Now that bicoastal blood is no longer being shed, Simmons and other organizers want the hip-hop community to begin self-policing in the face of persistent criticism about lewd and misogynistic lyrics, gangsterism and over-the-top materialism. And with the entertainment industry facing continuing heat from Washington about marketing practices, the gathering will aim to seize the initiative with a detailed “code of marketing” for hip-hop music. The summit also will challenge the hip-hop music business to “elevate the art form” and to acknowledge its responsibility and accountability for the music’s broader social, political and economic consequences, Simmons says. “The bottom line is to inspire [hip-hoppers] to take back responsibility and give direction to the world,” Simmons said in an exclusive interview with NEWSWEEK. Simmons, chairman and cofounder of Def Jam Records, has drawn support from a broad range of political, civil-rights and political leaders. Speakers and other participants will include NAACP president Kwesi Mfume, Rep. Maxine Waters of California, Sean “Puffy” Combs and the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan.
A devotee of yoga, Simmons says he was inspired to organize the summit by the example of Swami Satchidananda, who opened the original Woodstock in 1969 by declaring: “Music is the sound that controls the entire universe … much, much greater than any other power in the world.” Says Simmons now: “Hip-hop is the most important influence in culture, which can affect the world in positive way.”
Indeed. In the two decades since rap slowly began to emerge from New York’s South Bronx, hip-hop has gradually become a vast and still-growing global cultural force. Its influence spans well beyond music to fashion, language and the arts.
But along with the widening cultural significance has come growing controversy, especially within the subgenre of gangsta rap, with its violent depiction of street life and vulgar lyrics about women. Critics-and even some fans-also say hip-hop has gone overboard in its worship of materialism. And more ominously, life has imitated art as some of hip-hop’s biggest stars have been caught up in gunplay that landed them in courtrooms, jail, headlines or cemeteries.
Simmons is now at the forefront in addressing these problems. While still very much an energetic businessman and a powerful symbol of hip-hop entrepreneurialism, he has in the last year or so increasingly turned his attention to philanthropic efforts and political activism. He is aggressively sought out for support by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, especially in New York, where he was a major fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign and is now backing Andrew Cuomo for governor. He recently held a fundraiser for New York’s senior senator, Chuck Schumer.
Simmons, as the driving force behind the summit, is careful to dispel any notion that its goal is censorship. “It’s about inspiration,” he says. “It’s about achieving a better balance of messages in the music.”
Some prominent artists, he says, are already rapping about politics, social justice and other subjects beyond the gritty realities of violent and drug-dealing street life and champagne- and diamond-drenched hedonism. But these rappers tend to get pigeonholed as “alternative,” he notes, adding that the industry’s biggest-selling artists such as Jay-Z and DMX-Def Jam artists, coincidentally-generally aren’t tackling such subjects. “We want to organize hip-hop to be an important force in changing America for the better,” Simmons says.
With a message of self-help, clean-living and spirituality, Farrakhan, the summit’s keynote speaker, has drawn a large following among African-Americans once enamored of the street life, Simmons says. “He can inspire people to say something different.”
On the marketing front, the hip-hop music business is seeking to be “proactive” in the wake of recent legislation introduced in the Senate, Simmons says. In April, Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced a measure empowering the Federal Trade Commission to pursue civil charges against entertainment companies or other firms that breach voluntary industry codes barring the marketing of adult material to children. The bill is being cosponsored by Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Simmons said hip-hop industry leaders had been discussing approaches to tightening marketing standards before Lieberman introduced his bill. Now, they are now refining those talks and honing in on the details. Although he emphasized that no decisions have been finalized, labels could, for example, stop using magazines like Teen People to advertise albums that contain explicit lyrics. Another possible move, according to Simmons, might involve highlighting the parental-advisory stickers on explicit albums advertised on, say, MTV. He added that organizers will announce their marketing initiative at the end of the summit. “We will put out a list of things that we’ll all agree on,” he said.
The summit may also serve as a backdrop for an announcement of an intriguing entrepreneurial venture. Simmons is brokering a possible joint venture between the Fruit of Islam, the Nation of Islam’s security wing, and International Security Associates, a New York-based personal-security firm owned by Steve Levy. Among its first potential clients: rap stars whose personal security, especially in the high-profile cases of Sean “Puffy” Combs and Jay-Z, has proven questionable.
If the venture is completed, it would join two seemingly unlikely forces: a Jewish-owned firm whose security personnel includes former members of the Israeli Defense Force and current and former members of U.S. police departments with some of the most ardent members of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan, who leads the Nation of Islam, has in the past stirred controversy because of remarks widely interpreted as anti-Semitic.
Simmons, who has close personal and business ties to Jewish Americans, has been a strong supporter of Farrakhan’s efforts at African-American uplift. And in the past year or so, he zealously worked behind the scenes to establish a bridge between Farrakhan and Jews. “Russell is so concerned about various groups working together and the social good that comes out of it,” Levy tells NEWSWEEK.
