Well said, it's too bad that rappers turn video shoots into parties. Buisness and pleasure don't mix. If there weren't 500 people at the video maybe the crowd could have been better managed.

"I am sure that everyone has a comment and the press will blame hip hop and rappers but none of that is the case."
Chris, with due respect, you cant continue to make comments like this and expect people to take you seriously. rappers and hiphop elitists gotta take more responsibility and plan better in order for these kind of tragic circumstances to be avoided. over 500 people on the set with different camps having beef with each other and you expect things not to pop off!? this is the real world, you can't bring warring factions together in the same room and not expect shit to pop off. i know it's not directly your fault, but have a lot of industry influence and business savvy which you can and should use wisely to help your artists and asscociates plan and organize better.

I would be happy to see the day when the media separate violence from Hip-Hop its really becoming disturbing

I echo the thoughts of supafly. Also we can learn from other genres of music. We the (hip-hop) culture are one of the only genres' of music that has our OWN economic bottom line effected (cancelled award shows/concerts, declining movie premieres) by these type of unfortunate events. This is bad for business, this detrimental to our culture. After a period of time it becomes embarrasing.

"I know it sounds corny that the we have to unite as black people,as minorities ,as people of color but sooner or later we will have to do this to survive."
Chris Man... Not only does it sound corny, it sounds like crap. Do you really believe that you are mobilizing the people with such contrived nonsense? This is not a "minority" thing. Its an industry thing. And maybe as someone who is at the head of the industry you need to take some responsiblity on guiding your artists as to how to be more professional. If you don't want the criminal element perpetuated in hip-hop then tell these fools not to bring criminals to places where there is business being conducted. Especially since many of the artists involved have been in the business for many years and should have more common sense. Other than that I agree with Citizen and Supafly.

Chris,
Since everybody that I expected to take your side has jumped on your azz(no brokeback) I will take your side this ONE time.

It is not corny of you to request, ne, demand unity. It is actually courageous of you to do so. The entertainment business that you make a living from is being driven by those that only wish to make a killing. From the artists that you manage to the executives that you leave voicemails for, rap music has lost its soul in the pursuit of paper.

Someone once told me that rap music was a mirror to what happens in the streets, but I ask all of you this, "what do you use a mirror for?" If you look in a mirror and you see something out of order don't you correct it? Or do you just leave it alone?

Chris, I think that you have shown a wealth of courage to create a forum where you speak and you give fans and friends equal space to reply but that is no longer enough for us or for you. With great power, comes great responsibility.

Imagine if your children could no longer see their superhero, you. Demand that your artists do the right thing for Mr.Ramirez' family.

You should be a key person to get on The New York Post for that front page "BLING, BLING. BANG BANG" HEADLINE. They are ground zero to destroying hip hop in the new york press. the fact that so many people in that organization allow such a uncaring message to get out shows they are racist and it takes a person as yourself to head stopping this shit. Youre either solving this shit or part of it.

Condolences to the Ramirez Family.
God bless Israel's family and children.

It is painful to know that violence
shadows the Hip Hop community so closely. The Ramirez family lives in my neighborhood and although I do not know them, I do know the Director and Producer of the video being lens that day. I hope that this incident(& publicity) does not adversly affect the Dir. or Prod. from creating even more visually stunning images/videos for other Hip Hop (or Rap) artists in the future. I pray that Hip Hop's shadow(read: Grimm Reaper) never visits me so close to home again.

You speaking about peace in the rap community and all this nonsense. Everybody knows you trying to kill your own little brother! whats up with that?

Yo. What do you expect when you bring all the different camps,ruffriders,g-unit,filpmode,and they homeboys, to some video shoot at some wherehouse at 1 and 2 in the morning. I mean we love bus-a bus and we know he can get down with just about everyone.But now u see what happens when g-unit is in town. also freeway with them is a bad idea too. Yea ,Great way to start off 2006 in HIP HOP with another murder. who's next?

"I would be happy to see the day when the media separate violence from Hip-Hop its really becoming disturbing"

The media didn't shoot Israel Ramirez.

