Power 105.1 FM (WWPR), a New York City radio station that features Hip-Hop said it’s going to stop playing songs
with degrading images according to the New York Daily News.
“The station won’t sound that different, because we weren’t playing a
lot of that anyway,” said program director Helen Little. “What we’re
doing is holding labels and artists accountable for what they say and
how they say it. We want our listeners to know that whatever they hear here, we thought about it.”
Little went on the air recently with Ed Lover, Egypt and
Donnell “Ashy Larry” Rawlins, who have a morning show, along with music director Nadine Santos,Kevin Powell and Reverend Al Sharpton.
The discussion came as some critics, including Sharpton, vowed to turn their attention to
negative images and lyrics in Hip-Hop music, in light of Don Imus’ negative comments against the predominately black Rutgers University women’s basketball team, referring to them as “nappy headed hoes,” amongst other things.
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Power 105 had been having this
discussion for some time, according to Lover and Little, and Santos, among others, cautioned against
linking Imus’ comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team with Hip-Hop.
“Let’s not get it twisted,” she said. “This isn’t what Hip-Hop is about. What Imus said has nothing to do with Hip-Hop.”
There was also discussion over whether some listeners want more graphic lyrics. Some people said it was fine but Power 105 has maintained they will not play it.
“We’re not saying you can’t make this music,” Santos told the New York Daily News. “Just, we won’t play it. Our intention is to encourage people not to talk this way anymore.”
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