I heard plans about getting rid of some of the words, including the N word, because of him.

I've thought about this too. That speculation could be merely an exaggeration of the resulting outcome, as alot of negative things are when they first happen, but I think it might be half truthful. If glam rap didn't have cussing, that would take most of the luster out of it (like classic rock songs that didn't talk about cars or sex, lol).

Even if Don Imus hadn't said what he did, it would probably have precipitated a backlash anyway (in many ways, glam rap is a worn out genre that has changed relatively little since 2002 or '03). Maybe it'll eventually lead to hardcore/sexual/profane hip hop going more underground due to decreased mainstream acceptance. Also, perhaps a fluffier and/or more socially conscious form of it could mainstreamize, sorta the way Public Enemy did in the late '80s.

The irony is, I'm sure even Imus himself couldn't have forseen a cultural change such as this happening when he said that. It was probably an offhand "locker room/hanging with your friends" thing that you only later realize the impact of.

I hope it cleans up hip-hop to a point, at least the rap portion of it, but I do not want it to or think it will "end hip-hop". Hip-hop is a lot more these days than the whole rap thing (which pretty much sucks now), to me a lot of the crossover pop/r&b stuff is also in the hip-hop category (that's more the kinda hip-hop that I would like).

I hope it cleans up hip-hop to a point, at least the rap portion of it, but I do not want it to or think it will "end hip-hop". Hip-hop is a lot more these days than the whole rap thing (which pretty much sucks now), to me a lot of the crossover pop/r&b stuff is also in the hip-hop category (that's more the kinda hip-hop that I would like).


That's true, people often synonymize rap and hip hop together. Rap is more urban and "from the streets", whereas hip hop is a more commercialized, dancey variation of rap. So it'll be the more popular, edgy stuff that could get cleaned up as a result, but it probably won't have as much impact on a band like Black Eyed Peas.

The clubbing stuff about rims, bling bling and sex is probably going to get more of a backlash. It's pretty worn-out anyway.

P.S. The irony about Don Imus is that he apparently has a history of offhand remarks. Wikipedia says that when he was a VH1 veejay (this is WAY back when it was AC-based in the mid '80s, before I even watched it, lol) he referred to Sade's head as being shaped like a grape, or something along those lines.

That's true, people often synonymize rap and hip hop together. Rap is more urban and "from the streets", whereas hip hop is a more commercialized, dancey variation of rap.


Actually rap IS part of hip hop. If it sounds commercialized and annoying it's still rap unfortunately or some RnB/Pop fusion.

Actually rap IS part of hip hop. If it sounds commercialized and annoying it's still rap unfortunately or some RnB/Pop fusion.


Rap is part of hip-hop but not all hip-hop is rap necessarily.

I doubt that what some american redneck talkback host said is going to signal the end for a musical genre. I don't even fully understand what's racist about "nappy wearing hoes".

I doubt that what some american redneck talkback host said is going to signal the end for a musical genre. I don't even fully understand what's racist about "nappy wearing hoes".


Well, it wouldn't be him per se, lol. I think the post was intended to mean that what he said may indirectly lead to a public backlash of certain hip hop slang in general, since that's what spurred his original comment. He was actually talking about a black womens' basketball team. While it was a stupid and insensitive thing to call someone, I don't think he really meant any malice by it, he probably just said it without really thinking.

The parallels were drawn by the double standard of certain hip hop artists saying far worse things and getting away with it, but Imus was suspended over it.

nah, hip hop won't end over this

Well, it wouldn't be him per se, lol. I think the post was intended to mean that what he said may indirectly lead to a public backlash of certain hip hop slang in general, since that's what spurred his original comment. He was actually talking about a black womens' basketball team. While it was a stupid and insensitive thing to call someone, I don't think he really meant any malice by it, he probably just said it without really thinking.

The parallels were drawn by the double standard of certain hip hop artists saying far worse things and getting away with it, but Imus was suspended over it.
Must've been a big issue. Wasn't just a small article in the World Section of the newspaper like it was here. Kinda reminds me of a simlar incident in which a talkback host of considerable fame here lost alot of credibility over a spur of the moment comment such as that. Even ended up quitting his nightly news show. Possibly due to this incident.

I doubt that what some american redneck talkback host said is going to signal the end for a musical genre. I don't even fully understand what's racist about "nappy wearing hoes".


Well he said more than simply "nappy headed hos".  Amazingly, hardly any of the media reported that later in that TV sequence, Imus referred to the basketball game as a contest "between the <j_word>s and the wannabes".

I woulda thought the J-word was more offensive than the NHH remark.

I woulda thought the J-word was more offensive than the NHH remark.


jerks?  junkies? jam makers?  ???

Also I'm assuming that the nappy headed part is being lost in translation since, to me at least, he appears to be saying they have Pampers on their head  :-\\

I wish someone would end it, the sooner the better!

The "from the streets" thing had some cred when rap was still a budding art form that a few years before was "from the streets."  Groups like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five have more in common with the social comment from "The Last Poets" movement of the '60s and '70s then they do with Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Akon, or whatever the crap.

Legit use of the N-word is subjective, I suppose, but when rappers were using it in the early '80s, it wasn't celebrating crime. 

"Ho" is not a neutral word.  It is a contraction for "whore," one of the most denigrating names to call a woman.  If we accept "ho" as a legit way to refer to women, then hip-hop has done more to denigrate women than Larry Flynt ever did. 

"Nappy-headed Ho's" is pretty damn denigrating in my book, I don't care if Imus or Snoop Dogg says it.  It's debatable whether Imus should have been "fired," but let's stop pretending his remark was harmless. 

These shock jocks always claim they rip on everybody.  They don't.  Not in the same way.  It's obvious to me Don Imus likes rich white people way more than he likes anybody else.  And that's how it goes with your "shock jocks." 

I wish someone would end it, the sooner the better!


AMEN! O0

don is a loser, but it was overreacting. i hope it kills hip hop though