We as a people are really screwed up in the head. When was the last time you heard Garth Brooks threaten Willie Nelson or U2 Threaten Maroon 5? This brutal killing was unwarranted and senseless. Looking at whats happening with our young foolish artist, the Rap and Hip Hop industry is really no different than the illegal drug industry. Many of the brothers in rap are well passed 30 years old and still feel the need to see who has the biggest balls. Though the music industry makes a ton of revenue from these young idiots, it is preparing to shut them out. Just look at the grammy production. It was aimed this year at creating a pop image for itself. rap was not a huge part of the show and it probably will not be next year. The industry believes that rap is a genre it can now do without. My advice to rap artists is, save some money because the musical chapter call rap is certainly coming to a close. Hip Hop violence is no different than any gang violence. The way these young brothers carry themselves is truly embarrassing and rediculus. You have a whole world of young people looking at you and wanting to follow your every move and all you can think to do is act uncivilized. In a perfect world you (the young rap artist) could have the most positive influence on your people because the children's eyes are all on you, watching and waiting to see which artist will commit murder next. Many of you have made a tone of cash and if you were smart you would start to invest in hotels, hospitals and other huge revenue generators. My condolences go out to the Ramirez family and others who have lost loved ones due to foolish posturing of Rap and Hip Hop Artist.

Chris and my fellow concerned hip-hop citizens,
Let me first start by saying without intelligent and productive dialogue, a solution to any of the problems will never be reached. Second, those that truly believe in a higher power, are truly good people at heart and can be honest with themselves to want to do the right thing, will help make the necessary progress. On the other hand, these kind of people do not exist in the music industry. If they did, we would not be having this debate. The music industry is about only one thing "MONEY", not art, not fairness and good business practices but "MONEY". Anywhere "MONEY" is the bottom line, evil is its best friend and advisor. Whether its in Africa and the diamond trade, American black slaves picking cotton, prostitution and drug trafficking,
people allow money to cause dysfunction in their minds and hearts (Doing drugs only makes that condition worse). The criminals, drug dealers and there messages of casual sex, drugs and gang-banging are our new leaders (Snowman, Ice cream man, human crack in the flesh...etc) What do you expect to happen, discussion on how we can better our communities so that we can compete and keep up with the rest of the world?

I read your words Chris.... and I respect your position in this Industry.....but I regretfully half to say that Your Managent company (Violator)Lacks Wisdon. Being wise in this world means to see things before they happen and then make the right neccessary moves to prevent them.... and that my friend is something Violator Aftermath, Gunit and FLip Mode Squad did not do last weekend. And it cost a man his life. Not putting the Blame on you but The Lack of Wisdom in this Rap Industry is slowly destroying an art form that has given brothers a way out of the streets. Now the Streets are all up in this game with no Law and order or Fear of God. It's sinking fast. Please Be Wise in all the decisions you make Brother. Alot depends on your Power Position and your moves with your top artist. Most up and coming managers just follow your lead... So don't take your position Lightly. Keep Righteousness in the Game and Take a Page from what Jigga and Nas just did. UNITE! STOP THE RIVALRYS wheter it sells records or not.... and most of all STOP WITH THE WICKEDNESS.... can't you see its coming back SEVENFOLD. 1!

All so true.

These are desperate times.

Soul Guardian (you deserve the name)---very well-said. I am reading this blog for the first time, and as a totally un-hip white female (mini-van driving mother of 2) I am struck by the privilege of eavesdropping on a culture I know very little about. Before reading this blog, I just assumed that most people in the music biz, (esp rap/hiphop) considered the drugs, violence, and misogyny just part of the cost of doin' bidness.
I think you are 100% correct when you say that at its root, the problem is the money---all I could think of was that "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil"
Also, Sair I respect your humility in appealing to your brother in such a thoughtful way, encouraging wisdom and restraint.
All in all, a very thought-provoking blog.

YOU HAVE A BRAIN ! USE IT !

All I can add is that Hip-Hop isn't necessarily the "Rap Industry" and Hip-Hop has never been more popular. I attend underground Hip-Hop concerts and events several times a week and I'm glad to say I've never seen the ultra-violence that plaques "The Industry." It reminds me of that proverb in the Bible about the sword splitting the baby because the two women were fighting over it, same thing in modern day "Rap" - you'll eventually loose the golden goose.

For those that are discouraged at what the rap industry has become search for acts like MR. LIF, Asamov, Atmosphere, X:144 & SPS, Soliliquist of Sound, Whole Wheat Bread, Edan, Swordz, Rob Roy, RedRock and you'll see that Hip-Hop has never sounded better!
Regards,

R.I.P. J-Dilla

All I can say is I pray for the day when the cycle of this "street cred" focus stops. Does anyone remember when busta rhymes was a happy go lucky cat from the suburbs of long island who wore a dashiki and represented the native tounge's posse? 10+ years later, he's a gun wielding thug moving product on the block in his songs.

