Rappers and music executives gave testimony Tuesday at the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on “stereotypes and degrading images” in hip-hop music. Attendees were treated to a guilt-wracked Master P (“I just made the music that I feel, not realizing I’m affecting kids for tomorrow”) and a mildly irritated David Banner (“If… hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present”), along with slimy CEOs, none of whom seem to have ever seen Martin Short’s old Nathan Thrum sketches. Mostly, though, the hearings were about Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), who managed to corral all the execs to his little show, proving that despite his liberal credentials (a former Black Panther!) he can exploit fear of art with the best of the conservatives, tossing in some accusations of damaging the black community for added liberal guilt.
To read the full post, see MoJo’s badass arts/music/film/culture blog, The Riff.
