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Jasiri X Responds to Rick Ross.. Teams Up w/ Brother Ali About Pillars

April 2, 2013 By

Jasiri X Know thyselfPittsburgh rapper and activist Jasiri X has been on fire… His new album Ascension is  masterpiece spawning several videos which are on point and inspiring.. The music is soulful.. The subject matter is thoughtful.. He’s also been focusing on subject matter that takes you deeper terrain then we normally travel in Hip Hop, but has been rooted in a tradition of African-American music ala Afrika Bambaataa, George Clinton and Sun-Ra before him.. He’s been talking about life and times beyond our  earthly dimensions as well as religion…Cuts like Wheels best illustrate this.. The videos to the song Pillars featuring Brother Ali also touch in that direction..

Yesterday we sat down w/ Jasiri X and Interviewed him… here’s our Breakdown FM Intv

Check out the videos below..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ulCIjvKmT0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQknHopm0_E

Jasiri X has also been keeping his shoulder to the grind as an activist.. Him and his partner Paradise Gray from the legendary group X-Clan have been operating full steam ahead with their 1Hood Media Academy.. local youth from all over the Pittsburgh area come through and are taught how to be media makers and to be media justice advocates..

In recent days Jasiri has stepped up to join the fight to hold artist accountable about violence against women and to push back on rape culture. Below is him responding to the lyrics rapper Rick Ross put in a song U.O.E.N.O. (You Ain’T Even Know It) where he talks about drugging a girl so he can have sex with her..the lyric in question goes; Put molly all in her champagne/ She ain’t even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that/ She ain’t even know it.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6g5NaxkvvU

Paradise Gray from the group X-Clan weighs in on the Rick Ross Controversy.. Rape Is Rape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d-Ndy1q4so

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Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Breakdown FM Interviews, Video New Music Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Rapper Rick Ross Explains His Song Was just a Big Misunderstanding-He Loves Women

March 28, 2013 By

Rick RossRapper Rick Ross appeared on a radio show on q93.3 in New Orleans and attempted to do some damage control by explaining the lyrics to his song..U.O.E.N.O. (you ain’t even know it)..In the song he describes what many call a ‘recipe for rape’ , where he brags about slipping a molly into a woman’s drink, taking her home and having sex, all while she is under the influence and doesn’t know..

The firestorm it set off has been widespread, including a big article in today’s Washington Post that includes a petition demanding key record executives be held accountable.. You can peep that article HERE..

In the article Industryears co-founder Paul Porter tells the Washington Post

Porter goes on to argue that artists should not be solely responsible for their lyrical content. According to him, the bar is being set increasingly lower and many are relying on shock value for mass appeal. This might explain why it seems the lyrical content gets progressively worse in its promotion of violence and drugs. And with media outlets not doing the best job in self-policing the airwaves, references to “Molly” and other drugs continuously get heard on the radio and in music videos.

“Somebody is responsible at every record label for what gets approved,” says Porter. “These are the people that we never talk about. The guys that profit the most never get talked about. Until the pressure is at the top – the bottom is never going to change. Rick Ross is just a pawn.”

There are times when I question the power of our voices against these massive corporate machines. What could we write/say that hasn’t already been written/said? What could we do that would actually hurt their bottom line? And if we reach one artist, aren’t there hundreds of others who are just the same?

Rick Ross in his interview says that he has love for women and they are sacred. He refers to them as Queens and says he condemns rape..He claims his lyrics were a big misunderstanding and that its important for artists to clarify.. He starts talking about the song 4;26 into the 8 minute intv..

It remains to be seen how Ross’s explanation will sit with folks.. Many are upset at the stations who promote such songs and are still pushing for them to pull that and other songs that celebrate rape culture..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzR-yTSWZgI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lI7VOqLYLiY

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rosa Clemente Blasts Rapper Rick Ross.. Calls on Hip Hop to Say ‘No’ to Rape Culture

March 26, 2013 By

Rick Ross brownIn recent days a lot has happened that has kept the issue of rape and rape culture in the forefront.. It ranges from two female social commentators/ bloggers Zerlina Maxwell and Adria Richards being threatened with rape after speaking out against sexual assault and inappropriate sexist jokes to massive rapes in the military to recent fights and resistance that proceeded the passing of the Violence Against Women Act..

Most recently its come in the form of former law enforcement officer turned rapper Rick Ross, kicking lyrics in a new song that advocates date rape…. At a time where one out of three women globally are sexually assaulted and almost half of Black and Brown women in the US being sexually assaulted, Ross’s words are beyond wack. They’re dangerous, irresponsible and reflective of a corporate business culture that has hijacked cultural expression to plant seeds of poison.

The other day long time Hip Hop activist and former Vice Presidential candidate for the Green Party Rosa Clemente responded to Ross with a stinging rebuttal that she posted on youtube.. It was a stark reminder of whats at stake in terms of whats at stake.. Clemente ask for men in Hip Hop to step up draw lines in the sand and protect the culture and the women around them..She calls upon people to put an end to rape culture and uplift the humanity in us all..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lH7pU7PvFA

Long time industry vet Dee Dee Cocheta stepped up and penned a heartfelt  open letter to Rick Ross that appears on All Hip Hop..

Greetings William,

I am writing you a letter because I have sat back and observed long enough. I am coming to you as a ‘sister’ of the human family we all belong to. WE are connected! AND you my brother, I am tired of hearing negative things about you and now I am mad at how you are treating yourself. So please do not take this wrong or feel I am coming at you to scold or beat you up with my words. I am coming to you because I CARE and LOVE YOU!

What brought me to the point of writing this open letter was after reading ALLHIPHOP.com Hip-Hop Rumors on your new song, “U.O.E.N.O.” (you ain’t even know it) titled: YOWZA! New Rick Ross Lyric Will Upset Smart Women! So yeah I’m a little upset and rightfully so as the lyric you wrote about refers to ‘date rape’ and is exactly how I lost my virginity; someone STOLE it at the age of 14 before entering in high school. I take responsibility for being at a party I had no business being at but I want you to know how scary this now 41-year-old woman felt to wake up to blood on the sheets with an aching pain and empty feeling, that your heart is sunken where you feel you lost something. Well I did, I lost the right to choose whom I wanted to share that special moment with because I was knocked out and taken advantage of. See William, your lyric doesn’t educate it only further glamorize what fools like that man did to me 27 years ago. I happen to believe in karma and I know that man got his without me having to lift a finger.

You can read the rest of this letter at http://allhiphop.com/2013/03/25/open-letter-to-rick-ross-from-a-music-industry-vet/

To further demonstrate the extent Rape Culture has encroached upon us, here’s a panel discussion  we did last year for Free Speech TV dealing with the topic..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_-YfUKVGKY

 

 

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,