The irony of hip-hop today is as follows: its a bunch of young black men, trying to escape drugs/violence thru music in which all they do is claim how much they love and live by those drugs and violence. The higher the hypocrisy, the more "real" they are. Lil Wayne is a very skilled lyricist. But he's been rapping full time since 10 years old. When did he get the chance to become Nino Brown, sell kilos of coke, and pistol whip countless drug rivals? Was this on the way to the BET Awards?

Unfortunately, in the case of Cam'ron and Busta, this fake image can come back and confront you with real violence. Has anyone ever tried to kill kanye west or common?

And Chris, in response to the end of your blog post. Your statement that "hip-hop" is not at fault for this couldn't be more wrong. The common strand between your logic and that of President Bush is that when something goes wrong, it's not anybodys fault. A man died at a video shoot for one of your artists. Everyone knows it was someone tied to a camp of another artist that YOU MANAGE.

Yes, I agree that the media focuses on the negativity, but don't you run a multi million dollar media management company who's main product is selling that very same negativity thru music, violent video games, sneakers, clothes, and vitamin water (at least be healthy when killing brothers)?

Chris, I don't expect you to be Martin Luther King, and things can't change overnight. But you're more than smart enough to know that the bravado and buffoonery that is most commercial hip-hop, is what killed Israel Ramirez. We've got the forum to have a real discussion, but the price of admission is honesty.

Yo who is Neo? Why is he saying you want to kill your younger brother? what is that?

RE: SOUL GUARDIAN!!! Incredibly well said my friend however I would like to correct you on one thing. Replace MONEY with GREED and I think it makes for a more accurate discussion. There are plenty of people out there who are able to conduct business without compromising ethics or morality. Its when MONEY becomes the ONLY thing that drives an individual where it corrupts and that my friend is GREED. And it doesn't only happen in the rap game. Check out the movie "Smartest Guys in the Room". Its the documentary on the collapse of Enron. I recommend everyone watch. The same type of folks that ran that company run our government.

These rappers are a small example of whats wrong with our society as a whole. And as long as they make money no one will check them.

CHRIS... WHERE YOU AT MY DUDE?? You have some real relevent discussion sparked by some really intelligent, well informed folks. Hopefully you will have time to make a response.

CHRIS... WHERE YOU AT MY DUDE?? You have some real relevent discussion sparked by some really intelligent, well informed folks. Hopefully you will have time to make a response.

I was going to stay quiet on this one, but uh...one thing that I just had to comment on was this...post by critical observer. I agreed with some of what was said, however I remember hearing somewhere that cash money strictly forbid drug references in their music due to the fact that their labelmate and friend, BG had been a heroin addict and that was something they took seriously not to promote...drugs in general. I don't listen to all of their music and was sort of hatin on their whole bling bling thing back in the day until I heard that and gained a new respect for them.

Now, I listen to the songs that make it to the radio and I must say that in fireman I don't believe he is referring to drugs/ammo in his trunk, etc. I believe he is talking about his lyrical "HEAT".

Just like back in the day, Too Short (gotta rep the west;) was pimpin hoes on the track...so maybe he did have a few out on the streets for real, but in my opinion, he was talking about pimpin the industry the hoes being the lyrics, the track was the beat. Remember as crazy as this may sound some of these guys are ARTISTS and these are METAPHORS.

Now it just ain't back in the day and shit is real(er) in the fields. Sometimes seems to me the more power artists get, the more stupid and irresponsibly they use it.

I agreed with others who make the distinctions between rap music/the industry/hip hop because the art and the business are not one in the same. That's kinda what Kanye's whole platform was on Jesus Walks where he was basically puttin it out there that if you talk about something good (aka Jesus) and what's on your heart, you won't get no radio play.

So, Chris, maybe you can shed some light on the topic of PAYOLA. We're all dying to hear more about how the industry is being run from the top down-not from the streets anymore. Who is the "THEY" who is telling "US" what WE want?

If you talk about sellin rocks to yo' people, drive bys heyyyyyyyyy, doors open, red carpets roll out. This is nothing new. Look how long it took for the carpet to roll out for NWA members though, it wasn't overnight and Eazy died of Aids before he got the chance to see how big Cube and Dre blew up and created empires. Now he would really trip if he saw a 50, Ja Rule whoever at the top of the game talking about the same stuff he was talking about in the 80's.

