Via Hollywood.com, Snoop Dogg comments on the Don Imus brouhaha, Snoop Dogg: Rappers’ Hos Are Different
“(Rappers) are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports.“We’re talking about hos that’s in the ‘hood that ain’t doing s**t, that’s trying to get a n**ga for his money. These are two separate things.
“First of all, we ain’t no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls.
“We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them muthaf**kas say we are in the same league as him.
Well, when you put it that way…
To be honest, Snoop’s right–he and Imus aren’t in the same league. Snoop and his ilk are worse in terms of propagating racist and sexist stereotypes and attitudes in our culture.
As a side note, in looking for the quote, the main story in a Google News search on Snoop is:
Snoop Dogg Hit With Gun and Drug Charges.
Lovely.
h/t: The Dan Patrick Show for the Snoop quote.
Update: To be clear, I note Snoop’s quote and my critique thereof not to defend Imus. I think that Imus’ comments were both sexist and racists and deserving of criticism (although if the comment deserves all the attention it has gotten is another matter). Still, when it comes to measuring the social damage done by Imus v. segments of the rap community in terms of these issues, my sense is that the rap community in question has been more harmful.
As a side note, I think that Imus is getting the attention he is getting because so many in the Northeastern media elite are either regular guests or are listeners/viewers of Imus. If Imus was headquartered in LA, I suspect that there would have been less fixation.
Technorati Tags: Imus, Snoop Dog
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April 11th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Don Imus: Good-natured Racist?
Constance Rice,* a civil rights attorney in Los Angeles, has the smartest take I’ve yet seen on the Don Imus “nappy headed hos” controversy.
More to the point, Imus should only be fired when the black artists who make millions of dol…
April 11th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
[...] Via Steven Taylor, who observes, “To be honest, Snoop’s right–he and Imus aren’t in the same league. Snoop and his ilk are worse in terms of propagating racist and sexist stereotypes and attitudes in our culture.” As if to prove this, the AP provides “Snoop Dogg Hit With Gun and Drug Charges.” [...]
April 12th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Not to defend Snoop Dog or rap music in general even, but I feel like what Snoop is saying is that you can’t libel a ho by calling her a ho, but what Imus was doing was libel. He’s also suggesting that Imus is using terminology and slang that is outside his culture and that he therefore doesn’t understand.
That being said, I totally agree that rap tends to be sexist and degrading and that Snoop really has little room to defend it. I’m really not that familiar with Snoop’s rap in particular to know how hypocritical he may or may not be in this situation.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:04 am
I in the sense that calling a ho a ho versus calling a Rutgers basketball player a ho, you (and el Senor Dogg) are correct.
However, my point is that if we are going to talk about the spreading of racist and sexist language and propagating certain stereotypes that are especially detrimental to women, rappers have a lot more to answer for than Imus does in this case.
That having been said, as I noted in the update, I am not defending Imus one whit by making that observation.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:26 am
The Easter Thursday Knucklehead Festival Part 3
Our third winner today is talk show host Don Imus.
April 15th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
[...] Specifically, I wrote: I think that Imus is getting the attention he is getting because so many in the Northeastern media elite are either regular guests or are listeners/viewers of Imus. If Imus was headquartered in LA, I suspect that there would have been less fixation. [...]