Re: FW: RUN-DMC?

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

Roni,

Thanks for that insight.

Would you identify the second example of an anti-Semitic Public Enemy
song?

Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: Rmsarig (at) aol(dot)com <Rmsarig (at) aol(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Sunday, July 11, 1999 6:11 PM
Subject: Re: FW: RUN-DMC?


>As someone very interested in Jewish culture and popular culture, and
who
>writes about pop music (very often hip-hop), I think I should lend
some
>perspective to this thread. I think I may one of the few people on
the list
>who knows more than a little about rap, so...
>
>>  I also recently read that a former Israeli, observant
>>  Jew has managed Public Enemy all these years...
>
>Lyor Cohen is the head of Def Jam, one of the earliest and most
influential
>rap record labels. The label was once independent, and released the
early
>albums of Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and many others, including the
(Jewish)
>Beastie Boys. Cohen is not the manager of any of these groups. Now
that Def
>Jam is owned by Universal Music Group (Bronfman's company), Cohen
serves an
>executive in the larger corporation, and continues to play an
important role
>in the release of rap albums.
>
>>  The man who is the main force behind the business and success of
Rap
>>  and Hip hop music, including Rap's violence, misogyny,
anti-Semitism
>>  (Public Enemy) is Lyor Cohen, born to Israeli observant Moroccan
>>  parents in America, and the great grandson of Israeli Rabbi Daniel
>>  Sirkus, a signer of Israel's Delaration of Independence.  You can
read
>
>Cohen is by no means the main force behind hip-hop music. He is an
important
>record executive, but has no role in writing rap lyrics and is not
even
>primarily responsible for rap's marketing success (I'd credit that to
many
>people and, in large part, to the fact that kids like it).
>
>>  about all this in the April 23, 1999 front page article of Jewish
Week.
>>  He was/is the agent for Run-DMC, Def Jam, Public Enemy, and a
whole
>>  slew of others.   He is seen as the one "who helped rap and
hip-hop
>>  cross over from urban America to become the dominant musical taste
of
>>  the white suburbs, in whose shopping malls 65 percent of all rap
>>  records are bought.
>
>Again, many record executives helped usher rap along to become
popular with
>white kids, but it became popular because kids like it.
>
>>  Why did I raise this issue?  Most rap lyrics have been condemned
as
>>  glamorizing ghetto life, inciteful speech and lyrics that the
>>  Anti-Defamation League called "toxic" in its 1992 special Report
on
>>  Hateful Lyrics in Rap and Rock.  The article says "The report
>
>to say "most" is frighteningly inaccurate. there are thousands of rap
songs
>released each year, and the vast majority have nothing to do with
Jews or
>anything political or racial. Most are about having fun, or about
love/sex,
>just like any pop songs. there is, of course, a relatively large
portion of
>songs that address ghetto life and violence. some of it is worthy of
being
>condemned, and a lot of it is at least exploitative, but most of it
simply
>involves young people talking about, for better or worse, what they
see.
>
>>  specifically targeted Public Enemy, a group signed to Def Jam
>>  Records, and whose members were devotees of Louis Farrakhan."
>>  Cohen staunchly defended Public Enemy when their songs rapped
about
>>  Jews crucifying blacks and made comparisons to Jesus a few years
>
>There have been less than a handful of times where blatant
anti-Semitism has
>appeared in a recorded rap song (there is a larger issue of
anti-Semitism in
>the black community, just as there is an issue about racism in the
Jewish
>community, and some rappers have been known to express anti-Jewish
thoughts
>off the record). P.E. has perpretrated a most noxious kind of
anti-Semitism
>on two occasions. Noxious, because the group is largely seen
(otherwise
>deservingly) as offering among the most intelligent and well-written
>discussion of the problems and issues facing the black community.
While their
>credibility in this area is ruined for me by their occasional
anti-Semitism,
>for those who don't know better, unfortunately, their general
credibility
>lends a degree of credibility to their anti-Semitism. The first case
of
>P.E.'s anti-Semitic lyrics came in the early '90s, when the group
recorded
>for Def Jam. At the time, I never came across any instance of Cohen
>"staunchly defending" the group (and I read quite a bit about it),
though it
>wouldn't suprise me given that he's a businessman interested in
protecting
>his business. I do recall, however, that Def Jam's publicist, Bill
Adler (who
>continues to work in the rap world), wrote a book-length refutation
of an
>outrageously anti-Semitic Nation of Islam publication (The Secret
>Relationship Between Blacks and Jews) after rapper Ice Cube cited the
NOI
>book as "worth checking out"
>P.E.'s second instance of anti-Semitism came this year, on a song not
>released by Def Jam (but rather by Atomic Pop, an Internet music
company run
>by Al Teller -- just what? -- a Jew).
>As for Cohen (and Bronfman and others), I agree that they bear a
>responsibility for what they put out, and don't always live up to it.
But we
>must not overstate the issue of anti-Semitism in rap, and we
certainly should
>not rely on Jewish Week for our information about the music.
>-Roni Sarig
>
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