It's sad that brothas are dying over this ignorance/violence. It's also sad that we can address of all the issues surrounding the bravado and violence against each other, and still never even get to how it's OK for these industry people to degrade women like crazy.

It's one thing for Too Short to be talking about pimpin hoes and slangin his tapes out of his trunk, it's another thing when everywhere you turn folks are being subsidized by the big labels to basically make soft porn. Now ask yourself "Who's the Mack"? MTV?

Shout out to Chris Lighty for doing this blog. I'm a newcomer to this blog, but I can already see I'm going to enjoy the discussions because folks are bringing real issues to the table and giving honest feedback.   I think Sam (Georgia Music Brokers), Sair, and Critical Observer make good points about what's going on in hiphop. WE, as a people and a hiphop community, have to stop looking around and passing the blame everytime something goes wrong. We all know the media are masters at painting slanted portraits of our community, but we have to stop providing them the tainted canvas to tarnish what so many people have worked hard to create.  

You can't blame the media for the continued senseless killings...that's our people getting shot and doing the shooting. Let's face it...guns and violence are glorified in hiphop and throughout our society in general. Some of today's top selling hiphop artists (Violator artists included) brag about toting guns, the people they shot, and how many times they've been shot. You know we have problems as a people when it's cool or somehow fashionable to get shot? I don't know about you, but I see nothing positive about getting shot unless you live to tell about it and promote the end to gun violence.

Now this is where the business takes over because now it's like a marketing and promotions gem when an artist can say they got shot. It's like a street cred membership card or something. Ask anyone who has lost someone to gun violence how cool it is to get shot? Violence is that black cloud that lurks at hiphop events just waiting for that spark of irresponsible action from someone to trigger a problem.  

I wasn't at the Busta video shoot, so I don't even want to speculate on the particulars. I do know that it is ridiculous to have to tell a mother, father, wife, husband, son, daughter, or friend that a loved one has been killed on the set of a music video. That's deep...and that's painful.   My condolences to the Ramirez family.   I'm looking forward to the discussions on this blog and again props to Mr. Lighty for taking the bold step to provide this platform. We can do better fam...this is not what our ancestors had in mind for our greatness. Peace.

I agree with the the poster who ask the question when did lil Wayne find the time to become Nino Brown, and why Happy go lucky busta now follow the trend of talking about distributing coke? I'm 28 so I've witnessed the golden days of the 80's with krs 1, rakim, ll cool j, epmd, etc.. that was the most creative times everyone was trying to be different, now everyone playing follow the leader. I hate to say that I am ashamed of our music now a days, its nothing to be proud of, its hard to defend. for example when me and my coworker go to lunch i have to turn the radio on b/c the mixtapes and cds are just unbearable (kill, kill, n****, n****,b this,b that), its like we are so destructive of our own community its sickning. I remember when it use to be art imitates life, now its life imitates art. what happened to de la soul, tcq, and other groups that balanced out our sound? now if your not talking about killing, drug dealing your considered as being wack or your not making "Real hip hop". and now we have this dumb stop sniching campaign thats really killing our community, do these ppl realise thats one of the reason you pay taxes? for the police to do their job and we suppose to hold them accountable to do so. last thought people please think about what our fore fathers in the civil rights movement went through so we'll have the rights and freedoms they didnt have, what would martin and malcolm really say if they saw how we are ruining everything the sacrificed for us. these entertaners have way more power and leverage than our past leaders and they are leading us right to self destruction.

I agree with all POINTS made.This is a good start to Unite the Black Culture. When we discuss our concerns in an honest fashion, we are able to begin to heal. The Problem LIES within US, with more discussions, to stop the VIOLENCE in our GENRE. Have we forget BDP's "Self Destruction".

Lets do what we must to show the WORLD that we are capable of GOVERNING ourselves, because if the world does so, we will lose OUR ART Forever.....

PrinceBorn......

I fully agree with the last! IT LIES WITH IN US, by Prince Born. I live in Holland, and believe me you can,t compare the music industry in Holland with America. But I love to be interested with black communites from all over, and music is my passion.
Sometimes the videos are to much, it gives a lot of younger people a wrong Idea, because they dont know better. And its up to us to teach them.

Monique Mijnals

You Gotcha real nice blog