Cop tries to get gangter rap banned from las vegas resorts

[Jin]

« A Fallen Soldier's Faith | Main | Paula Abdul gets Extra Friendly Skies »

Sheriff on 50 Cent and Eminem

As promised here are more excerpts from my conversation with Sheriff Bill Young about his attempt to get gangster rap banned from Las Vegas resorts as what he calls "a crime prevention" strategy:

Q: Someone like Snoop, in Vegas, is likely to attract a bunch of tourists from the California suburbs who want to see the concert.

A: That may be true. But do we really want to sell that as the way we make our money in this town? We really only have one business, and that is entertaining people here and showing them a good time. If we have a reputation for entertainment that is going to cause negative consequences like violence and shootings, what is it we are trying to accomplish here?

Q: How do you define gangster rap?

A: I am not the proper person to define it in particular. I kind of leave that up to the promoters and the people that stage these types of events what the content of it is. I know—I raised three kids who listen to this—there is a big difference between rap and hip-hop and what I call gangster rap. I know Will Smith. He is a fine guy. He is a funny guy. He is a rapper. He doesn't go around making albums called 'Cop Killer' or promoting putting his wife on the street to work her as a prostitute, or selling drugs as the right thing to do. So, while my knowledge of that particular genre is somewhat limited I know there is a difference. I would start with 50 Cent—

Q: Who played House of Blues at Mandalay Bay about three years ago—

A: —and we had a near riot there and fight there that we couldn't control. Define it any way you want, my friend. I am not going to argue with you. I am responsible for the safety of this community, and if I know that in the aftermath of these concerts we are going to have shootings, murders and killings: Why are we having them here? I don't think we should be selling violence here in our tourist corridor. That's not Vegas. We are not a town that sells violence. It is the inability of us to prevent violent acts that are occurring around these folks. I am linking A to B.

Q: Does someone like Eminem concern you, too?

A:Well, Eminem's product, from what I've heard, has a combination of a lot of these things. Correct me if I am wrong; I am not an expert on these things.

Q: Well, I'd say he is not a gangster but on one typical song he talks about killing his wife.

A: Yeah, well, personally, I don't think we have a place selling that as a product here.

Q: Do you have any objection to the music being played here like a club spinning "In Da Club" by 50 Cent, or is it just the concerts and events featuring the rappers?

A: I am worried about the aftermath of events. This is America, and I love that people can listen to whatever they want.

Like I said before, I like the Sheriff and he seems far more open minded in conversation than this may read. But, despite his earlier claims, what he says here, I think, shows clearly his reaction has more to do with the content of the music than any crimes being caused at these events in the tourist areas. While the local rap scene has been plaugued by violence, there has never been a shooting death inside a casino resort related to a rap event. And, as noted before on the Buffet, there are very few of these events in the first place especially considering the massive commerical success of the genre. Rap shows by top artists on the charts are almost never held in any casino resort. For example, 50 Cent and Eminem have done their last two public concerts at a local stadium. But I did see Eminem perform at the Venetian a couple years ago; he was doing a private concert at a convention to convince clothes buyers to order his line of sweats, caps and shirts. There was no violence just commerce. Reminder: Tupac Shakur was killed after a boxing match. No one is talking about banning boxing.

photo by Fred Prouser/Reuters

March 03, 2006 at 06:57 AM | Permalink

http://vegasblog.latimes.com/vegas/2006/03...ff_on_50_c.html

[MaxFly]

It's nice to see Will get a little respect. As for taking preemptive action against rapper and the like, good luck, lol.

