fought about saving affirmative action, one rapper didn’t show up.
They exploit our pain, they’re not expressing our pain. They are
calling the people in pain with them “hoes” and “b****es.” If they were
expressing our pain, they would be rapping about the people causing the
pain. If they were guys that were involved in the struggle every day
like we are, they could say that. Why are you calling the “pain” hoes
and b****es. That ain’t nothing, but a bunch of hog wash.
AllHipHop.com: A lot of people feel they are being attacked. A lot of
the younger generation sees this as a direct assault on their way of
life and their generation. Across the board, there appears to be a
concerted attack on Hip-Hop. In fact, Hip-Hop is a full culture and a
lifestyle. Al Sharpton: First of all, the ones that are being
attacked are Black people, when we are being called n***ers and women,
who they call hoes and b****es. People can’t turn around to me,
brother, and say, “I feel like I am being attacked,” and I want the
right to call you a hoe and a b***h. We’re reacting to an attack. Two,
you have people like Papoose and others that stood up for Sean Bell,
who clearly have said this is now what we’re about. The reason I did
the march is because it was James Brown’s birthday. James Brown, who is
more sampled than any other artist, said to me in our last
conversation, “I don’t want my music used to be degrading our people. I
tired to make our people Black and proud.” Those that are not
doing that in Hip-Hop of that should [not be included in those] painted
with a broad stoke, but they should stand up and say this isn’t
representing us. Say, “That’s what we’re not about.”
AllHipHop.com: I happen to know a certain artist and he has a positive
song on his album. Well, his manager told me, before Imus, the rapper
wanted to release this as his next single, but the label shot it down
and gave him his next single. A lot of artists feel compelled to do
certain things to sell or get paid or even to just get a deal.
Al Sharpton: You are absolutely right and that’s why we are marching on
the record companies and not the rappers. I’m going to the companies
that make [rappers] do this. One of the reasons I don’t think it’s fair
for the artists to say, “Why is Sharpton jumping on me?”…I’m jumping
on the companies that are making them do this, won’t sign positive
artists – they are the source of this. It’s not up to the artists in
these cases. I’m not marching on the artists, because it’s not up to
the artists in most cases – it’s up to these companies. I know when the
artists’ release dates are, I know where their parties are, I know
where their clubs are, I know where they live. If they are smart, they
will say, “This will help me get some of the things I really want. This
might put me in a position to be more creative.” AllHipHop.com: How does this relate to what you did to Michael Jackson?
Al Sharpton: I have seen these record labels operate in what is almost
a plantation psychology – trying to take all the money and uses these
guys as pawns. The Michael Jackson struggle was about whether or not
Sony and them were misusing him, trying to take his catalog, trying to
take his money. They are using the artists as the pawns and desecrating
the women in our community. Again, you are not allowed to do that with
them. [The label heads] know they would not allow them to do that to
their families and all we’re saying is you’re not allowed to do it to
ours. AllHipHop.com: Do you actually talk to any of the rappers?
Al Sharpton: Look, this is not anything easy for me. Some of them like
me and I like them. I have to speak out on what the general community
needs. I mean, because of Universal’s association with [“negative
rap”], we didn’t give L.A. Reid his award. L.A. Reid is good brother, a
good friend; I love L.A. Reid. We just didn’t want to confuse the
issue. Sometimes you have to be committed to an issue even of some of
your friends can’t get down with you. You friends – you respect them,
they respect you. Sometimes you have to make choices in life.
AllHipHop.com: Some people that I have talked to have said that you are
somewhat of a hypocrite, because they feel your past isn’t so squeaky
clean. Al Sharpton: What is it? Tell them, what is it? That’s
all a cop out. Anything I’ve done is fight for the community. Tell them
to name what I have done that has disparaged and discredited our
community. AllHipHop.com: One person who is a Back Republican wanted to point out your association with Roger Stone. Al Sharpton: What about him? AllHipHop.com: Your association with him.
Al Sharpton: What about him? Roger Stone donated to my [2004
presidential] campaign. What is that supposed to mean? That is the most
insane thing I have ever heard. So, if a Black Republican or a White
Republican contributes to a campaign, that’s supposed to equate to
somebody calling somebody a hoe or b***h? AllHipHop.com: It’s not related in an overt manner, but…
Al Sharpton: When you are dealing in politics, people can give to
whatever reason. Roger Stone was doing business in New York against the
Rockefeller Drug Laws with Russell Simmons and all of us and gave some
money. if he wanted to give some more, I’d take that too as long as I
ain’t gotta change what I’m saying. What’s that mean? What they are
saying is a bunch of crap. If somebody could say Roger Stone gave some
money and therefore I took a different position, then that’s a charge.
If somebody gave somebody some money to help them do what they were
already doing in the community, my answer is, “So what.” Unless you are
saying people should only take money from saints, then nobody would
have any money. AllHipHop.com: [Laughs] I don’t know that the
association with him is something people would be comfortable with. I
mean, he’s even been accused of helping stop the Florida recount in the
Bush/Gore election. Al Sharpton: He donated to my campaign; I
didn’t donate to him. He supported what I was doing; I didn’t support
him. My position is that anybody that wants to give when I was running,
as long as they didn’t feel like they were going to get something for
it, let them come on and get it. For a Black Republican [to call me
out], who probably supported Bush – you talk about hypocritical –
that’s crazy. A lot of Democrats supported the War in Iraq that donated
to my campaign and I was against that. But, again, that has absolutely
nothing [to do] with me standing up against desecrating people. That is
insane. AllHipHop.com: Positive rap is something that people
want to hear more of. We are putting a lot of energy in one sort of
rapper, but maybe we should take that and uplift the positive rappers
too. Al Sharpton: I think we should do both. It’s directed at
the record labels, the cable/TV stations and the radio stations. You
create more space for [the positive rappers] when you let these
companies know you aren’t going to take up all this space with the
negative. And I think part of the problem is there are only 24 hours in
the day, you have to take some of that down to create the space that
you need to force a positive, energetic campaign behind it. AllHipHop.com: Are the any rappers you like?
Al Sharpton: Common, I love. But, I don’t even want to put people on
the spot like that. I don’t want it to seem that the rappers I like are
against the rappers I don’t like. There are a lot of positive rappers
and I wish they had more opportunity. Let me just put it that way. AllHipHop.com: How long will you continue this?
Al Sharpton: Until we get some answers. It took us a long time to deal
with the Sean Bell indictment [of three NYPD officers accused of
killing the unarmed Black man]. With Don Imus, it took eight days. I
went to jail for three months to close a navy base in Vieques, Puerto
Rico, but it’s closed. [In 2001, Sharpton and many others protested
Naval bombing exercises.] They need to know, what ever I’m gonna say
I’m gonna do it. If I gotta pay a price [like] go to jail, I’m gonna do
that. We stay on it till we win. I’m in it to win it. They got a
problem with me.
