On the final day of The
2nd Hip-Hop Summit, artists, executives and leaders from
the African-American community said they would label sexually
explicit and violent music, as well as posters and websites
that promote it. Plans are also in the works to mentor young
rappers and executives. A political group will be formed
to address the issues of free speech and racial profiling.
Hip-hop
is one of the fastest-growing music genres in the United
States, accounting for $1.84 billion in sales last year
out of a $14.3 billion total for the U.S. recording industry,
according to industry statistics.
Despite
its popularity, it has been attacked by politicians for
violent, sexually explicit and misogynistic songs.
Rappers
and black record label producers voiced support for parental
advisory guidelines on promotional materials, advertisements,
CD covers and websites. The labels also said they would
post the lyrics to objectional material on their websites.
"We talked
with Chuck D. and Harry Allen about forming some sort of
coalition on the internet for Hip-Hop so that we don’t have
to deal with the same issues the recording industry is going
through," said allhiphop.com co-founder Greg Watkins.
"If people act the way they did during the Summit once
they are back in their normal life, there should be a lot
of visible changes."
"Rather
than have the industry interpret the meaning of lyrics,
let people read it themselves,” said Hilary Rosen, president
and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association
of America (news – web sites), which supports the labeling
system. ”The music should speak for itself.”
"We
realize how much power we have, and we are prepared to use
it in a positive way,” Puffy said. "We have grown
from girls and boys into men and women. What you are witnessing
right now is history.”