Who Should Be Held Responsible?

1/31/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn Fired

An e-mail was sent around this weekend from a supposed "informed insider" at Hot 97. This email appears to have come from someone in Miss Jones and Todd Lynn's camp, twisting the facts around hoping to deflect responsibility from them.

It seems to be true, as claimed in the email, that producer Rick Delgado wrote the song and that Miss Jones did not sing on it. But the email falsely implies that Todd Lynn did not sing on the "tsunami song," which he did. Even Todd himself did not deny his presence on the song, when he spoke publicly to this site and trickology.com.

It also states that Miss Jones has no control over the programming of the morning show, which is false. It is clear from what was heard on air that Miss Jones eagerly approved the airing of the song, and specifically ordered it to be played again one morning that week, after a caller complained.

The e-mail claims that the staff was somehow forced "under duress" to record the song, which is laughable. What sort of "duress" was it exactly, did management put a gun to their heads? CLearly they were not threatened with losing their jobs, because Miss Info refused to participate and faced no such consequences.

The e-mail also seems to hope we will forget the abusive statements made by both Jones and Lynn in defense of the song, when they were berating Miss Info for raising an objection to it.

Assuming it is true, as was already reported elsewhere, that Producer Rick Delgado wrote and produced the song, clearly he should be held fully responsible for that. But does this absolve Todd Lynn of his responsibility for singing on the song, or Miss Jones' responsibility for ordering it to be aired repeatedly? Or for the further abuse and bigotry they aimed at Miss Info, after she objected to the song?

Clearly the blame for this cannot fall only on these on-air personalities. But is it possible to address this properly without holding them fully accountable for their roles? And what about the management and higher-ups at Hot 97 and Emmis who allowed this to happen, where is their accountability? If you, the people, have an opinion on this you better make it known, because wheels are turning right now...

WBAI Radio Special Tonight, Hot 97 Rally Photos

Join us tonight at Midnight EST, for special edition our radio show the Underground Railroad. You can hear us online here, or on WBAI 99.5 FM if you live in the tri-state area. We will have a panel of hip-hop artists and activists discussing the Hot 97 controversy, including DJ Kuttin Kandi, Rosa Clemente, Immortal Technique, and more (possibly Jin over the phone). We'll also deliver some music to remind you how hip-hop can uplift instead of denigrate.

And I hate to bring a commerical interruption but we are in our fundraising drive at WBAI, which is a completely listener supported, non-commercial station, devoted to giving a voice to the voiceless, using the radio to speak out against bigotry and injustice. So any amount you can call up and pledge during our show will be greatly appreciated! But either way please tune in, and come talk to us live in the chat room.

------------

In the meantime here are some of my photos from yesterday's rally at Hot 97's studios:

click each thumbnail for full-size photo

Rally At Hot 97 Studios

1/31/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn Fired

8PM EDIT: NY1's report on the rally is here, they estimated the crowd at 100. But NY Newsday calls it at 200 (I told you so!), and they pass on a new statement from Hot 97 that claims "the salaries of Miss Jones and the morning show crew will be donated to tsunami relief efforts 'for the duration of this suspension.'" Newsday also has photos of the rally here.

6PM EDIT: Latest news coverage - Daily News, Newsday. Please pass on details of TV/radio coverage from today's rally if you catch it!

3PM EDIT: Jimmy Meng's office passed on this update: "based on multiple phone calls from Assemblyman Jimmy Meng (the first Asian-American in the NY State Assembly) and NYC Councilman Bill Perkins, the following companies have withdrawn their ads: Coca-Cola, Toyota, Reebok, H&R Block, Babies R Us."

I just got back from Hot 97's studios, where at least 150-200 people came out in the FREEZING COLD. I'm sure Hot 97 and Emmis thought the cold would keep everyone home, and this controversy might start dying down. But today it was clear that the community is more organized and energized than ever.

Everyone from students to grandmothers, from Hip-Hoppers (Kuttin Kandi, Rosa Clemente) to City Councilmen (John Liu, Bill Perkins, Charles Barron and more), came out to speak against Hot 97's hate radio. I'll be featuring activists from today's rally on my radio show, Saturday at Midnight on WBAI 99.5 FM in NY. You can tune in online here. (and we're in our fundraising drive for WBAI right now, so any support you can call in and give tomorrow will be greatly appreciated! You'll help keep anti-racist radio alive)

Here are some pictures sent in by Cheryl, a protestor from Cardozo School of Law (I will post my own pics here soon:

http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180182.JPG
http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180190.JPG
http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180202.JPG
http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180208.JPG
http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180178.JPG
http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180177.JPG
http://i.xanga.com/cherryxq/P1180206.JPG

Todd Lynn Speaks to Hiphopmusic.com

1/31/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn Fired

I spoke to Todd Lynn tonight via AOL Instant Messenger for over an hour. I will post the conversation verbatim in its entirety, and let you judge it for yourself. I have only edited his phone number and the identity of a journalist that was mentioned:

