Bill Cosby defents criticism of Hip Hop...music industry "glorifies the wrong things..."

http://christonium.com/politicalmusings/ItemID=11923775652574

Bill Cosby says the audience for Gangster Rap is made up mostly of Whites. This adds to the negative stereotype for Blacks. The "Gangster Rappers" use of negative stereotype comments in their videos provide the opportunity for young whites to use those very same words, "N" words.

Dr. Poussaint talks of "values" having been corrupted. The lyrics in the rap music and videos portray young blacks as unimportant. This prevails throughout the black community.

Sunday, Oct. 14 with Tim Russert on Meet the Press
Entertainer Bill Cosby and Harvard Medical School Psychiatry Professor Dr. Alvin Poussaint tackle the controversial and complicated issues facing black communities across the nation and discuss their new book, "Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors."

Here's the transcript http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21293963/page/2/

DR. POUSSAINT: They took part of the N-word and put part of the white word and called themselves wiggers.

MR. COSBY: But you see, when youth does that, you have to understand that youth—these are, these are kids, they, they don’t have the responsibilities that, that we have. They don’t have to have a job. They don’t have to support a family. They don’t have to buy insurance. They—so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling. It’s the people who make these records. It’s the, it’s the guy in the boardroom. I have another friend of mine who said to me, “I, I write rap lyrics.” He said, “And I went to a man”—I mean, “I went to work, and the guy said, the executive said to me, ‘I want lyrics about rape. Rape is good.’” He said, “And I looked at the guy, and I said, ‘You’re talking about my mother.’ And the guy said, ‘Well, if you don’t want to write it, then I’ll get somebody else who will.’” But, see, all these things, this dopamine-raising level. Alvin has a very interesting viewpoint on whether or not kids are listening to the lyrics. Because if you, if you challenge them, you say, “Why are you listening to that?” They say, “I’m not listening to the words. I just like the beat.”

DR. POUSSAINT: Which is nonsense. They’re listening to the—they got to hear the words. And the, the young, young girls will be dancing to words that degrade women and degrade them and they’re dancing to it. It shows you how much values have been corrupted, you know, by some of the media influences, and the young people can’t distinguish between what’s right and wrong. It’s like the, the bad stuff has become normal, and then they even see it as part of their culture instead of something that’s abhorrent and, and, and, and hurtful to their, to their lives and to their community.

I know! I can't tell how many times I've gone to my office to work hard at my job of writing rap lyrics and found on my desk a memo like this from some Caucasian executive: "Rape sells. Especially mother-rape. Give me 16 bars on it by noon or you go back to the mail room." Please withhold my name until I can secure federal whistle-blower protection.

Ten points for Cosby shoehorning "entropy" and "inertia" into his sentences.

I have another friend of mine who said to me, “I, I write rap lyrics.” He said, “And I went to a man”—I mean, “I went to work, and the guy said, the executive said to me, ‘I want lyrics about rape. Rape is good.’” He said, “And I looked at the guy, and I said, ‘You’re talking about my mother.’ And the guy said, ‘Well, if you don’t want to write it, then I’ll get somebody else who will.’”

This obviously happened to Eminem.

If only Tim Russert had asked him who that exec is...

Cos' take on this shit is both OTM and brave, for a gazillion reasons.

brave yes, otm not really. its taking a much more nuanced situation and trying to find the bad guys in a very specific place. the real 'bad guys' wd actually require a much more sweeping indictment of american culture & systematic white privilege and oppression

I'm with Cosby until he gets feisty about hippety-hoppety lyrics.

He needs more nuance, although I must say I'm bored with the UGK cd lyrics('n' this and 'b' that) and not too crazy about the sentiments expressed there (whether it has great soul music samples or not)--That "2 kinds of B's" song. But I guess I am supposed to excuse them because those type of sentiments have long been expressed by folks of all colors,classes, and creeds; school systems and housing have long been segregated resulting in the parents of many of the participants on the UGK cd, and the participants themselves having difficult lives, Texas' Republican governors; and well those soul samples sure sound good.

I'm with Cosby until he gets feisty about hippety-hoppety lyrics.

why what stops you there?

I'm amazed that a comedian who understood the value of irony and timing as well as anyone in his generation is this tone-deaf about how music and lyrics work.

Bullshit. The "irony" argument may have been passable with "Cop Killer" 15 years ago -- it isn't now.

plz explain how cop killer is ironic but kanye sampling daft punk & lil wayne rapping about man-purses is hurting the community

who the fuck thought cop killer was ironic

doh xp

we simply must not allow young black men to continue to crank dat soulja boy - lets take it back to the carefree, ironic days of 'aint no fun' and 'black korea'

we simply must not allow young black men to continue to crank dat soulja boy - lets take it back to the carefree, ironic days of 'aint no fun' and 'black korea'

lol

yeah like no one complained about those songs.

