Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Las Vegas Sheriff Calls For Ban On Gangster Rap

It all started with a gangster rapper shooting a cop in Vegas. Not a popular gangster rapper, just an everyday thug on the street who happened to rap. In my personal experience, every gangster on the street thinks he can rap. It is almost funny to me how the media called the assailant a “gangster rapper”.

Next came the Nevada Gaming Commission dealing out a warning to casinos that they will be held responsible for any violence that may be caused by booking any gangster rappers for entertainment.

Then up spoke the Sheriff, Bill Young. In a recent Las Vegas Sun editorial he blasted the music genre in question and just about everyone having anything to do with it.

"The entertainment industry should be ashamed of itself for promoting this gangster rap genre that espouses violence, mistreatment of women, hatred for the authority of police officers and emulates drug dealers and two-bit thugs," Young wrote, while calling for the “ban” of gangster rap in the city of Las Vegas.

Nothing was said of the other genres of music that promote the very same things. Any heavy metal fan knows that there are many rock songs with the very same topics mentioned above floating around out there.

Personally, I find the Sheriffs comments to be unjust at best and racially motivated at worst. The city of Las Vegas would gain absolutely nothing by banning a popular form of music that has become acceptable in almost every other part of society.

In the end, the decision is left up to the casinos themselves. We can only hope that cooler heads prevail and the artists are allowed to perform their music for the fans.

Shoutwire

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