--------------------
Jay Smooth Is this Todd Lynn? this is Jay Smooth from hiphopmusic.com
Todd Lynn yes
Jay Smooth So you want to give your side of the story?
Todd Lynn call me dude your rasing some bullshit
Todd Lynn I am not a racsist
Jay Smooth what is bullshit about it? you are on the song aren't you? and you're on the tape saying "i'm gona shoot some asians" aren't you?
Todd Lynn Song
Todd Lynn not really a side just the truth of what happened
Todd Lynn not reciving anything from you
Jay Smooth i'm here.. so what is not true about the information I have presented, are you not on the song?
Todd Lynn you can call me at [***-***-****]
Todd Lynn Dude I as all of us are very sorry about the song but we are not racsist we made a very bad mistake
Todd Lynn I understand were you are coming from but trust me no one onthe show is a racsist
Jay Smooth but it wasn't a mistake when you sang it and recorded it, it wasn't a mistake when you played it on the air, it wasn't a mistake when you played the next day, and then the next day, and the next..
Todd Lynn That was the Mistake , how many time in your life have you fucked up
Todd Lynn Dude lets have a hate typing open diolouge on the phone
Jay Smooth if you are willing to have me tape it and put it on the website
Todd Lynn How can i trust A guy thats been killing me and I do mean killing me all over the world ,the reason most of this shit got to the point it is is because everbody is not informed on what happened that day
Jay Smooth so what is the information they dont have..
Todd Lynn we all are very sorry for the song! very poor tastse and bad judgement but none of us are bigots
Jay Smooth what was your part in making the song? whose idea was it?
Todd Lynn What I will tell you is Miss Jones had Nothing to do with the writing are producing of the song are the voicing. she works from home and has been doing that for several months
Jay Smooth who wrote and produced it?
Todd Lynn Not Miss Jones
Jay Smooth does she not speak english? did she not hear the lyrics when she played it, for four days in a row?
Todd Lynn your way off base with the race shit, Mistake Dude Bad mistake And we are all very sorry. dont make poor judgement into race thing just by seeing what you have organnized i know you are smarter than that
Jay Smooth So you don't believe that it is racist to call people chinks? And to say I'm gonna shoot some asians"?
Todd Lynn This was not even a company thing, It was a badd fuckup that we apologized for.
Jay Smooth Actually you have not apologized
Todd Lynn my comments were taken out of context
Jay Smooth How can they be taken out of context when we have it all on tape?
Todd Lynn do you mean Me myself
Jay Smooth I mean whatever you think is taken out of context
Todd Lynn let me try and explain again ,dude i am a big black guy who catches hell out here every day trust me I am not racist
Jay Smooth i am waiting for you to explain but you are not answering anyting
Jay Smooth if somebvody calls you nigger, it doesnt matter how many times he says he's not racist
Jay Smooth what he did is still racist
Todd Lynn well let s say this you have shut my shit down.
Jay Smooth YOU did this to yourself.
Jay Smooth all i did was tell people what you did
Todd Lynn if you say so but all you did was jump on a guy that tried to be funny during a argument and like i said came out fucked up and out of context
Jay Smooth so what is the context that is missing?
Todd Lynn have you ever said nigga before?
Jay Smooth no, i don't use that word
Todd Lynn if you have are you racist
Todd Lynn well good not many cansay that
Jay Smooth why have you never apologized?
Todd Lynn Got suspended!
Jay Smooth you had plenty of time to apologize, on the day miss jones read her apology
Jay Smooth and you had a week to realize on your own that what you were doing was wrong
Jay Smooth but NOBODY was sorry until after their backs were against the wall..
Todd Lynn because the beging of my stament got cut off by the mike s clipping in and out during the argument I did not even know the whole tatement did not go out over the air waves
Todd Lynn shit I found out throw all the press and the emails
Jay Smooth what whole statement?
Todd Lynn the part you did not hear because the mikes went in and out
Jay Smooth Listen, seriously, you need to come up with a better lie than that. I've been doing radio for 15 years, I know what it sounds like when mics are clipping in and out..
Jay Smooth You sound ridiculous right now
Todd Lynn Hot 97 shit is goofy
Todd Lynn you dont have to believe me but thats truth listen, I am really taking a beating and regardless of what you think I am very remorsefull and sorry about all this Stuff but Dude I asian family members
Todd Lynn yo call me dude what you got to lose
Jay Smooth i will tape a conversation with you and post it, otherwise it is a waste of time
Jay Smooth you are not answering any questions anyway
Todd Lynn You are not acomplishing anything by making racist out of people that made a dumb mistake
Todd Lynn I told you the truth
Jay Smooth when was it that you realized that the song was racist?
Jay Smooth and what action did you take?
Todd Lynn Dude i dont know you and you have already started a smear action against me and never did any secondary work put my name on the web my personal info and just ran with tape shit you know it had to more to the story than that
Jay Smooth I didn't put your personal info out, somebody else did that and i deleted it.. and I have not smeared you, I simply showed people what you did.. what do YOU think is the appropriate punishment for waht you did?
Todd Lynn I am a comedian Check my record i never have once during my act or on the air made any type of racial refferances or derogatory remarks about any race of people
Jay Smooth What about calling Russell Simmons a coon?
Todd Lynn Bro I am finished , personally and proffesionally behind all of this so what I think does not Matter
Todd Lynn That was a caller
Jay Smooth So you never called Russell Simmons a coon?
Jay Smooth You know that you are on a radio show, that people tape, right?
Todd Lynn and once again another subject you are not fully versed on , But you know what we make fun of other people on the radio everyday
Jay Smooth So you don't think what you did was all that serious, to get this much attention?
Todd Lynn Dude once again I am a Comedian You know how many people call me a Dumbass nigga everyday calling in when they call in
Jay Smooth A minute ago you said you never use any racial slurs or derogatory remarks
Todd Lynn No I think it was very serious! And once again I am Sorry , No I said I was Not A racist
Jay Smooth So how should you be punished?
Jay Smooth How will you make it right?
Todd Lynn I have never made any vicious are millchious racist remarks about any onre
Jay Smooth Calling the tsunami victims screamng chinks is not malicious?
Todd Lynn Like I said I am Paying right now Lost My job my Integrity, and made one of the biggest mistakes of my life but really have no ill will to any race of people
Jay Smooth Aren't you just suspended with pay? you haven't lost your job
Todd Lynn Look no matter what I tell You , the Ball is already working , like I said a little while ago your just killing aguy that fucked up not a racist
Jay Smooth If you're not a racist why didn't you see anything wrong with those lyrics, when you sang them?
Todd Lynn Cmon!! dude where do you get your facts
I not trying to plead my case here
whether you admit it are not you indited a fuckup who made a mistake
Todd Lynn not a person who hates other races of people
Jay Smooth you are not anserwing any of my questions.. are you on an unpaid suspension?
Jay Smooth you say i dont have all the facts, but you dont have any facts to give me
Todd Lynn I am very sorry For the song and nothing I write or say will be enough for anyone , but for my own sake because I am dealing with what I did and My involvement I am apologizing and am deeply sorry for all of this but that racist bullshit I aint claiming that
Jay Smooth Can I post this apology on the website?
Todd Lynn DUDE YOU ARE A SMART GUY READ THREW THE LINES
Jay Smooth What good is it to apologize to me? There are millions of people who are offended by what you did.. and you are still saying it was not racist
Todd Lynn HOW ABOUT THIS I WRITE YOU ONE SO I CAN EXPRESS MYSELF COMPLETLY, BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY ABOUT ME AND NO OFFENCE YOU DONT LIKE ME VERY MUCH
Jay Smooth I will post verbatim the conversation and apology here.. anything else you want to say you can put it here
Todd Lynn WELL AS I SAID IT DOES NOT MATTER!
i AM VERY SORY ABOUT THE SONG AS EVERYBODY INVOLED IN THIS IS!! bUT NO WE ARE NOT RACIST WE DID NOT DO THIS TO OPRESS AN PEOPLE OR PUT THEM DOWN
WE FUCKED UP AND WENT TO FAR !
Jay Smooth Is that all you have to say?
Todd Lynn your posting this? Why
Jay Smooth To let your words speak for yourselves.. I have to end the conversation now, but if you change your mind about putting an interview on tape let me know. There is also a reporter from [***] who asked if I knew how to contact you or miss jones, I will put him in contact with you if you are willing to do that. Thank you for speaking with me.
Todd Lynn no Thanks
Jay Smooth Alright, is there anything else you want to say to the people who will read this?
Todd Lynn nah afraid you might twist my words up and it will be the start of a new onslaught of problems more calls to my house more threats .
Todd Lynn Some how this will come out fucked up also
Jay Smooth You will be able to see in a minute when i post it that nothing is changed. And you can add whatever you want in the comments section as well. Again, if you are willing to put something on tape please let me know
Todd Lynn man this typing shit is killing me
Todd Lynn and I said what I needed to say
Jay Smooth Alright, thank you again for speaking with me, goodnight.
-----------------

He also spoke tonight with trickology.com, here.

Memo to Emmis Communications: The Whole World is Watching (UPDATED)

1/31/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn Fired

Todd Lynn speaks to Jay Smooth

The "Toyota Scion" ads have disappeared from Hot97.com. If anyone has received word from Toyota about their ads being pulled, please pass it along.

EDIT: Toyota has sent out a new reply, but it does not acknowledge pulling any ads, and says the ads had been bought by some sort of local branch:

Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

We are sensitive to the opinions of our customers and apologize if a Toyota sponsorship has offended you in any way.

Toyota’s decision to advertise on particular programs is based on the level of interest generated by the American public, not the subject matter contained in the program. We make every effort to screen broadcasts considered to contain controversial issues, however we had no prior knowledge of the radio station's intent to air “The Tsunami Song”. Additionally, Toyota advertising stems from three distinct levels; local, regional, and national. This particular advertising was from a TDA (Toyota Dealers Association), which represents the greater New York Region.

Upon learning of this issue the TDA immediately contacted management at Hot 97 to express their dissatisfaction. As a result, Hot 97 responded with a written apology to the TDA. Our research of the Hot 97 controversy indicates the radio station has ceased the broadcast, issued a public apology, and offered a notable contribution to tsunami relief.

Toyota in no way condones nor supports the messages prevalent in the parody known as “The Tsunami Song”. To the contrary, we take many opportunities to promote cultural and racial diversity, and regarding the tragedy created by the natural disaster, Toyota estimates a nearly four million dollar contribution for Tsunami relief efforts from its North American affiliates.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

EDIT: All links to the Hot 97 morning show's webpage, and banners featuring Miss Jones, are now removed from Hot97.com. The morning show page was still accessible through the direct URL, but soon after I noted this it disappeared. know the url. Props to mediadrop for the scoop.)

Several people have sent me this e-mail from Coca-Cola, apparently they are pulling their ads from the Hot 97 morning show:

Date: 27 Jan 2005 12:29:11 -0500
From: Coca-Cola Support
Subject: RE: Coca-Cola Web Form
To: ******@yahoo.com

Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company. We are grateful for the opportunity to respond, and we share your concerns regarding this matter.

Together with our bottling partners, The Coca-Cola Company is working in the regions impacted by this natural disaster to provide clean drinking water and to support local relief efforts and other on-the-ground needs. To date, the Coca-Cola System and our employees have combined to contribute almost $20 million in cash and material donations.

We have made Hot 97 management aware that The Coca-Cola Company does not condone the inappropriate and insensitive parody of the tsunami disaster that aired on their station. We do not support programs that are discriminatory or that make light of the tsunami crisis and its devastating impact on people in the region. Accordingly, we have withdrawn our advertising from the Hot 97 morning show.

However, we do not want this decision to impinge upon other ongoing community support programs. Currently we are conducting a Black History Month promotion in conjunction with Hot 97 that awards scholarships to deserving students in the New York area. While this worthwhile promotion will continue, it will no longer be advertised on the station's morning programming.

