Stop The Degradation of Women Through Hip-hop!

An Online Petition (Offensive Material Alert):

"To: Record companies and radio stations

"Those that have grown up with or have come to know and love the culture known as hip-hop know that it has always been a male-dominated culture. Despite this, women have been active and important participants in the hip-hop culture. Some examples of strong female figures have been the 'Furious Females' (for their rap contributions in early hip-hop), Toni Basil (for showing the world that streetdance is also an art form), and Asia-One (who almost single handedly brought back bboying in the United States).

"Not only have women like these been roles models for young girls, but they have also shown us that women can hang with the guys, and in many cases, do better than the guys. Strong women in hip-hop right now are going un-heralded and are being left ignored by the more general hip-hop eye. This is because right now in mainstream hip-hop (songs played on the radios and videos on music television stations), women are being portrayed as nothing more than 'ho's', 'bitches' and 'freaks.' Nothing but mere sex objects.

"A young generation of boys that will one day be men are being told it is okay to beat women, to degrade them to the lowest of levels, and treat them as nothing more than a piece of meat to 'skeet skeet' inside of. Equally as bad, a young generation of girls that will one day be women are learning that it is acceptable to be treated like this and to act like a 'groupie ho.' These are the values that are being instilled in today's youth.

"Hip-hop is one of the most practiced cultures in the world. The music spreads wide and far, with youth in many countries listening to it. It reaches many ears and can be used as a tool for learning tolerance and equality. This was one of the original intents of the culture, to spread knowledge and give everyone a fair chance to express themselves. But it has since been turned into a tool to promote drug useage and sales, gang-like activities and the degradation of women by the recording industry.

"Something that I ask record producers, label owners, popular artists, and owners of music television stations is this:

"Do you have young nieces, sisters or daughters? Do they listen to the music YOU promote? We are products of what we are exposed to. Would you appreciate your little girl a few years down the road simply being used by some guy she just met that night to satisfy his urge to '****?'

"Sure, there are female rappers out there that are produced by record labels. The popular artists, hitting the top charts, that are the most imitated: include Missy Elliot, Trina, Lil Kim. Just looking at the title of Lil' Kim's song 'How Many Licks' will give you an idea of the offensiveness that plagues respectful hip hop heads. But listening to the song is enough to make someone start a petition. These are the female 'role models' of rap? Their behaviors in life and in their songs are no better than the men. Coincidence?

"Here are the lyrics to a popular song by the Ying Yang Twins called 'Wait ('Till you see my...)' that can be heard on the radio today. Even though some of the words are censured now, there is still enough for one to figure out what is being said in the song. In addition, with the sounds of a 'moaning' women in the background, it becomes more evident what the general tone of the song is. (Since the song first begun to air, a 'clean' version has been released due to so many complaints.):

"'Hey how you doin lil mama? lemme whisper in your ear
Tell you sunthing that you might like to hear
You got a sexy ass body and your ass look soft
Mind if i touch it? and see if its soft
Naw i'm jus playin' lets just say i can
And im known to be a real nasty man
And they say a closed mouth dont get fed
So i dont mind asking for your head
You heard what i said, we need to make our way to the bed
And you can start usin' yo head
You like to ****, have yo legs open all in da butt
Do it up slappin ass cuz the sex gets rough
Switch the positions and ready to get down to business
So you can see what you've been missin'
You might had some but you never had none like this
Just wait til you see my d***

"'Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Wait til you see my d***
Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Imma beat dat p**** up
Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Wait you see my d***
Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Imma beat dat p**** up

"'Like B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM

"'Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** Up, Beat da p**** up

"[verse 2]
'You fine, but i aint gone sweat ya
See i wanna ****, tell me whats up
Walk around the club with yo thumb in ya mouth
Put my dick in, take your thumb out
There might be a lil ? to deal with
Wet ? hope they dont spill ****
I keep a hoe hot when i'm puttin' in work
Wanna skeet skeet you bout to get your feelin's hurt
Cuz I'll beat dat cat with a dog
And knock da walls of a broad til she scrawl
Like (OOOOOH!)
Yea something like that, but it depends on the swing of the baseball bat
**** a bitch on da counter make the
Place fall mats
On the floor she aint screamin she a nut so they crack
Crack...crack
**** that bend over imma give you the d***

"'Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Wait til you see my d***
Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Imma beat dat p**** up
Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Wait you see my d***
Ay bitch! wait til you see my d***
Imma beat dat p**** up'

"'Like B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM, B-AM Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** up, Beat da p**** Up, Beat da p**** up.'

"It is one thing to write a song about love, sex, passion, etc. But it is a completely different issue when a song is written about "****ing" especially in such an explicit, meaningless, and degrading manner and is broadcasted for all the easily influenced youth to take in. This is where disrespect grows.

"What the women and men that are the true backbone of hip-hop want to see are strong female role models taking the stage and the better treatment of women. The recording industry, artists, radio stations and music television stations MUST stop promoting derrogetory (sic)treatment of women for the benefit of women and future generations.

"We want to see rappers like Jean Grae, or the MaMa's of San Jose get signed. The level of talent out there is infinitely greater than the talent of people who are signed to labels and making millions. There are people that would die for their ART. Young girls are working hard on their dance skills as poppers, lockers and b-girls, but will never land a part in a movie or music video, because they refuse to dress like a prostitute and 'shake their ass.' Young girls are in cyphers, spittin' rhymes hotter than anything you have ever heard from T.I., 50 Cent and the Ying Yang Twins, dreaming of signing a deal one day. They have a future in the hip-hop world, but will never have great success in their art because they will be viewed as nothing but a "groupie bitch" that's good for sex whenever a guy wants it.

Assad 'Invent' Conley

Sincerely,

The Undersigned"

Go to http://www.petitiononline.com/stdwthh/petition.html