History

pstrongNotes From The Hip-Hop Summitbr / /strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/376/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Jeff Chang (Portions of this article appear at a href="http://www.360hiphop.com" title="http://www.360hiphop.com"http://www.360hiphop.com/a)/p pIt was, in some respects, just what you would expect from hip-hop./p pNothing started on time. The rappers weren't where they were supposed to be.br / Neither were their managers or the industry execs, off in some cornerbr / backslapping and exchanging cards. Volumes and volumes of words werebr / spilled. And NYPD sweated everyone in sight./p pIn other respects, it was just what you wouldn't expect from hip-hop./p pA high-level gathering, put together by Russell Simmons from Tuesday throughbr / Thursday last week, to discuss improving hip-hop and the world—which drewbr / massive media interest despite the fact that the media was barred from mostbr / of the important meetings./p pA hip-hop conference in which not a single fight broke out, and some beefsbr / even ended up on the mend. A lineup of speakers that more often had rappersbr / silently rapt, rather than shooting the gift or heading for the bar.br / Sessions that actually resulted in tangible outcomes and real programs./p pIn short, the hip-hop summit lived up to its billing as an historic event./p p"We've accomplished everything we wanted to accomplish," said a beamingbr / Russell, "and more."/p pIt was, in fact, the third hip-hop summit in eight months, a sure sign thatbr / hip-hop's elite are keen on pushing some of their wealth toward establishingbr / political clout. /p pThe first, convened by The Source last year at the Reverend Al Sharpton'sbr / National Action Network headquarters in Harlem, gathered community leaders,br / rappers and executives. By many accounts, the affair was better intentionedbr / than organized, with many complaining that there were lots of answersbr / proferred but little agreement about the problems./p pShortly afterward, Minister Conrad Muhammad, leader of A Movement forbr / CHHANGE (Conscious Hip Hop Activism Necessary for Global Empowerment),br / called for another summit to discuss providing better images for youngbr / people, and supporting hip-hop leaders for political office. It was held inbr / May as an ugly public beef developed between Minister Conrad and Russell.br / Russell called Minister Conrad a hip-hop critic in the mold of a C. Deloresbr / Tucker or Bob Dole who did not have hip-hop's best interests at heart.br / Muhammad accused Russell of "contributing mightily to the degradation" hisbr / summit was trying to address./p pRussell promised that his own summit would bring together hip-hop leadersbr / with black politicians, civil rights activists, and intelligentsia to workbr / out a specific agenda of action./p pA long list of hip-hop celebrities showed up, whether officially invited orbr / not, including pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flashbr / and DJ Hollywood; "golden age" heroes like Chuck D, Will Smith, Eric B,br / Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, Luther Campbell, and LL Cool J; and thebr / nineties crowd, including Wyclef Jean, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Keithbr / Murray, Redman, Krayzie Bone (with daughter on arm), Talib Kweli, Dead Prez,br / Fat Joe, and Black Ice. They joined executives like Bad Boy's Sean "P-Diddy"br / Combs, So So Def's Jermaine Dupri, Def Jam's Kevin Liles, andbr / University/Motown's Haqq Islam./p pThe summit also attracted Nation of Islam head, the Honorable Minister Louisbr / Farrakhan, and a host of black congressional leaders, civil rightsbr / activists, and public intellectuals, including the NAACP's Kweisi Mfume, Rapbr / The Vote's Mario Velasquez, and the SCLC's Martin Luther King III;br / Professors Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, and Manning Marable; Congressmanbr / Earl Hilliard and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The summit was presidedbr / over by Minister Benjamin Muhammad./p p(While many of the pioneers were not given invitations, they were escortedbr / in by conference staff when they arrived on Wednesday. In one closedbr / session, however, Zulu King and Rock Steady Crew member Fabel made the pointbr / from the floor: "If you're gonna call it a hip-hop summit, you need to bebr / inclusive of graffiti writers and b-boys." Minister Ben Muhammadbr / respectfully noted. "We would not be here if it were not for the Zulubr / Nation.")