Your feedback is truly appreciated. If you ever have any additional questions or concerns on any other matter, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,
Lesley
Industry and Consumer Affairs
The Coca-Coca Company

Also, The Emmis website currently has a job listing for "morning show host". Looks like they are keeping all their bases covered (EDIT: I'm told this listing was up before the controversy started). And here's a new but tentative response from another of Hot 97's sponsors, Reebok:

Reebok’s Response to Decision by New York Radio Station
Hot 97.7 to Create and Broadcast Tsunami Parody Song

“Reebok is an occasional advertiser on New York radio station Hot 97. Like many of its listeners, we were deeply disturbed by the insensitive and offensive tsunami parody song that was created and aired during the Miss Jones in the Morning Show. Ridiculing the victims of this horrible disaster was offensive, deeply racist and went far beyond ‘creative license.’ We are pleased that Hot 97 has issued an apology, both on the air and on its web-site. However, we have urged the station to institute a more rigorous policy to prevent such insensitive and racist material from being produced and aired in the future. Furthermore, we have communicated to the station’s general manager that we expect the station to take any and all appropriate disciplinary action. We will continue to monitor this situation and, if necessary, will adjust our response accordingly.”

Denise Kaigler
Reebok Spokesperson
January 26, 2005

As you can imagine, I'm getting hundreds thousands of emails and messages about this Hot 97 controversy. What I'm getting from the public and from activist communities now: this vaguely defined suspension ain't cutting it. And organized protest is about to rise up stronger than ever.

Although I helped to start it I am far from the leader of this protest, and it's not my place to dictate the goals or the demands. But I do know that if you agree justice is not yet served, the best thing to do is keep going over Hot 97's head. Keep hitting sponsors, keep hitting Emmis, find out who Emmis' shareholders are. And keep on sharing any new information you get.

Each of us, as individuals doing our little part, have come together to create something far bigger than us all. And now our collective voice is being heard around the world:

in Australia
in France
in China
on ebay??
in the Netherlands
in Germany
in South Africa
in India
in Harlem
in Korea
in the Netherlands

And on and on and on. So keep watching and keep working, and don't ever doubt that your voice can be heard. (and I don't just mean this for the particular battle we are fighting today)

Hot 97 Announces Suspension, Sprint and McDonalds Pulling Ads

1/31/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn Fired

The truth about the "informed insider" email

1/28/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn speaks to Hiphopmusic.com

EDIT: Journalist Oliver Wang says this suspension "seems like smoke and mirrors," and hip-hop radio legend Davey D tells us "Right now Miss Jones and her morning team are suspended, but trust me folks that’s only for show. They are hoping this incident will go away and people will forget"

I have to agree, and I STRONGLY encourage everyone to keep the pressure on sponsors and shareholders, and keep watching this situation closely. It is quite possible the morning show is only getting a little paid vacation, and they're hoping we won't notice when they come back in two weeks.

At 6 AM this morning, Hot 97 announced the Miss Jones morning show is "suspended indefinitely". I posted the announcement here as an mp3.

This morning from 6 to 10 was hosted by someone named "E-Bro" who took calls on-air about the controversy. Most of the calls they took were in favor of bringing Miss Jones back. Many people have reported to me that when they called to speak against bringing the show back they were screened out.

They also played Jin's dis track repeatedly. EDIT: They also nterviewed Jin, the audio is here courtesy of holla-front.com. Also posted by alljin.com here. Jin stood firmly his belief that the Miss Jones morning show should not be brought back on the air.

They're not saying whether the suspension is permanent or temporary, or whether it is a paid suspension. Or whether the suspension includes Miss Info.

An ad for Miss Jones' special "smackfest finals" on Friday morning at Caroline's comedy club aired minutes before the announcement, but now they have said that event is "postponed."

Meanwhile, both Sprint and Mcdonalds have announced they will suspend their advertising:

New STATEMENT FROM SPRINT

* Because the tsunami parody content on the Hot 97 program was in violation of our company standards, Sprint intends to suspend its advertising on the station.

The following information was issued previously:

* Sprint does NOT have any connection to the Tsunami Song aired on Hot 97 FM.

* Sprint strongly objects to any communication or other effort making light of the devastation of the tsunami disaster. The content of the "Tsunami song" clearly runs contrary to Sprint's commitment to diversity and inclusion, and is not in any way supported or condoned by Sprint. Needless to say, our hearts go out to the tsunami victims and their families -- for this and other reasons, the Sprint Foundation and our associates have worked together since the tsunami tragedy to raise funds for disaster relief efforts and will continue to do so.

*Sprint has purchased advertising time on Hot 97 but was incorrectly identified as a sponsor of the segment of the show in which the song was referenced. In any case, Sprint was unaware and had no connection to the content of the "Tsunami Song."

*Sprint has expressed our strong concern about this content to the radio station. The station has issued a public apology and appears to have disciplined the responsible parties. Sprint continually evaluates acceptable content against our own guidelines and we will continue to monitor the process with all outlets in which we advertise.

and from Mcdonalds:

Thank you for taking the time contact McDonald's. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to you regarding the recent events involving hosts from the Hot 97 morning radio program in New York.

First, McDonald's does not support programs that discriminate or are
insensitive to the plight of people suffering from devastating events.
Starting immediately, McDonald's will indefinitely suspend advertising
on the Hot 97 morning show.

It's also important to know that Ronald McDonald House Charities,
McDonald's Corporation and the McDonald's family around the world have
donated more than two million dollars to the Tsunami relief efforts.

We take these matters very seriously and will continue to work together to help victims of this devastating disaster.

Again, thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to your
concerns.

Nancy
McDonald's Customer Response Center

Jin Records Track Dissing Hot 97, Sponsors Pulling Their Ads

1/31/05 UPDATE: The truth about the "informed insider" email

UPDATE: Hot 97 Announces Suspension, Details Unclear So Far

The highly respected Chinese-American emcee Jin just recorded a blistering freestyle track in response to Hot 97's racism, you can download the mp3 here.

And in today's other big news, one of Hot 97's sponsors, the Jackson Hewitt tax service, reports they are pulling their advertising and support from hot 97's morning show, im response to the outcry over their Tsunami song:

Dear Sir/Madam:

We respect and share in your concerns regarding the truly insensitive
and inappropriate behavior of the show's hosts and the airing of the
offensive song. Please be aware that Jackson Hewitt Tax Service does
not endorse or approve of such behavior and had no input or prior knowledge as to the content of the broadcast that aired last week
during the "Miss Jones in the Morning" program.

In fact, we have already contacted station owners and management to express our concerns and to inform them that we have withdrawn our advertising and support from the "Miss Jones in the Morning" program.

We acknowledge that the station has posted an apology, but certainly do not believe that that is enough, considering the serious nature of this matter. Thus we have called upon the station's owners and management to further review this program and its allowance of such behavior.

We thank you for taking the time to reach out to us on this serious matter.

Respectfully,
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. Management

Bravo to Jackson Hewitt for doing the right thing. If you want to convince other sponsors to do the same, get their contact info here.

Thanks to all of your work spreading the word the story was picked up by hundreds of media outlets yesterday, including the Daily News, Newsday, and the NY Times. Also new coverage from WCBS (with video link), the Village Voice, Reuters, and Billboard, among many others.

Props especially to asianmediawatch.net and asianmediawatchdog.com for their efforts, and the okayplayers Jose3030 and afrikankween52.

More Weak Responses from Hot 97, Sprint..

1/31/05 UPDATE:
Todd Lynn Fired

The truth about the "informed insider" email

watch this page for updates on the story

Hot 97's morning show aired as usual today, with nobody suspended or removed. There was no discussion of the conroversy except a brief apology from Miss Jones, read twice during the four hour show. A taped apology from Program director John Dimick also aired once every hour. Otherwise Miss Jones, Todd Lynn and the rest went on like business as usual. EDIT: My tape didn't catch the apologies, if anybody has the audio please pass it on.

Amazingly, they seem to think this is all behind them now. Just a few insincere half-apologies and we will all go away. I certainly hope we prove them wrong. Hot 97n has now proven they have no conscience or integrity, so it's especially important for us to keep going over their heads, to Emmis corporate and the sponsors. Keep hitting Emmis as hard as we can.

The Here's My Byline blog got a reply from Sprint, about their apparent sponsorship of Hot 97's bigotry.

Sprint claims that Hot 97 "appears to have disciplined the responsible parties," which is not true. No disciplinary actions of any kind have been announced. No, having the staff voluntarily donate some money does not count. Calling that an appropriate "discipline" is insulting.

Any thoughts about this pseudo-response can be sent to James.W.Fisher@mail.sprint.com

STATEMENT FROM SPRINT

* Sprint does NOT have any connection to the Tsunami Song aired on Hot 97 FM.

* Sprint strongly objects to any communication or other effort making light of the devastation of the tsunami disaster. The content of the "Tsunami song" clearly runs contrary to Sprint's commitment to diversity and inclusion, and is not in any way supported or condoned by Sprint.

