Spike Lee Disses Snoop and Pimp Culture

[bigted]

Spike Lee Disses Snoop Dogg and Pimp Culture in Black History Month Speech

Thursday - February 2, 2006 by Janeé Bolden

Spike Lee denounced Snoop Dogg and pimp culture Wednesday night (February 1) during a Black History Month event at the University of Florida.

While Lee is best known for directing films-nearly one a year since making She's Gotta Have It in 1986--he's also gained a reputation for outspoken social critique, and his comments at the University of Florida's O'Connell Center were no exception. In addition to making a few jokes about President George W. Bush and his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Lee also used the opportunity to criticize the portrayal of blacks in mass media.

"We are bombarded by these ('gangsta') images again and again and again and again . . . They do make a difference on human behavior," Lee told the crowd of over 2,000. "No one gets upset that pimpdom gets elevated on a pedestal."

Among Lee's other targets was Soul Plane star Snoop, who he made repeated reference to while deriding the stereotypical images promoted by films and videos. Lee, who has also directed music videos, took issue with the rap music genre's portrayal of women in videos as "hoes" and went so far as to accuse rappers of "cooning" in music videos.

"African-Americans are known all over the world from these videos," he said.

Aside from his issues with the representation of blacks in media, Lee also advised students to, "find a profession you love so much, you'd do it for free," adding that he felt blessed by his career. "Not many people on this Earth get to do what they love."

With a career spanning two decades, Lee has been twice nominated for Academy Awards; first for the 1989 screenplay of the controversial Do The Right Thing and in 1997 for the documentary 4 Little Girls. In addition to his work as a director, Lee is also a faculty member at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master's Degree in Film. For the last four years Lee has served as artistic director of the school's Graduate Division of the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television. He's also established grants for minority students.

In related news, Lee will also take part in Nickelodeon Network's Black History Month programming, appearing on the "That's What I'm Talking About," a roundtable mini-series hosted by Wayne Brady, which will discuss the perception of Blacks in the US.

[JumpinJack AJ]

I love Snoop, but Spike Lee has some good points. Occasionally Spike Lee says something that gets on my nerves...but 4 the most part he's on point. Snoop dose have other sides 2 him, but the whole gangsta thing is what most know him 4.

[Hero1]

I think the point about women as hoes in these videos is spot on.. thats why we need some1 like queen latifah to put these fools in check..the balance is wayyy offf

[bigted]

Snoop basically godfathered the pimp style that a lot of rappers put in their songs and videos today, I like some of his stuff though but I think he definately deserves some blame for the way the rap game is today 'cause a lot of them rappers who came up look up to him and Dre, and he also collabs with them too, he's on 50's last album plus doing that famous "P.I.M.P." video , he was in one of Chingy's video, he did a song with Nelly, Game was in one of his videos, etc., so he's helping pollute the way hip-hop is today 'cause he's in a lot of the 90% of videos and songs that have that pimp attitude, 50 Cent has different sides to him just like Snoop does but he's also more famous for his pimp style, that's why it's sorta surprising that Will would wanna do a song with Snoop especially since he's known so much against gangsta rap being exploited like that, I guess that's why it's not that much of a stretch for Will to say that he's friends with 50 either, but I think Will's trying to keep the peace and show that he has nothing against the artists, that's why he said before he released "Mr. Nice Guy" that he didn't want a rap war 'cause he knows how basically Eminem could get all the hardcore rappers to gang up and diss Will the same way they did when Ja Rule dissed Eminem, positive rappers ain't heard so Will has to keep the peace to stay in the game since he still wants to have a career in the rap industry but I don't think in reality he's that close of a friend to either 50 or Snoop, he doesn't like a lot of what they do but starting another rap war wouldn't be good, he knows what happened with Pac and Biggie and he doesn't want to happen to himself, people take things too serious now.... Now if Spike Lee was still a rap video director I bet he wouldn't diss Snoop like that 'cause if he did not many rappers would want him to do a video for them again, they'll boycott him....

