David Banner Represents Hip-Hop In Battle With Congress

     David Banner was at the forefront on Capitol Hill yesterday, as he spoke in defense of hip-hop's often criticized violent, sexist, and controversial content, joining several lawmakers, civil rights activists, and music industry executives for a hearing on the subject entitled, From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images.

   "If by some stroke of the pen hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present in our communities. Drugs, violence and the criminal element were around long before hip-hop existed," said Banner.

    Not everyone agreed with David Banner's stance however.

    "We have allowed greedy corporate executives - especially those in the entertainment industry -- to lead many of our young people to believe that it is OK to entertain themselves by destroying the culture of our people," said Nationl Congress of Black Women chair, E. Faye Williams.

    Founder of the Illinois Black Panter party / subcomitte chairman Bobbie Rush, D-Ill, "This hearing is not anti-hip hop. I am a fan of hip-hop, (but there is a need) to address the issue of violence, hate and degradation that has reduced too many of our youngsters to automatons."

     Representatives from the major recording labels suggested instead that the content of their products is meant to be kept out of the hands of children with the explicit lyrics sticker, and also suggested that censorship tactics would not work in this situation.

     While everyone took different positions with the content of hip-hop music, they also seemed to agree that government censorship was not the answer. - Pizzo