Hip-Hop Summit Comes To A Close

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 […]

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.”