*Sprint has purchased advertising time on Hot 97 but was incorrectly identified as a sponsor of the segment of the show in which the song was referenced. In any case, Sprint was unaware and had no connection to the content of the "Tsunami Song."

*Sprint has expressed our strong concern about this content to the radio station. The station has issued a public apology and appears to have disciplined the responsible parties. Sprint continually evaluates acceptable content against our own guidelines and we will continue to monitor the process with all outlets in which we advertise.

P.S. While you're here, the best way to show that these people don't represent us is by going to Red Cross and make a donation of our own to help the Tsunami victims.

New EVEN WORSE Hot 97 Audio, and List of Sponsors (UPDATED)

1/31/05 UPDATE:
Todd Lynn Fired

The truth about the "informed insider" email

1/26/05 UPDATE: Hot 97 Announces Suspension, Details Unclear So Far

1/25/05 UPDATE: Jin Records Track Dissing Hot 97, Sponsor Pulls Their Ads

This Friday morning from 6 to 10 AM, the Hot 97 morning show will do a special live broadcast from Caroline's comedy club, on Broadway between 49th and 50th.

A group of NY City Councilmen had a press conference on this issue today, which was covered on TV by UPN 9, Fox 5, and WB 11 along with NY1 (viewable here). The WB report briefly showed a picture of this website, and credited all of you for your work on this issue.

1/24/05 updates: More weak statements from Hot 97 and Sprint here.

------------
I got my hands on a longer clip from this week's Hot 97 morning show, and it is ugly stuff indeed: longer_hot97_tsunami.mp3

On this tape you hear them introducing the "Tsunami Song," then Miss Jones and co-host Todd Lynn launching into an abusive tirade against Miss Info when she voices her objection to it. Miss Jones finally tells Info she's only complaining because "you feel superior, probably because you're Asian."

Then, after Miss Info has said the song is offensive to Asians, co-host Todd Lynn informs her: "I'm gonna start shooting Asians." Yes, he really says that. It's at 3:37 on the mp3.

In the meantime the NY Post has picked up on the story. And Hot 97 has posted an apology on their website, an extremely weak apology in my opinion. They aren't even willing to match that flimsy one day suspension Star and Buc got for the "rat eater" incident? Pathetic. And they still refuse to acknowledge the bigotry at all.

Over at okayplayer they started compiling a list of Hot 97's sponsors and how to contact them. I'll paste their findings here. Note that on the audio posted above, they basically tell us the Tsunami Song was "brought to us by" Sprint. I'm sure Sprint would love to know just what they've been bringing us [EDIT: Sprint has now suspended their ads, along with Mcdonald's] :

Sprint/Sprint PCS
Media Contact:
James Fisher, 202-585-1947
james.w.fisher@mail.sprint.com

Popeyes
http://popeyes.com/corp_comm.asp

Reebok
Lisa Bartlett
lisa.bartlett@reebok.com

Jennifer Hawkins
jennifer@stenderhawkins.com

Reebok International Ltd.
PO Box 1060
Ronks, PA 17573

OR

Corporate Headquarters
Reebok International Ltd.
1895 J. W. Foster Boulevard
Canton, MA 02021
781-401-5000
ask for David Pace (atty) or Paul Fireman (CEO)

McDonald's
http://mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us.html

1/23/05 New Sponsor contacts:

Jackson Hewitt - (they have pulled their ads)
Sheila Cort
Director, Communications
Jackson Hewitt Inc.
973-496-2702
Sheila.cort@jtax.com

Popeye's parent company:
mconlon@afce.com

Coca Cola:
The Coca-Cola Company
P.O. Box 1734
Atlanta, GA USA 30301
http://www.coke.net/webapps/pubinquiry/PublicInquiry
1-800-438-2653

Toyota
800-331-4331
800-443-4999 for TDD
6:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday - Friday

For calls originating outside the United States: 310-468-4000
7:00 AM - 5:30 PM Pacific Time, Monday - Friday

http://toyota.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/toyota.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?

And here are some addresses for Hot 97's parent company, Emmis Broadcasting. The first is their head honcho Jeff Smulyan:

NOTE: If you use the word "tsunami" in your email it will probably get filtered now, and not read. So try to leave that word out..

jsmulyan@emmis.com
ir@emmis.com
rcummings@emmis.com
jsteele@emmis.com
khealey@emmis.com

And there are now two online petitions you can sign:
http://www.petitiononline.com/tsunmai7/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/endhate/petition.html

and P.S. - While you're here, the best way to show that these people don't represent us is by going to Red Cross and make a donation of our own to help the Tsunami victims.

Racist Hot 97 Skit Mocking Tsunami Victims

1/31/05 UPDATE:
Todd Lynn Fired

The truth about the "informed insider" email

1/28/05 UPDATE: Todd Lynn Speaks to Hiphopmusic.com

1/26/05 UPDATE: Hot 97 Announces Suspension, Details Unclear So Far

Edit: Check the new updates/new audio here (more updates posted 1/25/05)
and click here for Jin's new freestyle dissing Hot 97.

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For the last week Hot 97 has been running a hideously unfunny and offensive skit named "Tsunami Song," that ridicules the victims of the Tsunami as "ch

*nks" whose children will now be sold into child slavery. It's being played on the station's morning show, hosted by Miss Jones.

It's also featured on their website, on the right side of the page. (This is a direct link to the mp3).

EDIT: the mp3 link is not working from their site anymore, but they're not gonna cover this up that easily. The fine citizens at okayplayer.com saved a copy here for evidence. Also check their discussion of the song here and here

Here are some choice lyrics:

..All at once you could hear the screaming ch*nks and no one was safe from the wave there were africans drowning, little chinamen swept away you could hear god laughing, "swim you b*tches swim"

So now you're screwed, it's the Tsunami
you better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
and now the children will be sold to child slavery...

Uhh, yeah. Har de har har.

You may know that one of that show's other hosts, Miss Info, is Asian. She voiced her displeasure with the skit and got into a heated on-air argument with Miss Jones about it. But so far Hot 97 hasn't acknowledged that there's anything wrong with it, and they continue to air it everyday.

As a New Yorker, as a radio person, and as a hip-hop fan I am ashamed and disgusted that Hot 97 is allowing this to broadcast on their airwaves. If you feel the same way you can let them know here:

NOTE: If you use the word "tsunami" in your email it will probably get filtered now, and not read. So try to leave that word out..

HOT 97
395 Hudson St. 7th Fl.
New York, NY 10014

(212) 229-9797

hot97@hot97.com

Or even better, Hot 97's parent company Emmis broadcasting:

ir@emmis.com
jsmulyan@emmis.com
rcummings@emmis.com
jsteele@emmis.com
khealey@emmis.com

And if you really want to send a message, and make Hot 97 hear it, you can contact their advertisers about this. I may try to put together a list of sponsors, or if anybody else has one please pass it along.

EDIT: The list of sponsors is here

And there are now two online petitions you can sign:
http://www.petitiononline.com/tsunmai7/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/endhate/petition.html

Join Us On the Radio Tonight

Once again we hit the airwaves tonight at Midnight EST, with our radio show the Underground Railroad. You can hear us online here, or on WBAI 99.5 FM if you live in the tri-state area. And while you check out the sounds you also can talk to us live in the chat room, at it's new temporary address.

Today Our Inertia Will Be TOTALLY IN YOUR FACE!

I was going to post about my disdain for today's "Not A Damn Dime Day," but in the spirit of their militant sloth I will take the laziest route possible and just link to my comments at quarterwit.

I said the TR 808 Is Blogging...

Bright and early in the mo-orning!

Versuses

Greg Tate vs Greg Tate - I wouldn't assume that Greg has changed, necessarily.. he may still believe everything quoted there. It could instead prove that, just like all of us in here, he has a nuanced position on this stuff. Which is what IMO he failed to capture properly in the newest piece, though razorsharply written as far as it went. Yeah I know that's not a word.

Typing vs. Writing - If I'd gotten to do more typing and less writing growing up, maybe I'd be smart enough to comment on this post.

Exo vs. uhh, whoever volunteers? - Whatever this is he's doing, he's damn sure good at it. For the record: I don't know anything about fighting, only breaking fights up (6 years working at a group home'll do that for you).

Styles P vs. Styles P - Just when I was about to give Styles props for his new single "I'm Black" and wonder if positivity was coming back in style, I got linked up to his other new track, which is entitled "Kill That F*ggot." Oh well.. (Styles' mother worked with me at that group home, incidentally. And he was mad cool about bringing the Lox up to meet the kids now and then.)