(I mean come on Ice Cube took a LOT of shit in the press for Black Korea, Doggystyle was specifically brought up for criticism in the House of Reps, etc.)

also Cop Killer is excusable not because its ironic but because its good storytelling and hey, you know, fuck cops.

jokes, bruv?

so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling
so they’re, they’re free-forming and they’re freewheeling

I like the part where he complains about giggling on buses. Bill Cosby hates the laughter of children! times done changed.

I have a friend. Her name is Jessica Pope, and she spoke at a—or two or three of the callouts. She’s a graduate of Swathmore. She’s African-American. She’s from Memphis, Tennessee. And she spoke to the people and she said, “I want you to think of your children like you think of, of a genie in the lamp.” In that we all know the story of the genie in the lamp. There’s a genie, and she also equates genie with genius, genie/genius. So in order to have the genie come out of the lamp and grant you your three wishes, you rub the lamp. You rub it, the genie comes out and grants you three wishes. She then says, “Think of your child that way. Rub your child. Stroke you child like this magical lamp. The genie/genius will come out.” And then I add to it, and the other two wishes you can put in your hip pocket and save for a rainy day.

It’s cursing and it’s calling each other niggers as they walk up and down the street. They think they’re hip. They can’t read; they can’t write. Fifty percent of them. They, they, they take it into the candy store. They, they put it—they put themselves on the train and on the buses, and they don’t even care what color or what age somebody else is. It’s about them and their cursing and grabbing each other and laughing and giggling and going nowhere.

I thought there was a bungled 50 Cent reference in this but then I realized it's a quote from 2004.

Results 1 - 10 of about 168 for bill-cosby crotchety-old-man.

ya see Theo, YA SEE

haha every time I read one of these quotes I imagine it in the voice of Bathtub Cosby.

lol @ "they take it into the candy store"

Shakey Mo did you get a sarcasm immunity shot or something?

http://www.internerd.com/frinky/images/screenshots/sarcasmdet.jpg

I just don't get how pointing out that hip-hop's basically always had violent/mysognistic elements in it somehow invalidates Cosby's critique.

http://www.heffadesign.com/COVERS/Single_Promo/images/50Cent%20-%20Candy%20Shop.jpg

I mean we all know what musical era Cosby would like to dial back to (civil rights era/bebop)

x-post

Kinda with Shakey here: I don't really understand the LOLs/shocka aspect of Cosby being among millions of older Civil Rights-era black Americans who are annoyed by how what's considered "black culture" looks these days -- he's not even that batty in how he talks about it. (Batty, sure, but not that batty.)

What do you expect, nabisco? This is ILM we're talking about; pretty much any time Bill Cosby gets brought up, it's in the context of young white guys getting defensive about listening to black people call each other "nigger".

who's getting defensive?

Up until just now, not you.

Whatever. I just think one can find rappers lacking as role models and still find Cosby's rants incredibly batty, crotchety, what have you.

I'm kinda curious about this loaded statement: They, they put it—they put themselves on the train and on the buses, and they don’t even care what color or what age somebody else is. Why does the race of your fellow bus patron matter?

who the fuck thought cop killer was ironic

The writers for Law & Order: SVU?

Two strands here. I think Ethan was responding to this:

Bullshit. The "irony" argument may have been passable with "Cop Killer" 15 years ago -- it isn't now.

...and he was right: what "'irony' argument"? There isn't & wasn't one, as far as I know; there was and remains a personified narrator trope, in which I believe, that can be advanced to explain a song like "Cop Killer," I think persuasively.

The other strand is white men on ilm explaining each other how neither "nigger" nor "bitch" are at all degrading when the musicians they like use them, and that strand I won't be touching with a ten-foot pole.

can we name names on this latter strand?

bebop is pretty rad

^^^this

haha Dan you wanna field that one?

I just don't get how pointing out that hip-hop's basically always had violent/mysognistic elements in it somehow invalidates Cosby's critique.

Also, he's old.

The other strand is white men on ilm explaining each other how neither "nigger" nor "bitch" are at all degrading when the musicians they like use them

Prof. Isiah Thomas of NYU says that the word "bitch" is Negro for something much less offensive than the white man thinks.

What do you expect, nabisco? This is ILM we're talking about; pretty much any time Bill Cosby gets brought up, it's in the context of young white guys getting defensive about listening to black people call each other "nigger".

-- HI DERE, Monday, October 15, 2007 8:07 PM

i'm just gonna let that sit there.