/p pPerhaps the lasting impact of the summit will be that it brought togetherbr / generations and sectors of the black community—some of which have, untilbr / recently, sparred viciously and in public—to reason and build behind closedbr / doors. /p pAs the sessions commenced, twentysomething rappers and hip-hop activistsbr / often had unkind words for their elders. But the elders took the criticismsbr / to heart, said they were there to listen. West admitted that his generationbr / had somehow dropped the ball. Dyson demonstrated he was paying attention bybr / quoting verses from Nas, Lauryn Hill, and Talib Kweli./p pKweli was impressed, "I see the dialogue happening and it's a beautifulbr / thing."/p pA two-and-a-half hour speech on Wednesday by the Honorable Minister Louisbr / Farrakhan, focusing on responsibility and reconciliation, set the tone forbr / the conference./p pDuring the speech, Farrakhan refused to rebuke the rappers, saying, "Societybr / wants you to clean up the lyrics but the society doesn't want to cleanbr / itself up". He went on to point the figure at "gangsta government" as thebr / real problem. "I'm not here to condemn you", he said./p pInstead he gently nudged the artists toward their better selves, saying thebr / speech he was giving that afternoon was perhaps the most important he hadbr / ever given. "One rap song," he said, "is worth a thousand of my speeches."/p p"The hip-hop generation is our best generation, not our worst," hebr / thundered. "You are the most courageous generation, the strongest, the mostbr / fearless."/p p"The old guys didn't do so good. They didn't feed the flock", he said. "Ibr / believe that you can change the reality of American life and racism—that youbr / have the power to stop it."/p p"The people are feeding you now," he said. "What are you gonna do now tobr / show your appreciation?"/p pSo the dialogues happened, aided by a decision to close much of thebr / convention to the media, a gag order that left some journalists fuming butbr / gave a certain gravitas to the proceedings. On the first day, unscheduledbr / speaker Tricia Rose, the NYU professor, justified the decision, "Beforebr / hip-hop became such a cultural force, we had much more cultural space tobr / raise questions and critiques and to be in conversation, without everybr / moment being magnified and picked up worldwide."/p p"Black culture is no longer separate from mainstream culture," says Rose.br / "That's why the dialogue has to happen in institutions that are not drivenbr / by profit."/p pAnd yet, the most newsworthy item was all about the bottom line. Almost to abr / person, from Simmons to Kweli, participants voiced grave concerns with thebr / FCC's June 6 decision to fine a radio station for playing Eminem's "The Realbr / Slim Shady". Senator Joe Lieberman's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Media andbr / Marketing Accountability Act" also loomed large over the proceedings,br / although summit organizers denied it./p pMainstream media picked up on these lyrical content issues, as hip-hopbr / leaders repeated the mantra, "We're keeping it real." But even as hip-hopbr / seemed to be repeating its past, it was eliciting bizarre speculation aboutbr / its future. Take this spacey discussion on CNN's "Take Five" talk-show:/p pMICHELLE COTTLE, CO-HOST: Jake, you're a big hip-hop fan. Are the sexistbr / and violent lyrics just poetry aimed at the establishment?br / JAKE TAPPER, CO-HOST: That's Mack 10, by the way, in case you're wonderingbr / what that video was. You know... I had a bunch of these people from thebr / hip-hop summit, Russell Simmons from Def Jam Records and Chuck D and a fewbr / others. /p pAnd what amazed me -- yes, I like hip-hop. I am an adult, of course,br / purportedly, and a lot of this music is listened to by children and it isbr / affecting these kids. I was amazed, none of these guys would accept anybr / responsibility for the lyrics and for the message they were sending. It wasbr / really phenomenal./p pJOHN DICKERSON, TIME MAGAZINE: Russell Simmons, in particular, since hebr / makes money directly from all of this, and the others as well. One thingbr / that's interesting, though, is you know a genre has made it when it startsbr / navel-gazing. I mean, hip-hop is here to stay, and you know, there are abr / lot of other types of music that haven't done it. This is now a fundamentalbr / part of American culture./p pCHRIS CALDWELL, WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, it might be a sign of demise,br / actually. What might be happening is what happened to the folk musicbr / movement in the '60s, where these things hang