By The Voice
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
The Atlanta media has been all over Byron Amos, a candidate in the Atlanta Public Schools election, after they discovered he serves as the vice president for hip hop record label, UGK Records. There are several videos on YouTube, which show UGK and their affiliates smoking and women dancing suggestively. Because Byron Amos is in a number of those videos, several teachers in Atlanta have pulled their support of him in the current Atlanta Public Schools election.
Before they discovered Byron Amos had worked with UGK, the teachers supported Amos and wanted him to take the seat. Now, after discovering his connections to the hip hop industry, they have all changed their minds. Often times, hip hop is written off as ignorant and violent. While the Atlanta teachers who have pulled their support of Bryron Scott are not violent, their reasons for pulling their support of Amos are definitely ignorant.
If Byron Amos was the right candidate before his videos were discovered, he should still be the right candidate after the videos were discovered. However, if Amos’ intentions are to offer marijuana to the students and have the female students wear skimpy outfits and dance suggestively, he should not be elected. Obviously, those are not his policies, as he had support from a high percentage of the teachers, before his past was exposed.
Just like the teachers passing judgment, Byron Amos has a past. Much like everyone else, there are probably things about Amos’ past he would love to change. However, life is a live and learn-style situation with no rewind or edit button. What Byron Amos did in the past should have nothing to do with his present, as he is only trying to help the Atlanta children. From the looks of things, he seems to be the only candidate actually looking out for the students.
It is obvious the people criticizing Byron Amos for being a member of UGK do not know much about the duo. While some of their lyrics are very graphic, Bun B and Pimp C (before his untimely death in 2007) were very generous philanthropists in their old neighborhoods. Despite the things they rapped about, they are positive people who try to teach children the right things about life. In their music, they explain the way they came up, never have they suggested anyone imitate them.
For decades, hip hop has gotten the bad wrap for being the genre of music that supports ignorance and violence. However, the Atlanta school board is currently supporting ignorance and predjudice without doing the proper research. UGK does have harsh lyrics, but they also have inspirational lyrics about self-betterment and giving back. But, none of their music has anything to do with Byron Amos, who was only trying to maintain his lifestyle by working with their company. He moved on and is now trying to help the children.
