So, the much previously reported debate on sexist and racist language in music - and mainly hip hop - went to US Congress yesterday with that previously reported session of the House Energy And Commerce Sub-Committee dedicated to the debate.
As previously reported, the debate over the use of sexist and racist words in hip hop has been reignited after the decidedly un-hip hop Don Imus was sacked from his radio show for making sexist, racist remarks about a female basketball team. The fallout of Imus' sacking led to the media spotlight being focused on the use of similar remarks by key artists in the black community.
Much of the anger over sexist and racist language in hip hop has so far been aimed at record label execs rather than artists, presumably because they are easier targets in PR terms. Yesterday those execs met with political types and rappers to discuss the issues - though all seemed keen to sidestep responsibility for the problem (if, in deed, there is a problem), though everyone agreed government censorship was not the answer - in the words of rapper and producer David Banner: "If by some stroke of the pen hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present in our communities. Drugs, violence and the criminal element were around long before hip-hop existed".
Keen to lay the blame with the suits, E Faye Williams of the National Congress Of Black Women told the hearing: "We have allowed greedy corporate executives - especially those in the entertainment industry - to lead many of our young people to believe that it is OK to entertain themselves by destroying the culture of our people".
Speaking for the labels, Edgar Bronfman Jnr from Warner Music argued that there is a long history of people taking offence at the pop music of the day - from Elvis to the Beatles to the Rolling Stones - and that those involved in the debate should bear that fact in mind. Philippe Dauman of MTV owner Viacom, meanwhile, said his networks had a long history of protecting young viewers from swearing or violent imagery in music videos, though that they had to do so in a way that doesn't affect the artistic freedom of those making the music - "it is not our role to censor the creative expression of artists" he concluded.
So there you go. Not sure anyone really had any solutions as to how you better manage the language and subject matter of hip hop without actually censoring the genre's artists.