What They Call Black People in Russia

At houstonsoreal we learned that Willie D of the Geto Boyz has been living part-time in Azerbaijan of all places. But when asked about visiting Russia, Willie had some some strong words:

Have you gone to Russia yet?

Naw I ain’t going to that motherf**ker. They still call black people “n*gger” in Russia. It’s not even supposed to be a disrespectful term. They just took “n*gger” off of black Russians drivers licenses and s**t. But when the little kids got killed in the school in Russia by those Chechens, Putin, the president of Russia, said “We have x amount of Russian children killed and one n*gger.” The president! The f**king president said this s**t man! They have black Russians, not a lot, but some black Russians in Azerbaijan. Just a few. S**t the whole country don’t have but ten blacks and I brought three with me

Uh oh. I am of Russian ancestry on my mom's side, technically making me a Black Russian. Could it be that my people are really playing me out like that?? In order to get to the bottom of this I consulted with Vera, my contact in Moscow. Here's how she broke it down:

the Russian term "negr" = negro not nigger. it took me a while to understand that & not cringe when i heard that word, but it's true. black people (from Africa) here actually get offended if you call them black ("chernyye"). the term black is usually referred to people from the Caucuses (like Azerbaijan), Chechens are referred to as blacks as well. so the term "negr" for African black people is quite PC.

Ahh yes, that makes much more sense. Somebody pass this on to Willie!

Ken Burns' Jazz vs. Unforgivable Blackness

Check out this angle on the new Jack Johnson documentary, and how it ties in with Ken Burns' earlier work in ways he may not have intended:

...it occured to me last night that jack johnson was a major symbol for many in the free jazz scene of the sixties/seventies, who saw his ostracization by both whites and blacks for his "unforgivable blackness" as akin their own ostracization by the white and black establishment for performing what they saw as "great black music." it was those very same musicians who ken burn's was criticized for leaving out of his last big documentary, jazz. those who agreed with burns' history of jazz--his largely white, middle class pbs audience; wynton marsalis and the jazz lincoln center folks, aka middle and upper middle class black folks)--are not demographcally dissimilar from the whites who claimed johnson was "a lazy coon who wasn't really boxing," and the blacks who said he was doing "a disservice to the colored race..."

Hello, Ombudsman?

Kelefa Sanneh's review of Game's "Documentary album is catches my eye for 2 reasons: 1) He's much less enamored of it than most online reviewers, and 2) The NY Times just published a really lame typo. There's no such word as "chronicals," suckers! Hurry up and click before fix it.

A Few Words from Rich Harrison on Amerie's "One Thing"

When I posted about the new Amerie record last week, someone claimed in the comments that the song's not really by Rich Harrison, but some guy named "Keishon Kessee"..

Everyone else was saying Rich did it though.. so I checked in with our favorite blog-reading producer to see if he could get to the bottom of this. Today he caught up with Rich Harrison, and reported back with the scoop:

just blaze*: sooooo.. i just spoke to rich
just blaze: HE did it
just blaze: noone else
just blaze: did it last june
just blaze: the label hated it
just blaze: and it just sat there...

just blaze: then sumhow.. and it wasnt him
just blaze: the record leaked to internet radio in the UK
just blaze: and the rest is history
just blaze: 400 spins with no money and no label support
just blaze: bout to do a remix with t.i. and eve i believe
just blaze: should drop in a few weeks
just blaze: then video
just blaze: soooooooo
just blaze: tell dj dubb jr to LEAN THE #$$!@ BACK!

(*IM name changed, obvs)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Buried in Wonkette's rundown of the inaugural festivities is a shockah: How dare Richard Roundtree partake in this coronation of the demon seed? I thought you were the cat who won't cop out! Then again when it comes down to it, I guess Shaft always was working for The Man.

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Russell Rush as new head of the NAACP??

-------------------

I talked to Game about his son as we rode through Harlem, but he didn't mention that his son is named Harlem.

-------------------

There is no greater service to humanity than publicly shaming a snotty PR flack.

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There is a crazy amount of hype for Houston So Real right now. But what's really crazy is they live up to it.

Jay Dee Sick But Recovering? in a Coma, According to ?uestlove

Send your love, because this is scary..

EDIT Update in that thread, from T3 of Slum Village:

"HE'S BEEN IN SICK BUT NOT IN A COMA......
MY NIGGA J DILLA IS NOT IN A COMA.........TO ALL THOSE WHO HEARD THAT RUMOR...IT IS NOT TRUE....(OKAY PLAYERS FAM).........THIS IS COMIN STRAIGHT FROM HIS FAM....... YO BOY T3"

And from another poster:

i made a few calls... and the people i called made a few calls... i guess Dilla has been sick lately, but it aint in and out of coma shit... he'll be fine... but dude needs a new liver either way...

The Game: The (Photo) Documentary

If you haven't seen it yet, check the Winter issue of Mean Magazine for my interview with G Unit/Aftemath's Chuck Taylor AKA The Game. I'll post some audio later this week, but for now here are some pictures.

In the profile I describe him giving his sneakers and the shirt off his back to some young autograph seekers, which you see documented in the third pic:

click on thumbnails for the full size photos

Many Were Pupils

It's funny, for over a decade now I've been encouraging folks to dig deeper than those 3 MLK soundbytes we always hear, and especially to check Why I oppose the Vietnam War. But after covering that ground so many times, I feel like the countering the cliches has become a cliche in itself. So I'll just leave the topic to others this year.

--------------------

His shows are hit-or-miss, but when Ali G is in the zone I swear he out Kaufmans Andy Kaufman.

--------------------

While we're in the UK, did y'all catch that Tim from "The Office" will be Mos Def's co-star in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galazy"? And that "Office" star and creator Ricky Gervais was personally drafted by Matt Groening to do an episode of the Simpsons? I don't have time to find links, but these things are true.

--------------------

Daaaamn son, what's with the ODB bloat-face?? Somebody done worked a root on you for real. I sincerely hope you get it together..

Seems like the two brightest lights of our soul generation have been extinguished by the pressures of their fame. But I'm not ready to give up on D, or L either.

--------------------

And I won't touch on Lynne and Candice's questions here, they deserve their own post later.

Amerie "One Thing"

We shall henceforth refer to it as Rich Harrison "One Thing" (ft. Amerie), because the one thing that matters here is that Meters-on-steroids beat. I kinda wish he'd given this to Yonce or even Mary, cuz Amerie's voice isn't strong enough to carry it.

On last week's show DJ 3D was raving about "Get Right," the new single by Pro Tools Autotune (featuring J Lo). "It sounds like real instruments instead of sound modules, and has an actual snare drum on it!" Turns out this one's a Rich Harrison production too, and luckily there's a bootleg version of with Usher on vocals instead, as noted at Different Kitchen.

So Rich is damn sure the man right now. So far he's leaning towards the post-hip-hop school of R&B songwriting, i.e. "make a beat and then throw some vocals riffs on top of it" instead of "compose a melody/chord structure/lyrics and build around that." But he's got the chops to make it work.

Diff Kitch also linked up the Amerie over two months ago, but I missed it in my post-election grieving process.

People, People, People, Please.

"stop playing these childish games with me.."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Listen. I'm not gonna say your name, but you know who you are.

When you're an up-and-coming band, and you send a bunch of your friends in here to make posts like "yo I just happened to see this new group named ***** and they were on fire, does anyone have info about them?" you're not fooling anybody.

And when you follow it up by sending in your manager to say "hey i just happened to come here and see some comments about my group, here is more info about them!" you're really not fooling anybody.

But then, to top it all off, when you send most of the fake posts and the manager's message from the same IP address... come on, guys.

I saw your group perform that night, and I liked your stuff.. plus I'm just a softhearted guy in general. So I'm not gonna put you on blast this time, I will just edit out the spam and we can pretend this never happened. But please, please, never do that again.

I agreed with your comments about MOP's entourage disrespecting the opening act. But you've got a lot of nerve calling them out for being unprofessional, while you're being dishonest and disrespectful to me and my readers.

Blaze A 50

A Birthday shout to Just Blaze, who celebrated by rocking the crowd at Table 50 last night. I chilled in the back with Hashim, watching this music fill the room with life. Then just as I was walking out Just Blaze grabbed the mic and said "Somebody told me hip-hop is dead?!?" I'm not sure if he's been reading our blogs or just happened to read our minds.

EDIT: The DJ before Just played this crazy R&B joint, that I was told is a new Rich Harrison-produced Amerie single. Can anyone confirm this and tell me the name of the song? Funky as hell.

George Clinton: Greatest Battle Rapper Ever

Who else could dis you so hard your only recourse is taking them to court? I guess Pac also did that to C. Delores, so it's a two way tie.