[Ace Of Spades]

I dont think the views shown in that are right. Props up to will, everything about him was true, but to say that 50 and Eminem and troublesome bunch isn't true. This is how 'America' made them. Sell drug, pimp chicks, and kill anybody who gets in the way. So he can't really look upon them as bad. Some artist are horrible and shouldn't even have got signed, but 50 and Eminem aren't one of em. I can say, that what Will Smith does is right not only to him but also to society. But what 50 and Eminem do isn't wrong either because in their minds they are doing right, and in some ways so do i. In the words of the greatest-

Change? ****, I guess change is good for any of us. Whatever it take for any of yall niggas to get up out the hood. ****, im wit ya, i aint mad at ya. 50 and Eminem and role models, but they still are doin the right thing

[bigted]

I don't think gangsta rap is the reason why there's violence so I don't think that they should ban playing it, that's like saying you're gonna shoot somebody after you watch a mafia flick, it's just entertainment to us fans, so it ain't gonna affect us to do what's being said there, but art is an immatation of life, artists express what's there, violence'll always be there, if we really wanna stop violence we need to bring our troops back from war that're dying unnecessarily, like Pac once said: "We got money for war/but we can't feed the poor", Maybe if there was no violence out there and the streets got cleaned up from guns, prositution, and drugs then add better schools plus more jobs than maybe there wouldn't be any need for gangsta rap, a lot of these rappers grew up with this lifestyle so they're gonna express it, see Will grew up being raised by both parents and went to a catholic school so he ain't gonna be rapping about thug life but most of these gangsta rappers weren't that fortunate, they didn't know who some of their parents were and they went to bad schools, what they rap about is what millions in the 'hoods experience everyday, you put those cops and government officials who criticise gangsta rap in the 'hood to live for a while and they'll feel the same **** that these gangsta rappers are rhyming about, and now when it comes to casinos having violence, they'll still be violence occuring even if all the music they play is clean, it's just as stupid as having the NBA dress code, the players'll still fight whether they wear suits or doo-rags....

Edited March 23, 2006 by bigted

[Turntable]

Ted is right.

[Luigie]

I dont care bout gangsta Rap...Will SMith dont sell too much records but got more respect than 50 and Em...u go and ask anyone, they'd say "Will Smith is a good rapper" :word:

[Lerkot]

u go and ask anyone, they'd say "Will Smith is a good rapper" :word:

Thats bullcrap.

[Da Fresh Prince]

at least Will is getting somethin'! go Wll! i agree wit Ted 2

[bigted]

Well Will's the type of rapper with his clean cut style that some of those people would like who don't normally like rap 'cause they think gangsta rap is too violent but some of those who're into gangsta rap don't like Will 'cause they can't relate to what he's saying, it's hard to please everyone, and Will has sold a lot in his career through the people who could relate to him but those who're into that gangbanging lifestyle call him soft while Eminem sold a lot through different people relating to him even though he got his share of criticism since some people think his music provokes violence, there's not a rapper out there you could say that everyone in the world loves, everyone gets their share of criticism for what they do since everyone has a different view on things

Edited March 23, 2006 by bigted

[Luigie]

Sorry bout my post i was referin to "normal ppl"...i mean neutral in gangsta vs. nice guy

Edited March 23, 2006 by Luigie

[bart5]

u go and ask anyone, they'd say "Will Smith is a good rapper" :word:

Thats bullcrap.

:word: Lerkot. I know people that say "ouch" when you say you are listening to Will Smith.

I admit that Eminem does promote violence in some of his music. I only like to listen to 15 of Eminem's tracks, but the rest aren't very good at all. Eminem raps with his emotions on some of his stuff like Lose Yourself and 'Till I Collapse that inspire me, but on his other stuff he doesn't have good measages.

Props for that cop mentioning Will though. Will's music is 100x better then Eminem's, even though Em has some good stuff out there.

[bigted]

well it does seem to be about preference, i like clean rappers like will and mc hammer but i also like listening to hardcore rappers like dmx and dr. dre, but it seems that most either like only clean rap or they only like hardcore rap, like most eminem fans would diss you for liking will and most of us will fans here don't like eminem and we diss him

[bart5]

well it does seem to be about preference, i like clean rappers like will and mc hammer but i also like listening to hardcore rappers like dmx and dr. dre, but it seems that most either like only clean rap or they only like hardcore rap, like most eminem fans would diss you for liking will and most of us will fans here don't like eminem and we diss him

I know. I am not a huge fan of Eminem, I just really like some of his stuff. I don't like hardcore rap, besides a little bit of Eminem's music. I know a lot of people diss Em, but thats alright because he deserves to be dissed for all the crappy music he makes. Most of the Eminem songs that I have are the edited or clean versions of his songs. All I know is he has some great music, and mainly crappy music. He will never compare to Will. I prefer clean rap all the way, because I like to listen to music that makes me feel good and have a good time. Just to let you know, the artists that I like to listen to or I am just getting into are (besides JJFP): A Tribe Called Quest, Heavy D & The Boyz, LL Cool J, Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Group, Eric B. & Rakim, Eminem, and Kel Spencer.

