HOT 97 CONTINUED
1) The updates continue to roll in. Hot 97 has now "indefinitely" suspended the Morning Show, Sprint and McDonalds (among other sponsors) have pulled their advertising dollars (in theory), and Jin is getting a song dissing Hot 97...played on Hot 97.
2) This is obviously an act of appeasement on the part of Hot 97 to make their sponsors happy - and hey, we knew that's what it'd take. Media companies usually don't give a damn about public relations as long as their bottomline isn't touched. I'm not being cynical, just realistic.
3) This suspension seems like smoke and mirrors to me. As Jay Smooth raises: we don't know if it's really indefinite or not and we don't know if it's paid or not. In the past, personalities have been suspended with pay which is basically like giving them a paid vacation for a week or so while things cool down. That's not a punitive measure; it's a calculated PR move. If that's what Hot 97 tries to do, it's time to pull back the curtain and expose the fraud. Where's the investigative reporters and forensic accountants when we need 'em?
4) What's becoming more interesting is how people respond to the outrage - not to the original offense itself. As with all social movements, big or small, once they achieve a life of their own, they become the focus for scrutiny and criticism. The swelling comments log over at Hiphopmusic.com attests to the variety of attitudes and emotions out there. Here's a few of the more interesting ones:
- -"u wanna make a difference BOYCOTT every single racist thing that gets said ANYWHERE
Shit happens..fighting is not going to bring these people back..You guys are wasting time doing all this cuz noone can tell me they have never uttered anything racial against anyone. the hypocrisy in this world kills me"
-"I have mixed emotions while I like Ms. Jones there is a fine line and she stepped over that line....I think she should be fired...if it had been a white air personality...there would not of been any suspensions they would of been fired on the spot. We have to set an example somewhere that anything will be tolerated that is what is wrong with this society as we know it."
-"As an African American, I am wary of the "suspension". This incident has drawn so much attention to Hot 97 that we all (Miss Jones, her crew, African American and Asian American listeners) may lose in the end. Miss Jones & crew, as ignorant and misguided as they are, are being played as pawns in this race game- pitting blacks against Asians. How crazy is that?!? The execs/ wealthy station owners may laugh all the way to the bank with this one."
-"I think that all of you people who are acting so offended by this situation should really take a long hard look at yourselves in the mirror. All this talk of starting a movement against Hot 97 is in my opinion a joke. The same people walking around NYC complaining about Hot 97 are the same ones listening to that bullshit."
-"Aint nothing revolutionary about posting on a blog and then allowing the same bullshit that you complain about to continue. So when y'all are really ready to go after the Emmis Communications, Viacoms and Clearchannels of the world then let me know, I'll be down front like Ron O-Neal said in "Superfly" with guns blazing, but until that day comes, spare me the theatrics. Y'all Ni@@az iz scared of revolution."
TURN
I'm not the first person to say this but is not Rich Harrison killing it right now? The producer behind Beyonce's "Crazy In Love," has not one, but two new tracks that are dropping jaws:
Jennifer Lopez feat. Fabolous: Get Right
Amerie: One Thing
As my man Jazzbo pointed out - Harrison is a sample-hound for real but in a gritty throwback to the sound of Marley Marl rather than a Kanye clone. I do think it's funny however that both Lopez and Amerie do some impressive Beyonce-cloning of their own (add that new Mariah Carey joint to that list). I guess the hottest girl in the game's got a lot of folks trying to steal her chain.
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