Rap lyrics ruled 'rhetorical hyperbole,' not defamatory

Crude rap lyrics that conveyed no verifiable facts about the plaintiff do not defame, U.S. Court of Appeals rules.

Rap lyrics about a record producer performed by funk musician George Clinton are merely crude "rhetorical hyperbole" and not defamatory, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati (6th Cir) ruled last week...

Clinton, best known for his work in the bands Parliament and Funkadelic, performed the contested verse in the song "Speed Dreamin'" on rapper Warren G's 2001 "Return of the Regulator" album. The lyrics, written by G, refer to "Armen" and say: "He's a disgrace to the species into his face with some feces/Big nose motherf***er got it coming."

Record producer Armen Boladian filed suit in Michigan state court against G, record company UMG Recordings, and Michigan distribution company, Meijer Inc, claiming defamation, invasion of privacy, emotional distress and unjust enrichment. The defendants had the suit moved to U.S. District Court in Detroit.

According to Boladian's complaint, "The Lyrics refer to Armen Boladian. The disputes and litigation between Armen Boladian and George Clinton and concerning George Clinton's music is well known to virtually everyone in the music business, and in particular to those persons involved in the rap music business. The reference by Clinton to 'Armen' in the Lyrics would be understood by such persons as referring to Armen Boladian. The Lyrics, including the statements that refer to the 'sorrows and horrors' of Boladian's abuse, that Boladian is a 'disgrace to the species', and 'got it [killing] comin' are false and defamatory . . . ."

The District Court dismissed the suit because the lyrics were "rhetorical hyperbole" and not defamatory. Boladian appealed and the Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed Jan. 3.

The plaintiffs "have failed to meet their burden of showing an actual, objectively verifiable defamatory statement. There was no specific allegation, such as an act of child abuse, that could be proven," Judge Alan E. Norris wrote for the three-judge panel. "For instance, the statement that 'Armen' is 'disgrace to the species,' represents the kind of puerile taunt that, for better or for worse, is typical of rap music..."

Wow if this dude thinks "disgrace to the species" is too puerile, there's about 1,536 records out right now that would make his brain explode.

Hip-Hop is Dead (in Kenya)

How does this here factor into the current debate? Probably in more ways than I have time to ponder right now. (I resisted the urge to call it "Tate-Gate," cuz I think we all agree that A) this dialogue is worth exploring further and B) it will be much more fruitful if we move on from just reacting to that text)

What’s wrong with Kenyan hip hop?

Kenyan hip hop artistes are yet to scale the same heights that their ‘kapuka’ counterparts are currently reaching. Is it the fans? Is it the quality of music, or is it the artistes’ own reticence? We let hip hop musicians fill us in on the situation.

In the US, former underground hip hop MCs, such as Snoop Doggy Dog, Jay Z, 50 Cent and Eminem, are millionaires. Their music is played in thousands of discos around the world. Their albums sell thousands of copies, too. But in Kenya, hip hop MCs are confined to a life of struggle and strife, while non-hip hop artistes, such as Nameless and Big Pin, attract corporate, fan and award-winning attention. In fact, it could be said that local hoppers are ‘foraging’ for a living. As one music critic puts it: "Wamesota mbaya!"

But then what could be the reason behind their stunted fortunes? K-South, who are undoubtedly Kenya’s first, and arguably best, hip hop MCs, blame the situation on the lack of knowledge that Kenyans display about the genre. The duo says that hip hop has failed to take off because most Kenyans consider it foreign, even though it originated in Africa. "One thing Kenyans don’t understand is that hip hop is a culture and lifestyle that is all African," says Jerry Doobiez, one half of K-South. Bandmate Bamboo echoes his sentiments, adding that they are saddened by the image the hip hop community in Kenya has cultivated.

"It’s unfortunate that Kenyans associate hip hop with rowdiness and nothing more," says Doobiez. "They think we are just a bunch of guys who jump up and down on stage. But hip hop is more educative than entertaining, and anybody who understands it knows this."

They blame the local media for its bias against hip hop music. "It’s unfair that one struggles so hard to make it in this game, yet some people just want to see your efforts go down the drain," says Bamboo. They also accuse local presenters of setting a kapuka trend at the expense of hip hop.

"You will always hear them play kapuka music, and if they must play hip hop, then it’s always foreign gangsta rap, that features messages about guns, and people hurling abuse at each other," says a furious Doobiez. "This gives Kenyans the wrong impression, making it hard for hip hop to grow locally....

Can someone lay down a Rough Guide to Kapuka, as it compares to the hip-hop these artists represent? Maybe benn loxo du tàccu? (still the best mp3 blog out there in my book, btw)

PHOTOS: MOP, Remy Martin at Joe's Pub 1/12/05

click on each thumbnail for full-size photo
----------------------------------------------------

Eminem vs. David Mays, Live and In Person

As you are surely aware by now, I am obliged to gloat about any scandal that befalls DAvid Mays or Benzino. There's a little more to this story than what has come out so far, but I am sworn to secrecy.. look around for more details tomorrow.

Below is a mix of MTV's current report and their earlier edit that rapnewsdirect cribbed wholesale:

Eminem and David Mays Face Off at Radio Station

On Tuesday evening in Detroit, Em and Source co-owner David Mays got into an off-air verbal confrontation at radio station WDTJ-FM.

Reports are still coming in, but according to sources close to the altercation, Mays was being interviewed at the station for an evening radio program. Some of Mays' words were directed toward the Motor City SoundScan king.

Shortly thereafter, Eminem arrived at the station with approximately 10 men. While sources say that no violence took place, there was plenty of shouting and four-letter words being flung...

..."[Eminem] starts yelling at the program director, 'You're a punk for letting this guy come up to the station.' The show basically ended, and I left and came to New York," he said.

Coincidentally, last time I talked to David Mays he was calling me a punk for letting some guys come up to the radio station and talk about him (namely James Bernard and Reginald Dennis). Many four letter words were flung on that occasion as well.

Red Cross Yaps Fools for That Cristal Money

M.O.P. at Joe's Pub for the tsunami victims? I'm all for random acts of charity, and they don't get more random than this. Joe's is s small space, but I'll be swinging by to see if I can get in.

‘RELIEF AND RECOVERY’ A BENEFIT FOR THE TSUNAMI VICTIMS

In response to the recent Tsunami tragedy "Relief and Recovery!" is a benefit to raise funds for the American Red Cross International Response Fund. The benefit will raise much needed funds for the AMERICAN RED CROSS to provide medication, food, clothing, shelter and more to the Tsunami victims tragically effected by the recent Tsunami disaster. There will be a variety of things happening at the event, including great give-a ways from Warner Bros., Verve, Palm Pictures, TRACE Magazine, Room Service, Spitkickers and more. Raffle tickets for gift certificates from Joe's Pub, Knicks vs. Bulls tickets, sports memorabilia,dinner for two at Tri Collore' and more will also be sold at the event. Performances by artists and groups such as M.O.P, PetelShot, Nervous System, SUM, Sparlha Swa, J. Period, Shannone Holt, Ralph McDaniels, Knock Out Kings and other surprise appearances will donate their time and talents to this great cause. The "Relief and Recovery!" event is open to the public, so feel free to bring along friends and colleagues and let others know about it. Over 350+ people are expected to come out and support what will be a dynamic event for a very necessary cause.

[Some replies to this post have been edited, for reasons that are explained here]

Zapatista Radio

Now if you want some real radio rebellion, check this out from our favorite reporter, Deepa Fernandes:

Radio Insurgente

Mexico's Zapatistas have been broadcasting their popular radio show for the past 21 years; now, a new website is allowing them to archive the history they're recording.

It's dark – the kind of profound darkness that a lack of electricity ensures in a mountainous jungle region.

A dull pulse carries through the night of the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas like an old woman's heartbeat. It's 4 a.m., and one can hear what has been a regular soundtrack at this hour for hundreds of years: a steady pounding as creased and callused brown hands massage dough for the day's tortillas.

And for the past year, Chiapas has greeted 4 a.m. with another soundtrack.

Fade in crackle, which quickly disappears, replaced by a clear and youthful female voice: "Muy Buenos Dias."/"A very good morning."

The voice is that of an insurgent fighter with the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), perhaps one of the world's quietest and most powerful rebel armies. The world knows them as the Zapatistas. "Estás escuchando Radio Insurgente, la voz de los sin voz."/"You are listening to Radio Insurgente, the Voice of the Voiceless."

The voice is being relayed to nearby Zapatista autonomous communities from a makeshift and very clandestine radio studio. The Zapatistas have built egg carton-lined studios, erected transmitters and trained themselves to operate a radio station. Hundreds of years of media voicelessness ended in August 2003 with daily, 16-hour broadcasts. "...voz oficial del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional..."