Edited March 23, 2006 by bart5

[JumpinJack AJ]

I think that Eminem's, G-Unit's, and all those other fake thugs need 2 have their music banned from certain events, work places, and stuff like that. Yes, i think their music sucks, but even beyond that. There are young kids and teens out there who can't think 4 themselves and they will allow phoney lyrics like that and take it 2 heart. It's true, i see the youth in my area who let music effect how they live their life.

2Pac made some music with stuff that kids don't need 2 hear, but much of the time, he was complaining about how things were...not glorifying them. And at the same time, he balanced it out with positive and sometimes even spiritual type of outlooks. 50 Cent doesn't do that. He just talks about drugs, killing, jewelry, and sex. There's 100 other cookie cutter rappers who do the same thing. They talk trash and they have no talent. Whatever happened 2 music with a message, and answer, and a positive outlook life?

There is music that is much more suitable 4 people 2 hear. It's time 2 stop shutting it out and save the youth from the garbage.

[bigted]

I see what you're talking about there AJ but this ain't a school here, this is a casino, kids don't go there 'cause gambling is illegal for kids, why won't they ban that if they're so concerned with morals all of a sudden? lol, it's an adult environment, only people 21 and over are there so I don't see nothing wrong with playing gangsta rap there in an adult venue, I agree with you about how it shouldn't be played in public places where kids are, unless edited liked the radio where anyone could listen,but this ain't a place where kids hang out, places like bars, casinos, and strip clubs are ok for the gangsta rap to be played if anyone that age says that they're gonna shoot somebody 'cause they heard 50 Cent say so then in a song obviously they got problems since they should know better at that age...

As far as kids go, the sad thing though is that the parents of a lot of kids don't control what they're kids listen to or see, they see Rated X movies let alone Rated R movies before they turn 18 and they listen to violent music at young ages too while the parents don't pay attention to that, parents deserve some blame, before I was 18 my parents only let me listen to edited CDs and I couldn't watch rated R movies, well since I was mature enough they decided to let me listening to unedited CDs and watch rated R movies with my older friends earlier than that, it's more than just about what I could or couldn't listen to, they were there to teach me how to handle myself in society and problems I face and that's what kids need the most but they don't all have, I think what it comes down to the most is that parents raise their kids, a lot of parents are too busy working or they ain't there for their kids so they don't know right from wrong, the reason why kids fight with each other and do things that they shouldn't do is 'cause they don't have any parent care about them, if music and movies raise kids instead of the parents there's a serious problem there, last year Chuck D was saying in one of his terrordome posts that he saw a woman about 35 years old in a music store buying a dirty version of 50 Cent's album for her 10 year old son and he was disgusted about that, that shouldn't be happening, parents need to raise their kids bottomline for violence to stop, and if they grow up with no guidance they're gonna always get into trouble when they get older as well 'cause they don't know better until somebody disciplines them

So AJ most likely those kids you know probably don't have parents that care for them 'cause if they did they wouldn't act the way they act, they'd get set straight enough to know not to imitate everything they hear or see, it's not just the music making them act that way, it doesn't matter if the music was more cleaner there'd still be kids acting rebellious if they don't have guidance, to say that if music would be clean everything would perfect would be stupid, when rap was cleaner back in the 80s there was still violence, I'm sure 15 years ago when MC Hammer was the most popular rapper there was still plenty of kids that were as juvenile as there are now, rap doesn't make the world violent, the world's violent already and it always will be....

Edited March 24, 2006 by bigted