On Demand
Russell Simmons on Success and Spirituality
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records, helped transform hip-hop from a New York subculture to an international phenomenon. He talks about balancing business and spirituality in Do You!. Plus, he tells us about his call to ban three ubiquitous racial and sexist epithets from rap, and weighs in on the Don Imus controversy.
Do You! is available for purchase at amazon.com
Events: Russell Simmons will be speaking and signing booksWednesday, April 25 at 6 pm
The Hue-Man Bookstore
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, between 124th and 125th Streets
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The decision by Simmons to excise three words from the smorgarsboard of hiphop indecency is indicative of a moral rudderlessness. It means that he will allow his stable of foul-mouthed hiphoppers to insult, denigrate and make money of other groups [except Jews, of course]. The worthy reaction to this revolting idea is a heaping spoonful of scorn and contempt and to boycott and avoid this vulgar "culture".
Banning three words is not the answer. The answer lies with being brought up with values, morals, and a sense of the parameters of decency, manners and proper ethical behaviour between humans. This is quite possible for poor people to achieve, despite Mr. Simmons' belief, but quite difficult if the parent who has to impart values is sixteen, uneducated and without values himself.
And by the way, it's too easy to reflect what you see in your ghetto and call that creative. I'll be more impressed if these "poets" use their imagination to envision a world as it could be, not as it is. But that requires education!!! and the ability to think beyond their 5 block world.
I am fed up with hearing that rappers are only reporters of the life that they know. People who grow up in the ghetto or just plain poor know a lot more about life than what goes on in the strip club or "between the sheets". If Mr. Simmons wants to produce music and lyrics that truly depict the life of those who struggle, he should start putting to music the beautiful and poignant poetry that is created by the real artists on his Def Poetry Jam. Put a hip hop beat to those words and you will have hits that let the rest of the world know that there is creativity, literacy, poignancy and real art in and on the ghetto streets.
"Stop Snitchin'"
Mr. Simmons is to be commended for at least starting this discussion about the implications of language. However, far more corrosive is the message that people should not report crimes or those who commit them.
It'd be good to hear Mr. Simmons comments on this, thanks.
Simmons has sold out hip-hop. Much of popular black culture is now actually made for the consumption of a white audience, and white people want rap about sex, violence, and wealth. White audiences want stereotypes and caricatures...then black youth are forced to consume and incorporate this distorted image of themselves. Changing three words won't help.
Rap/hip-hop in the 1980s was all about possessions: sneakers, cars, and women. Run DMC and LL Cool J made their careers using these subjects, and never used the "N" word. LL had gyrating women in his videos, but they weren't referred to as "ho's". can the innocence of this early music return to the forefront of popularity?
and why was Russell so late in arriving?
let's hear his apology...
I think it would be a great experiment to omit these 3 words. Any real artist can create within limitations.
Who has the guts to request social responsibility? I'd like to see what happens with this.
With the heavy handed commercialization and manufacturing of "artists" in the music industry (American Idol, PussyCat Dolls, etc.), I have trouble considering many pop or hip hop performers "artists." It seems that making money NOT expression has become the main motivation behind today's popular music. When it comes down to it, albums with derogatory lyrics are created because they sell.
What Russel Simmons just said was incredebly sexist. He claims rappers don't want women and children hearing those words. If women shouldn't hear these words, why should men? Must women be so protected? And at the same time they are not protected, they are being utterly objectified.
Why does anyone care about what Russell Simmons thinks? Is it because he's rich? How has he been creative? How is any record exec creative? They just identify a marketable "artist" and market them to the consumer.
I'm surprised that this show would agree to be part of his book marketing junket.
Russel Simmons has just lost all my respect. He is a black Donald Trump pushing his name as a new brand of snake oil.
Listening to the interview today with Russell Simmons made me realize that. Mr. Simmons is what black people would refer to as “The Man”. Russell Simmons continues to build his millions by pouring more and more poison into our culture. A couple of months ago NPR aired a piece on Mr. Simmons’s connection with high interest credit cards that catered to low income people. Once these credit cards were maxed out part of that high interest rate charge went into Mr. Simmons’s pocket. What about the Baby Phat phone that’s encrusted with diamonds? This is another way Mr. Simmons feeds off of the black and low income community. I live in these communities and in my opinion most of the people who live here can’t afford a diamond encrusted phone. When I hear people say that rappers shouldn’t be censored, because they have the right to say what they feel, I agree with freedom of speech, but what they are doing with this speech is destroying our culture. The children that spoke on the 60 mins segment prove it. In my opinion Mr. Simmons is no different than a drug dealer, he may not be standing on the corner, pushing his poison, but he does it in a way that looks like he’s helping society. Mr. Simmons like to talk about spirituality and the holy sprit, but does he think that taking advantage of people is building there spirituality?
I am a white male who was sixteen when I first heard The Rappers Delight and I loved it. I have since lived in the East Village were I first became aware of Russel Simmons and Def Jam then Beverly Hills were I worked at Mr. Chow restaurant and served Russel frequently. Finally I lived in Harlem before it was fashionable for white people. I worked for Mr. Chow in New York at that time which quickly became a mecca for the New Black and Hip Hop Elite which is in large part a result of Mr. Simmons work. I am not a great fan of hip hop but have a great respect for what Mr. Simmons has done to empower black people, culture and industry. I again applaud him for leading this culture by trying to raise the bar of Hip Hop content. But are we not giving the word Nigger too much power? While living in Harlem I began to see this word evolve. I was pleased when the word was used by blacks with a more friendly intention and have felt almost complemented when I have been greeted with "Yo, my nigga" for example, by a black man or woman. Although I would never be comfortable using this word myself around black strangers I have used it when people know that my intention is friendly. I have been encouraged by the wilting power of the word that comes with its over use and redirected intention. The power should come not from the word but from its intention. Shouldn't it?
I'm glad that someone is finally speaking out about it. My fear is that the newer generations that don't know him like GenX are so far gone that hearing him say that it's out is pointless.
The biggest problem with rap, and our society in general, is that experimentation with music is not applauded. Secondly, the mainstream doesn't allow for varying types of rap. Rock, for instance, has so many degrees of death metal, all the way to the more bluesy sound of southern rock. Hip hop has just become so darned rudimentary. Couple that with our country's terrible education and voila! You have what we have now.
Let's say the 100s of rappers, marketers, promoters and others rich off "hip hop" were to combine their annual charitable givings -- let's say, 10% of their annual incomes -- and the total came to $500 million per year.
This large, central fund would be professionally administered to enable poor people to improve their lives, through education, and suppressing ignorance leading to drug and fast food addictions, bad living conditions, high credit card balances, etc.
If done well, Russell Simmons and his chums could keep their 3 words and probably add a few more. $500 million in annual giving can be quite soothing.
I was glad to hear Russell Simmons at least put himself out there and take a stand on the use of certain words of offensive language in hip-hop. I personally do not listen to it, but when my neighbor plays it loud and I am forced to, I blame my revulsion of the MF's that I hear on my "old" age. I am trying to remember if punk was this violent in my day!
Thanks for exploring the issue.
What a weirdo!!!
I actually thought for a second that this would be an interesting interview. It is obvious that he is only a money maker bored with his life and wondering in the spiritual world.
This thread is closed.
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