Star and Bucwild Suspended in Philly, Bringing Their Bigotry to NY

5/10/06 EDIT: If you're looking for news on Star's suspension today (May 10th, 2006), that news is here. The information below is from a previous suspension.

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After months of speculation, Star and Bucwild are reportedly returning to the NY airwaves on January 17th, when they take over Power 105's morning show. In case you've forgotten what to expect from these fine citizens, today's news has a reminder for you:

Radio hosts suspended for abusing Indian

Star and Bucwild, the hosts of a popular morning radio show in the United States, were suspended by their station for making an abusive and threatening call to a call centre employee in India. Power 99 FM in Philadelphia told rediff.com that it suspended the duo for a day, January 12, after receiving an unprecedented number of protest emails.

The live segment occurred on December 15, 2004, when Star, whose real name is Troi Torain, made a call to inquire about a product known as Quick Beads. The call was handled by an Indian call centre employee who identified herself as Steena.

Midway through the call, Star became abusive, calling Steena a 'bitch' and a 'rat-eater' before threatening to choke her. (For a complete transcript, visit http://www.edrants.com/reluctant/001697.html or hear the entire segment here: http://www.sideangleside.com/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi?dest=http://www.sideangleside.com/sas/media/power99_call_to_india.mp3)

There was little immediate fallout. It was only last week, after a station employee posted the segment on the station's Web site, that listeners began to mobilise against the station.

A number of blogs, including TurbanHead, DesiBlog and SepiaMutiny followed the story, as did members of the list serve for the South Asian Women's Creative Collective, and posted contact information for the radio station's personnel.

According to the Power 99 FM's News and Community Affairs Director, Loraine Ballard Morrill, the station received more protest emails and phone calls than it had for any past incident.

The vast majority of the emails came from outside the Philadelphia area. However, as of midday Tuesday, Morrill said no disciplinary action was intended for the duo. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the only disciplinary action being considered initially was for the station employee who had posted the segment online.

By Tuesday evening, the station had changed course. Morrill indicated that Clear Channel, the station's parent company and by far the largest owner of radio stations in the US, had pushed for the suspension...

Awesome, sounds like their return to NY should be a wonderful thing (FMTPO)

Note that nothing came of the incident until blogville picked up on the story weeks later. More reaction from the Times of India

And just for the record, this is all Ayn Rand's fault.
-----------

*FMTPO - For Me To Poop On

Mingering Mike Rocks the Boulevard

Remember when soulstrut.com introduced us to the mysterious tale of Mingering Mike, and his story eventually made it all the way to the NY Times? Well now he's about to have his first museum exhibit, down in North Carolina. And he has a website.

More on Greg Tate

I gotta say, as I re-read Tate's piece and all the reaction it's produced (how can you not love blogville at times like this?), I am less convinced the piece is as balanced as O-Dub gives it credit for. O says "I think people are making certain presumptions of Tate based on what he wrote and didn't write," but it appears to me the naysayers are going strictly by what's in the text, while O is giving Greg the benefit of the doubt and presuming we should fill in the blanks a certain way. And while I suspect O is correct in much of his presumption, you can't blame others for going by what's actually on the page.

O says Tate "provides a balanced approach to both celebrating hip-hop's achivements while also being candid about its shortcomings," but where does Tate's text ever celebrate any achievements, at least without turning the compliment backhanded in the second half of the sentence? And O doubts this is a "Hip-Hop Is Dead" piece, but it damn sure reads like a eulogy to me:

"Twenty years from now we'll be able to tell our grandchildren and great-grandchildren how we witnessed cultural genocide: the systematic destruction of a people's folkways."

You can't have a genocide without something dying. If that something is not hip-hop in its totality, certainly the only part of hip-hop that Tate values is dead or dying in his eyes.

And that's the problem with the piece.. even when correct in his observations Tate cannot place them in their proper context, because he doesn't see there's so much more to hip-hop beyond the aspects he addresses.

I can only wish Tate's actual text was as sharp as everything O-Dub extrapolates from it:

The question this comes back to is this: what is the relationship between hip-hop, as a Black cultural form, and the Black community that it emerges from? Does hip-hop speak to the realities of that community? And if it does not, what are the implications of that disconnection?

Great questions, but as I read Tate's text he's not really asking them, so much as giving pat and myopic answers to them. As Oliver himself says, there's a lot more to go by than lack of politics when judging whether hip-hop sucks in 2005. So many other pieces of the puzzle Tate is missing when he answers his own question "what are we celebrating?"

And that's what I think the younger heads are reacting to, it's not that the issues Greg raises are irrelevant to their generation, but that Tate fails to put those issues in their proper context. It's not that he shouldn't be asking these questions, it's his omission of all the other questions you need to ask before you can render the type of verdict he hands down.

So as with much published work these days, Tate is lucky blogville is around to fill in all those missing pieces. But then again maybe we're also lucky Tate is around, to push us towards filling them.

EDIT: Pretty sneaky, O-Dub, not telling us you also had this one in the chamber.

Ego Trip Presents VH1’s Race-O-Rama

The boys are back in town:

The Return of Race-O-Rama

Bold as Rosa Parks requesting a front row seat, this year Black History Month’s usual television line-up will be shaken up by another definitive racism-bashing moment. Race-O-Rama, a potently funny, yet serious look at America’s biggest taboo subject—race—promises to propel our culture’s both subtle and blatant lingering racism into the forefront of national debate.

Direct, in-your-face, humorous and irreverent, VH1’s Race-O-Rama series is an encore engagement and on-going collaboration with groundbreaking underground culture provocateurs, the ego trip collective. Based on the success of their previous collaboration with VH1, TV’s Illst Minority Moments special that aired last February, the series promises to open up minds with a stark but humorous look at our ignorance on” the R word”, “the race issue”, a.k.a. “the new pornography” according to ego trip.

Three one-hour shows, “Blackaphobia”, “Dude, Where’s My Ghetto Pass” and “In Race We Lust”, scheduled for late February are based on the vision of ego trip, a quintet of multi-cultural and racially-mixed mavericks: Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Chairman Mao, Gabriel Alvarez and Brent Rollins. Nailing a place on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the Top 25 Funniest People in America, the crew of agit-pop journalists and publishers of the defunct, indie cult-hit mag, ego trip, are co-authors of ego trip’s Book of Rap Lists and ego trip’s Big Book of Racism!, the latter of which caught the attention of executives at VH1...

I'm proud to say I contributed to the first episode of this show, by telling them about Richard Pryor's appearance on the Partridge Family. Can't wait to see what they have cooked up this time. Also note the last line: "Beginning March 2005, Sirius Radio will host ego trip’s live, two hour radio program on Eminem’s Shade45."

Facing Hip-hop Love Addiction

Surveying the wildly divergent reactions to Greg Tate's latest, Jeff Chang asked if there is a generation gap between older heads like us and those born after the mid 70's or so.

I think he's on to something there. I think it's a lot easier for younger heads to maintain a healthy relationship with hip-hop, because they are in a better position to see and accept hip-hop for what it is. While us old folks are still caught up in a fantasy version of hip-hop that either no longer exists or never existed in the first place. It's the difference between being in love and being love addicted.

That’s right, my fellow fogeys, we have a disease. And it’s time for us to start owning our reality and find a path to recovery. So let’s start breaking down the addictive cycle step-by-step.

1. In her book Facing Love Addiction, Pia Mellody builds on the premise that “people fall into love addiction because of the unhealed pain from child abandonment.”

How does this apply to us as 30+ hip-hoppers? Well as I said here we all grew up with a profound sense of abandonment, coming of age right when our parents’ activist/political movements were fading away, leaving us with little leadership and less momentum. And nowhere was this void more pronounced than in black community. And this inevitably led to the next step:

2. As Mellody explains “one way such children may escape the pain of severe abandonment by the parents is to fantasize about being rescued by a hero of some kind.” And as adults, this leads us to seek out “unhealthy relationships based on intensity, delusion, and unrealistic expectations, and not mature healthy love.”

Sound familiar? As soon as the late 80s “conscious era” came around, this was the relationship we all sought out with hip-hop, to one degree or another. We convinced ourselves that these young rappers were just the heroes we were looking for, to swoop in and fill that activist void. And just like in every addicted relationship, at first it all seemed so perfect…

3. When the love addict first enters a relationship, according to Mellody they experience a tremendous initial high as their fantasy is triggered, and they revel in their “fantasy image which they place like a beautiful mask over the head” of their partner.