around until they get more andbr / more pretentious and have these huge claims to want to reorder society,br / which is... /p pDICKERSON: Well, I disagree. There seems to be a whole raft of new hip-hopbr / artists who are going to see this summit and want to do everything...againstbr / whatever they are talking about in these closed rooms./p pFELIX SANCHEZ, "P.R. CONSULTANT": But the idea of the summit, which was tobr / organize the hip-hop constituency to have a political action committee, etbr / cetera -- I mean, when Cornel West from Harvard has his own hip-hop albumbr / about to come out to preach, basically, to young kids, I think that we'rebr / missing the boat about this genre of music. But at the same time...br / CALDWELL: ... it's like taking the booze out of Irish ballads, or somethingbr / like that. /p pOn Tuesday, behind closed doors, RIAA head Hilary Rosen led hip-hopbr / executives to, if not take the booze out of their ballads, at least bluntbr / some Congressional criticism—in particular Senator Lieberman and Senatorbr / Clinton's Media and Marketing Accountability Act in late April, abr / grandstanding piece of legislation that gives the Federal Trade Commissionbr / the ability to fine entertainment companies that deceptively market violentbr / or sexual materials to children up to $11,000 per day./p pSince the introduction of the bill in April, the Beltway seemed girding forbr / a fight with the hip-hop industry. The FTC began serving notice it was readybr / to begin pressuring record companies, criticizing it publicly forbr / advertising which failed to disclose potentially obscene or violent content.br / Passions peaked the week before the conference with the FCC's Eminem fine.br / Even Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) warned the summit participants,br / "Washington can regulate you out of business if you do not have your actbr / together." /p pThe point was made: move now or face growing opposition. Some execsbr / nervously whispered that radio promotion budgets (read: payola) andbr / marketing budgets might be next. One rumor circulated that Russell would getbr / Hillary Clinton to promise to sink the bill if the guidelines were adopted./p pSo the execs emerged with new voluntary guidelines—which include expandingbr / "Parental Advisory" and "Explicit Lyrics" stickering to all print,br / television and radio ads, internet sites and posters—and a new party line.br / On Thursday, Suzan Jenkins, senior vice president of marketing at RIAA,br / said, "The labels very much want to be able to provide a vehicle for parentsbr / to know what they are listening to."/p pBut was it done under duress?/p pDef Jam's Kevin Liles said, "No, we were not forced to do anything. We wantbr / to make pro-active change before the government comes in and says, 'Hey, youbr / have to do this.'" He added, "I want the consumer and the parent and thebr / government to take some responsibility also, to know [that] when you go buybr / a tape, know what you're buying. You do your research. You don't just go buybr / a car."/p pRosen said, "I do not expect Senator Lieberman to give up in his quest tobr / silence this community. I think they try and make this be about marketingbr / when we know it's about the lyrics, and I don't expect him to give up that."/p pHaqq Islam was even more direct, "I think Lieberman is crossing a line thatbr / he doesn't want to cross. He should wise up. I mean, it starts here butbr / where does it end? At a Schwarzenegger movie?"/p pBy Thursday, a new concern had emerged: rap profiling./p pWhile Jay-Z was a no-show and Sean "P-Diddy" Combs' presence prompted heavybr / Fruit of Islam presence, James Prince, the CEO of Rap-A-Lot Records, walkedbr / quietly through the crowd, embodying one of the stranger incidents ofbr / profiling in recent years./p pIn December 2000, the Republican-dominated House Committee on Governmentbr / Reform looked into reports that Congresswoman Maxine Waters urged Attorneybr / General Janet Reno to drop a drug trafficking investigation against Prince.br / Waters wrote that Prince had been a target of "racial profiling" by roguebr / DEA officers, including illegal searches, surveillance, and racistbr / harassment. /p pThe DEA subsequently dropped the case and one of the officers wasbr / reprimanded. But Republicans pushed for the hearing, and continued to pressbr / for a reopening of the discredited investigation, even introducing lyricsbr / from Rap-A-Lot artist Scarface into the record. Prince said, "They werebr / trying to do their best to cover their ass as far as racial profiling isbr / concerned."