I think the big issue should be to go after the radio stations and TV stations that refuse to play anything other than pimp rap songs/videos...Another issue would be for all these rich people like Spike Lee to give back to the 'hood instead of just standing up there and criticising, Snoop does a lot of positive things in the communities, if the urban communities got cleaned up there wouldn't be any need for so many gangsta rappers but a lot of them might rap about hoes and gangs 'cause that's all they see when they're in the 'hood, they see women selling their bodies so they think all women are hoes, and they rap about drug dealers and gangs 'cause that's what they saw, even if you don't like the songs you can't knock what they're expressing like it never happens, if those rich people are so much against gangsta rap, they should work on cleaning up the streets.... Why don't the women who go in the videos get criticised too? You can't just blame the rappers when the women are willing to sell themselves like that, it's just like when they pose nude in Playboy, nobody puts a gun to their heads and tells them to do that... Personally gangsta rap ain't really my favorite part of hip-hop either but if I listen it'll probably be some of earlier Snoop, a lot of later stuff sounds basically as watered down as 50 Cent's latest stuff, he needs to hang out with Will more often to get better direction with making songs, that'd be kinda dope if Will and Snoop did an album together, that'd bridge the gap between positive hip-hop and gangsta rap... btw, didn't Spike Lee say something about Will being an uncle tom before when he released "Legend Of Bagger Vance"?

Edited February 3, 2006 by bigted

[JumpinJack AJ]

Actually, i would credit Too Short and Ice-T for the origial "pimp lifestyle" in Hip-Hop. Ice-T dosen't get nearly enough respect 4 what he's done. Sure, the OG style and pimp style blew up in the 2 the trash we ONLY hear about on the radio 2day...but he's definitly a pioneer in Hip-Hop.

Bottom line, there shouldn't be any girls acting the way they do in Nelly and 50 Cent videos. It's not only disrespectful, it's actually really gross. When u see LL Cool J's music videos, the girls are actually gorgous and 95% of the time, it's tastefull. But most of these new rappers got girls doing stuff that probably has their parents holding a gun 2 their own head when they see the video. On top of that, the girls aren't even cute.

And the whole gangsta rap thing has been played out for over 10 years and phoney pimp lifestyle has been dead for at least 8 years. It's time that the people who listen 2 the radio and buy these albums commercially realize they are buying poison and dumbing themselves down.

[bigted]

Ice-T and Too Short pioneered the pimp image but Snoop and Dre took it to another level commercially that they didn't, just like how JJFP and Run-Dmc took hip-hop further than the pioneers Sugar Hill Gang and Kurtis Blow did...Yeah it's been played out but as long as people continue buying it, record companies will continue to sign pimp rappers over rappers with a positive message, if Kel Spencer was a pimp rapper he'd be selling as many albums as 50 Cent right now but instead he's still shopping for a record deal, commercial rap is a buisiness and these A&R's only care about making money, they're happy when rappers beef, disresepct each other, and make videos with hoes wearing nothing 'cause they get to cash in, kids buy into it, fans need to wake up, parents need to be responsible and teach their kids that there's more to music than just songs about pimps and hoes and teach their daughter to be something productive in life, not a video hoe, young brothers go around screaming "what up pimp, what up hoe, what up my nigga" without even knowing the meaning behind what they're saying and young girls don't mind if a brother slaps them in the ass 'cause they don't know how to respect themselves, gangsta rap is way overexposed... Music videos should have a concept behind them 'cause it's an artform but it seems like all videos are similar these days, there's too much imitation, Snoop shouldn't let 50 imitate him.... Hip-hop needs more diversity, you don't see every movie being a horror flick but it seems like 90% of rap artists these days potray that pimp image... btw, if I ever have a daughter say they were gonna be a video hoe or pose in Playboy I'd be like Uncle Phil, lol...

Edited February 3, 2006 by bigted

[bigted]

I figure I'd bump this post to see what everyone else thinks about this, I heard yesterday that Nas was at Puffy's party the other night and proposed to name his next album "Nigger" and Al Sharpton expressed his displeasure about it there, I figure this ties into what we're talking about here so I figure I'd mention that, I'd be a lil' dissapointed if Nas does name his album that 'cause I don't like people saying that word, it's sad to know that a real mc like that is also dumbing down to that trash...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/sto...6p-329285c.html

Rapper Nas is working on his new album, and he's trying to get the word out.

The N-word, that is.

The hip-hop provocateur tells us he's planning on calling the CD simply "N-." Except, he'll be filling in the blank.