What sweeter high could there be than what we felt in that golden age, when we truly believed in Greg Tate’s “Afrocentric dream of hiphop's becoming an agent of social change.” And for a while it was all too easy to believe the dream could come true.. so easy that some of us started to lose sight of all the artistry that really made the golden age golden. We became blinded to the whole of hip-hop’s inherent worth, focused only on that activist mask we had put over it. But fantasies never last too long..

4. Then Mellody describes the next stage, when the love addict continues showing more neediness than the partner can possibly fulfill, and the partner starts to put up walls and pull away from the addict. But the addict remains in denial and cannot see.

As I lamented here two years ago, the golden age was truly golden in many ways, and much of that magic was lost as the music got assimilated into America’s mainstream hive-mind. Just as this co-optation was going into high gear NWA’s gangsta eclipsed PE’s righteousness to establish a new paradigm of profitability for the industry, and a new standard of “realness” and manhood for the artist and audience. The game would never be the same.

Hip-hop has still remained beautiful in many ways, though, since it started down that path. Added many new layers of meaning atop the compelling musicality that is always its foundation. But for us, the golden age love addicts, our delusions have been all we could see. Even as hip-hop pulled further and further down its natural path and away from our irrational needs, we could see nothing but our fantasy mask, and kept hoping all these young artists would soon reveal their true identities as raptivist superheroes. Until one day we each reached our breaking point.

5. But at some point, the book warns, every addict reaches a point when they can no longer maintain their delusion in the face of mounting evidence, so their fantasy and denial start to crumble and they enter a state of withdrawal. As the addict truly sees their partner for the first time, and realizes they are not that fantasy hero at all, the addict often develops an exaggerated sense of resentment towards the partner. They may then become consumed with a desire to lash out the partner, or seek revenge.

How many times have we seen this? How many indignant, brokenhearted “hip-hop is dead!” manifestos have come from those among us who finally hit that wall and watched our fantasies die? Even the mighty Greg Tate, the godfather of us all, slips a bit into this trap with that Voice piece. As much as he is correct in assessing what hip-hop is in 2005, the tone of his analysis and the conclusions he draws are overstated and misguided in classic love-addict form.

I hadn’t read O-Dub’s excellent take on Tate’s piece until I was almost done writing this, and I wish I could start from scratch with his thoughts in mind. But I have to agree with David that Oliver may be crediting the piece with more nuance and balance than it actually has. The Dub is surely right that hip-hop has far reaching influences and importance beyond making booties shake, and these dimensions deserve analysis. But not much good can come of that analysis if it’s built on the assumption that hip-hop is a failure, or in Greg Tate's words that "hip-hop sucks," because it never fulfilled the unrealistic needs of our love-addicted fantasy.

So unless we can all get on the road to recovery, it may be the analysis we need will only come from these younger heads, who came of age when hip-hop was already within the mainstream machinery, and are thus burdened with none of our illusions. It doesn’t appear to me that heads like Hashim (who was maybe a little too harsh with Greg, yes) want to dismiss entirely the issues that Greg raises, and define the music as merely entertainment and nothing more. They just seem to have a more clear-headed, and non-judgmental/non-resentful, sense of how much hip-hop is merely commercial entertainment now, and how much it is not. So they are able to love hip-hop for what it is, and cultivate a healthy relationship with it, with ample room for constructive criticism and collective introspection. And that's the place us fogeys need to get to. But it’s 4AM, and I may just be rambling now.

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BTW I also believe that the role music plays in our lives, with its musicality, goes far deeper than making booties shake or providing “entertainment,” and we are selling it short in that regard. But again it’s 4AM and I’ll have to get to that another time.

And Those of You Who Are Offended by "Broken English"

A must read: Dean Esmay on Ebonics/Black English. He holds in down in the comments too.

Sam, Just Let It Go

I can dig where you're coming from. But after airing the same gripe about Busta and others already, at this point you're just positioning yourself as the Madd Actor/perpetual hater.

PROUD JACKSON TURNS DOWN 50 CENT FILM ROLE

SAMUEL L JACKSON has turned down the chance to work with one of his movie icons - because it's in a film starring 50 CENT.

The actor has always wanted to work with Irish movie-maker JIM SHERIDAN and was thrilled when he heard he was being targeted for a new film by the IN AMERICA director - and then he realised the role was opposite rapper 50 Cent in his movie debut...

..."A month or so ago, someone called me about the 50 Cent movie and I'm like, 'What are you calling me for?' I don't even need to read that because that's not something I want to do. I like listening to 50 Cent and I can groove to his music but I don't want to groove to him on screen, just yet. Maybe if he does five movies and he shows some talent.

"I mean how does he get to work with Jim Sheridan and I don't. What is it about 50 Cent that makes Jim Sheridan say, 'I'd really like to make a movie with him.'"

Thoughts on Greg Tate in the Voice

I have mixed feelings about this Greg Tate piece.

On the one hand, he's saying what we've all been thinking for a long time, which is nice.

On the other hand, he's saying what we've all been thinking for a long time, which makes most of it strike me as old news. Stuff we've all discussed with each other 100 times and blogged half to death.

But on the other hand, he says it all more vividly than most of us can, in a document that will reach many people who never read/talk to us. So there's gotta be value in that.

Yet on the other hand, at times I feel like Greg succumbs to the big lie here. Seeing no value in hip-hop itself as a musical form, only in what it seeks to achieve outside the realm of musicality. A self-help guru would say that hip-hop as envisioned by Greg Tate is not capable of true self-esteem, only other-esteem.

(and now that I think about it even his Street's Disciple review, though dead-on in everything it does address, shows little awareness that this is a musical work being reviewed, that it matters at all what the music sounds like.)

I dunno. What do y'all think? I turned off typekey to try a more subtle anti-spam gambit, so posting should be easier now.

Tsunami Tardiness

In the second half of December I was up to my neck in a paid gig, then I spent my holidays in the Arizona desert of all places, taking care of some personal/family stuff which was hella intense and exhausting (though it had a very happy ending). All this meant I was never more than marginally aware of anything in the news, including what might be the worst tragedy of our lifetime.

So I've feeling guilty for my detachment from the Tsunami story, for not being around to invest all my emotion into it. Then I've been stepping back and wondering what this says about our society in 2005, that I feel derelict in my duties as a world citizen if I'm not fully present as a media consumer. As if anyone who was touched by this disaster needs their loss to be validated by me watching it on TV.

That being said, even my brief glimpses of it are overwhelming, beyond my power to comprehend, to find worthy language for discussing it. My heart goes out to everyone who was indeed touched by it. And for those of you in NY here is a related event:

"ACEH: EPICENTER OF DISASTER"
a teach-in on the history of Aceh and the present catastrophe

When: Saturday, 1/8 1:30-4pm
Where: The Community Church of New York 40 East 35th Street in
Manhattan

featuring:
AMY GOODMAN, of Democracy Now
ALLAN NAIRN, award-winning journalist and activist
WARZAIN, Acehnese activist
and other speakers

Aceh (pronounced "Ah-chayh"), the province on the westernmost tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, was right near the epicenter of the largest earthquake and was also impacted by the largest Tsunami waves. The coastline of Aceh was shattered, countless villages were wiped off the map, and much of the capital, Banda Aceh, was flattened. The Indonesian government has confirmed over 100,000 deaths in the country; most of these dead are in Aceh.

Despite this level of devastation, Aceh has been getting proportionately less attention and assistance than most other areas. This is due to a combined set of factors. First, a longstanding independence struggle by the Acehnese has led to a military invasion and "civil emergency" imposed by the Indonesian government. Up until the disaster struck, Indonesia had banned most journalists from Aceh. Indonesia is now relaxing that ban, but there are still few journalists present.

Second, because of the "civil emergency," there were no Western tourists in Aceh and, consequently, no interest by the Western media in the fate of their "own" people there. Third, because of its corruption and its repressive attitude toward the Acehnese, the Indonesian government cannot be counted on to provide proper assistance. According to a report from one independent journalist in Banda Aceh, much aid is piling up unused at military bases and airports. He also reports that every night military forces are looting those homes still standing in Banda Aceh.

The teach-in will cover the impact of the tsunami on Aceh as well as how the history of Aceh's oppression has affected the present situation. The event is free, but it is also a fundraiser for grassroots Indonesian and Acehnese organizations doing relief work on the ground in Aceh, so bring your checkbook.

Join Us On the Radio Tonight

Once again we hit the airwaves tonight at Midnight EST, with our radio show the Underground Railroad. You can hear us online here, or on WBAI 99.5 FM if you live in the tri-state area. And while you check out the sounds you also can talk to us live in the chat room.

EDIT: the chat room is not working... you can post in here though.