/p pHe added, "I feel it's a conspiracy to destroy people like myself that trybr / and uplift my community and help my people to dream again. It's a sad thingbr / but it's real, man."/p pDuring the week at the summit, NYPD presence noticeably increased, withbr / crews of officers filling the New York Hilton's driveway, and clogging thebr / corners on 6th Avenue. They issued public nuisance tickets to bass-bumpingbr / promotional vans parked by the hotel and stared down summit participantsbr / entering the hotel./p pThe profiling peaked on Wednesday, the day that more than a thousandbr / gathered to hear Minister Farrakhan speak. Says Liles, "Everyone wasbr / stopped, they were taking license plates and everything. They made my driverbr / move 20 times. When we came out you saw the cameras flicking, you know whatbr / I mean? You never know what's going on."/p pBut they couldn't overpower the vibes upstairs./p pAt the end of Tuesday, Chuck D had been convinced that, despite all thebr / starpower in attendance, the summit would end up like any other, a lot ofbr / talk and not a lot of action. He was dismayed about having to help mediatebr / the feud between Russell and Minister Conrad Muhammad. But as the Wednesdaybr / sessions began, he watched as the artists began to fire each other up./p pIn a closed door session, Fat Joe told the crowd, "I think us as artistsbr / need to interact more with the community. A lot of rappers seem to shy awaybr / from talking about political things. I think they're scared to really saybr / what's going on."/p pSister Souljah exhorted the attendees to fill their appropriate roles, andbr / help get it all together. "If our shit was tight, Al Sharpton wouldn't be inbr / jail," she said. "Nobody is playing their position."/p pAfter Minister Farrakhan's speech, Chuck D was as close to giddy as he couldbr / get. "I'm satisfied," he said. "All my questions are answered."/p pOn Thursday, the fruits of the summit were on display. The publicbr / intellectuals announced the creation of university-based hip-hopbr / think-tanks, with the first to be launched at Columbia. In response to onebr / of Chuck D's recommendations, Def Jam offered an artist mentoring program,br / "The Hip-Hop House"—part Motown, part "Fame" finishing school, the otherbr / part 21st century media and image training boot camp—to be built in Harlem.br / A "strategic alliance" of the NAACP, SCLC, Nation of Islam, and Rap The Votebr / vowed to set up a hip-hop political action committee and a voterbr / registration drive directed at the 2002 and 2004 elections./p pJeff Johnson, the 28-year-old national director of the NAACP's youth,br / college and young adult division, had opened the conference critical of hisbr / own organization for failing to engage hip-hop generation. He left feelingbr / very optimistic: "A lot of people have been doing work in a vacuum, now theybr / can do it collectively."/p pSean Combs said, "The things I've seen in the last three days have touchedbr / me in such a positive way, and I think it gave a true representation to whatbr / hip-hop is and what hip-hop is about."/p p"What you're witnessing right now is history," he said./p pOne sideshow to the summit ended happily in a moment of Farrakhan-brokeredbr / reconciliation. Russell Simmons and Minister Conrad Muhammad's rift—a warbr / which blew up in the press that week—seemed to be in the process of beingbr / quashed./p pOn Tuesday, Muhammad was barred from the summit. He had appeared on CNN tobr / bitterly tell viewers that Russell had urged a boycott of his own summit inbr / April. But by the next morning, Chuck D had got him in to see thebr / proceedings. /p pAt the podium, Minister Farrakhan began speaking about Russell and Ministerbr / Conrad's beef. "No leader should fight another", he warned. "Because whenbr / the leaders fight, the followers also fight." Farrakhan urged the two tobr / quash their beef behind closed doors. "When you all agree, come on out andbr / let the press see you," he said./p pAs he spoke a clamor erupted at the back of the room. "He's here!" saidbr / someone from within a crowd of journalists near the back door. Ministerbr / Conrad waved to his mentor. Russell, sitting onstage next to Ministerbr / Farrakhan, applauded and smiled. With shouts of "That's right!", the crowdbr / applauded loudly. /p pAfter Farrakhan's speech, Minister Conrad and Russell embraced, and withbr / cameras flashing, they smiled./p pEND/p p-- /p p"I could go on and on the full has never been told."-Buju Banton/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p