Features

Farrakhan urges rappers to turn away from violence

By Leon Drouin Kieth The Associated Press
Saturday February 16, 2002

BEVERLY HILLS — Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, joined by Russell Simmons and other prominent hip-hop figures, called on rap artists to move away from explicitly violent lyrics. 

Farrakhan, who also condemned the U.S. war on terrorism, told a receptive, sometimes raucous audience Thursday that rappers owe poor and minority communities more than many of them have given. 

“From the suffering of our people came rap,” Farrakhan said. “That should make you a servant of those that produced you. That should make you a servant of the hood.” 

Children “can’t read Dick and Jane, but they can recite your raps,” he continued. “The question is, what are you feeding them?” 

More than 300 people, including rappers Boo-Yaa Tribe, Kurupt and DJ Quik, packed into a hotel conference room for his speech, and Simmons and others seconded the message. 

The Hip Hop Summit was organized by Simmons as an opportunity for rappers to reassess an industry that draws millions of fans worldwide but is widely blamed for violent and sexually explicit lyrics. It was one of a series of regional gatherings that are to lead up to a national meeting this summer. 

Simmons also advised the performers it may be time to step back from lyrics about sex and violence, especially when the raps are delivered by performers who didn’t emerge from gangs. 

“Truth sells — it always did,” Simmons said. “Integrity and honesty last forever.” 

At the same time, the founder of Def Jam Records acknowledged that his favorite recordings are those “that people have been most offended by.” 

Comedian and Los Angeles radio personality Steve Harvey told the group that radio stations, including the one he works for, are turning away from violent rap. 

“They’re making the conscious decision to play conscious music,” he said. 

Marion “Suge” Knight, who co-founded Death Row Records, called on rap artists to form a union to protect themselves from an ever-smaller number of large record companies and to secure pensions for artists after their popularity fades. 

Farrakhan also used his keynote speech to attack the Bush administration’s use of military force to fight terrorism, predicting that if the fighting spreads to other countries, “You will start a war that will engulf the whole planet — the war called Armageddon.” 

“I’m a patriot, I’m not an enemy of this nation,” Farrakhan said. “This is the greatest nation on Earth, but she won’t be if she stays on this course.” 

Benjamin Muhammad, president and chief executive officer of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, said he believes rap lyrics already are changing for the better. He added that artists also are stepping up their community involvement through charitable work and get-out-the-vote efforts. 

In a closed-door session during the afternoon, hip-hop artists expressed support for unionization, Muhammad said. He added that the topic probably will be more thoroughly examined at the national meeting. 

Artists at the summit also expressed unanimous support for Sarah Jones, a New York poet who is suing over a Federal Communications Commission fine levied against a Portland, Ore., radio station that played her song “Your Revolution.” 

The song contains vivid sexual imagery, but Jones intended it as a criticism of the degradation of women in hip-hop.