TresSugar

Rapper Nas Gives Petition to "Propaganda Machine" Fox News

CitizenSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:55:15 -0700

Rapper Nas joined with the Color of Change and MoveOn to deliver a petition to the offices of Fox News yesterday. Just after his controversial album hit number one, Nas took the podium protesting the racist attacks he sees coming from Fox against Black Americans and Barack Obama.

Delivering over 600,000 signatures to the network, Nas delivered a prepared speech saying, "We already knew that Fox is not a news network; they are a propaganda machine . . . Fox poisons this country every time they air racist propaganda and try to call it news. This should outrage every American that Fox uses hateful language to talk about the person that may be the first black president."

Fox declined receipt of the signatures, but issued a statement: "Fox News believes in all protesters exercising their right to free speech, including Nas, who has an album to promote."

That album now called Untitled had an original, much more controversial title. Does this affect his statement against Fox?

To see clips of the Fox language Nas finds offensive - served up on last night's Colbert Report (where the petition was delivered after Fox refused to accept it) - plus Nas's interview with Stephen, read more.

Nas was in studio with Stephen too - see the episode with his interview including talk of his feud with Bill O'Reilly.

Does Nas and the Color of Change/MoveOn petition have a point? Is Fox racist?

Source

Changes: What's Next For Hip-Hop Now That Obama's Prez

CitizenSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:30:20 -0800

Tupac Shakur's America wasn't ready to see a black president, but that didn't stop countless rap artists from fantasizing about a black American in the White House. Now that Obama has realized a much discussed goal of hip-hop, the question must be asked: How will Obama's presidency change hip-hop?

A recent piece in Slate lets flow some ideas on how the empowerment of one black man will change the genre. Something to keep in mind, it reads: Not only is Obama black, but he's also a well-informed fan of hip-hop.

In some ways, intelligent hip-hop's evolution could mirror that of the NAACP. The Slate piece ponders whether it will be hard for rappers to vent about racial injustices, now that a black man is arguably the most powerful man in the world. Facing the same dilemma since Obama's rise, the NAACP has tried to point out that one person's success does not change a community's reality.

While artists like Nas, Common, and will.i.am celebrated Obama's victory with new music, rap duo Dead Prez has weighed in on hip-hop's tough mission in a new song:

I don't want to discourage my folk, I believe in hope.
Either way it's still white power, it's the same system, it just changed form.

Here's hoping artists keep challenging society no matter the color of the person in charge.

Source

Lighten Up: Rappers - They're Just Like Republicans! Right?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:30:03 -0700

Who loves Hummers? Rappers and Republicans apparently! After Rep. Virgil Goode took to his Fourth of July parade a gassy Hummer perhaps cementing his pimpness, The Daily Show took note and cooked up this game "Republican or Rapper?"

How are they alike? A love of money and guns (and some dicier reasons) according to the clip, but then this little parallel I uncovered: A prominent place on court dockets:

Rapper DMX (yep, the same one who recently learned a very important fact about the election) just pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and then plugged his upcoming album, in rap-form. Brilliant!

To see the rest of the Rapper/Republican trifecta, read more.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Stevens is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court tomorrow on seven felony charges, including taking $250,000 in unreported gifts. Maybe DMX trumps though - he's also facing animal cruelty charges?

Then to complete the Rapper/Republican trifecta, the ultimate combo: Bill O'Reilly just branded Nas a "vile rapper." Who do you know better? Republicans or rappers? Is there a commonality? Perhaps we're all just mavericks deep down, and that's how we roll?