"That's the name right now," he said. Just to make sure we didn't mishear him, he spelled the racist epithet for us.

"I don't care about sales," he explained at Wednesday's MAC Cosmetics party for Sean (Diddy) Combs' new fragrance, Unforgivable. "Well, tonight I don't. I never was a big sales dude, so it never really mattered."

The slur, formerly used by Southern lynch mobs, has become a common greeting among black youth. But the Rev. Al Sharpton, also at the Core Club party, still finds it profoundly offensive.

"I'm astonished by the psychological gymnastics some people perform to make that self-denigrating word acceptable," he told us. "No other race does it. Why is it accepted? In an industry that makes Michael Jackson take out a word that was offensive to Jewish people, why does it sanitize a word that continues to be used by the Ku Klux Klan when it attacks our people?"

Last night, Jana Fleishman, a spokeswoman for Nas' label, Def Jam, was taken aback when we informed her of the proposed title. But after talking with the rapper, she said he changed his tune. "Nas says he was being facetious. He just started recording last week."

Meanwhile, Nas and Diddy were both amused to see Kanye West portraying himself as Jesus Christ on the cover of Rolling Stone. A 1999 video aping the Crucifixion had the two older rappers hanging on crosses.

Asked if Kanye stole their idea, Nas said, "I loaned it to him."

Diddy agreed: "It was a cool cover to me. I'm a fan of his, so it's all good."

Edited February 4, 2006 by bigted

[JumpinJack AJ]

Nas dose make some good music, but he dose some really stupid things. This album title is the perfect example. I think it's time this word be put 2 rest. How many times do u need 2 say a word til it doesn't mean anything anymore. With this word, i'd say about 10 years ago.

[bigted]

Yeah Nas is a great mc but I get the feeling he must be hanging out with Jay-Z and Kanye too much lately, the ignorance is rubbing off on him now, he needs to hang out with Chuck D and Will so they can get his mind in the right state again, they'd slap him if he told them that he was consider titling his album that, Nas needs to get away from that nonsense and lead the younger generation of mcs coming up, he has all the talent to do it but if they see him doing things like this it'll bring more ignorance to hip-hop, this takes away some of my anticipation for his album....

Edited February 5, 2006 by bigted

[bigted]

Spike Lee's now criticising 50 Cent and Irv Gotti:

Spike Lee Bashes 50 Cent and Irv Gotti in New Ish of Complex

Monday - February 6, 2006 by Carl "H.D." Chery

Spike Lee criticizes 50 Cent and Irv Gotti for promoting violence in hip-hop in the February/March issue of Complex Magazine.

Never one to hold his tongue, the controversial movie director blamed Gotti and 50 for helping perpetuate violence in hip-hop in a Complex feature.

"I love hip-hop," Lee told the magazine. "But there are certain elements that are just [problematic]. You name your company Murder Incorporated, your logo's got bullet holes in it, you changed your name to Gotti, and you wonder why your ass is in court? I mean, come on. You want to be a gangster? Alright, well gangsters go to jail; gangsters get shot. I mean, look, 50 Cent has made a lot of money, but whatever you are doing that makes you have to put a bulletproof vest on your 5-year-old son, that's time for some deep introspective ****."

Spike didn't stop there. The outspoken director also bashed Fif's motion picture debut, Get Rich or Die Trying, and his video game, indicating that they negtively influence impressionable kids.

"That whole mantra-'Get Rich or Die Tryin'-for me that's criminal," Lee explained. "Because young brothers, they took that to heart: 'Whatever I got to do to get them rims, get my fly gear, to get my bitches and hos, I'm going to do it. **** who I got to hurt, who I got to shoot, who I got to kill.' That's crazy to me. And his video game, Bulletproof? I'm sorry, I can't get with that."

This doesn't mark the first time Spike speaks out against hip-hop. He recently dissed Snoop Dogg and pimp culture during a Black History Month event at University of Florida.

Complex's issue also features Lee addressing violence in video games, diversity in Hollywood and "Chappelle's Show."

Complex Magazine's February/March issue is on newsstands now.

[WesSyde]

speak on Spike! :word:

[JumpinJack AJ]

Props 2 Spike Lee!! I couldn't have said it better.