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Dirty Rap? Sharpton's Got Soap
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 4, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 4, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Al Sharpton continues his effort to clean up rap lyrics. After Russell Simmons held some meetings on the topic, Sharpton took it to the streets by marching in midtown, and now he's brought his campaign to Motown.
Cleaning up rap lyrics is as easy as following the old adage of washing ones mouth out with soap. At least that's a theme Sharpton is using, as he plans to collect thousands of bars of soap as a symbol of the clean up effort. AMNY reports on what else he, and other organizers, have in store:
Sharpton and the Rev. Horace L. Sheffield III, pastor of New Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, talked about the campaign Saturday outside the Motown Historical Museum.
Sharpton said it made sense to promote the hip-hop campaign in Detroit because NAACP leaders plan to conduct a mock funeral for the "N" word during the group's July convention in the city.
The campaign began last month in New York City with Sharpton challenging the recording industry on denigrating lyrics. Organizers say they plan to soon roll out the effort in Los Angeles.
The bars of soap used for this campaign will be donated to shelters and halfway houses for women. As for Simmons, after calling for a ban on certain words in lyrics, he has now called for a calm in the debate, asking that we "leave rappers to sing what they want."
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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