By Hardcore Critic
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Responsibility comes along with being a man. A “man of pride” is one who stands by his word, regardless of how people feel about it. If a “man of their word” says something, they stand by what was said. Rush Limbaugh is always saying something, as the conservative radio personality has made a habit out of going against left-wing politics.
Every once in a while, Rush Limbaugh will say something so outrageous it will cause a media frenzy. The latest occurrence of this took place this week when the controversial radio host called Georgetown law student, Sandra Fluke a “slore” (slut + whore). Fluke stood before Congress and argued her employer should cover the cost of her birth control pills through the company health insurance plan. There are many conservatives, and liberals for that matter, who disagree with this opinion.
But, the right of being in the United States of America is freedom of speech, an exercise used frequently by hip hop, and Rush Limbaugh. The comments made by Limbaugh have caused advertisers to withdraw their ads from his radio show. With the loss of advertisers meaning a loss of money, Rush Limbaugh has offered an apology, of sorts, and has been deflecting. Of course, he would hit his favorite target, the hip hop industry.
When Rush Limbaugh is not targeting the Democratic Party, he is often speaking negatively about rappers. However, the difference between rappers who use degrading lyrics and Rush Limbaugh is they do not hide behind the words of others. Many credit their language to being simply how they feel, thus exercising their freedom of speech. Rush Limbaugh, in his apology to Sandra Fluke, said “rappers say much worse and it is credited as art.”
This may be true, but Rush Limbaugh has been broadcasting since 1967, while hip hop did not come to form until a decade later, what was the excuse in his first ten years? Yes, rappers say dispicable things all the time. Even worse, rappers have disrespected members of Congress, other legends, and have even killed each other. However, they do not hide behind the actions of others when they do wrong.
Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a “slore” because he felt he could get away with it, not because of something he heard from a rap song. Honestly, would a man like Rush Limbaugh listen to enough rap music to even know about the culture? Limbaugh only goes by what he sees in the mainstream and then classifies the entire rap game by it. The last thing on his mind when he called Fluke such a horrible name was rap music. But, when he came under fire for it, he felt he could shift the blame to hip hop.
The hip hop community fell victim to this five years ago, when Don Imus called the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team “nappy headed hoes.” After losing his job, he pointed out how the term was derived from things rappers say. Days later, the focus was on the lyrics in hip hop. Def Jam founder, Russell Simmons, called a summit and soon the “N-word” was abolished from the vocabulary of the urban community. While the lyrics can be crude, at times, no one has the right to edit what another person says, which is why the 2007 hip hop summits failed, in the end.
While the hip hop, and urban, community was torn, Don Imus was in the clear and soon had another radio show. Rush Limbaugh has lost a significant number of sponsors and could potentially lose his show. A situation created by his own words, coming from his mouth, and Rush Limbaugh points all of the blame toward hip hop? This is not fair, the conservative media needs to find a new scapegoat.
