An open letter in response to Peter NoelsÕ article, "The Minster vs. the Mogul" which appeared in the Village Voice on April 25th, 2001
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0117/noel.shtml

Dear Russell:
Here is a new flash, as quiet as its been kept YOU ARE NOT HIP-HOP!
You didnÕt know? Many of us have this conversation about you and others in the industry like you every day. The industry who has pimped hip-hop culture so the chosen few of you can live in a MTV crib, wear Iceberg jeans, Phat Farm sweaters, and Sean John fur coats, much of which IÕm sure are made in sweatshops by Black and Brown children who earn an average of .75 cents a day and we can not forget about the ÔBling-BlingÕ diamonds that are mined by South African workers whoÕs life expectancy is

"Russell, as quiet as its been kept YOU ARE NOT HIP-HOP!"

You promote rappers not hip-hop, you must have forgotten or maybe you never knew, Hip-Hop culture is compromised of five elements:
The DJÕs
The LyricistÕs
The Graffiti artists
The Break-dancers
Knowledge

"Russell, as quiet as its been kept YOU ARE NOT HIP-HOP!"

So I read you are putting together a "Hip-Hop" summit which includes David Mays, publisher of The Source, a magazine that is 60% advertising, and much of the advertising totally denigrates Black and Latina women, and the Reverend Al Sharpton? Am I missing something, when did Rev. Al become hip-hop? Oh, I remember, it was when he went to Cuba and said he wanted to bring rappers to Cuba, but please lets not get it twisted hip-hop is part of youth culture and for over 6 years the International Youth Festival has its base rooted in Hip-Hop culture been in Cuba for. Well when you have this next Hip-Hop summit maybe it will actually include those in the Hip-Hop generation, youth, women and LatinoÕs and this time skip Harvard, come to Harlem.

Russell, you say rappers and hip-hop executives have closed ranks against Minister Conrad Muhammad, so what if they have? Hell "Hip-Hop" executives, those who wish to make a profit of our culture have closed ranks against the Hip-Hop generation. Where we all of you when the Hip-Hop community united over the issue of AIDS, APARTHIED, POLICE BRUTALITY, GUN VIOLENCE, and the BOMBING OF VIEQUES, PUERTO RICO? Yes, I remember where you were; you were having those fundraisers for Senator Hillary Clinton, Former President Bill Clinton, and having your summer Hampton partyÕs hob-knobbing with the likes of Donald Trump and Martha Stewart. How many fundraisers have you heard for the numerous of grassroots organizations? Let me name a few in case you donÕt know who they are:

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Youth Force, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Sista 2 Sista, El Puente Youth Academy, Prison Moratorium Project. All those organizations work around issues such as political prisoners, the Rockefeller Drug Laws, The Prison Industrial Complex, Police Brutality, Violence against women, the AIDS epidemic in our community etcÉ. Give me a call and I will help set up the meeting so you can meet them. Instead of hosting one of your many fundraisers for white elected officials, why donÕt you host a fundraiser or better yet attend one of the many events and mobilizations that these Black and Latino/a youth organize.

"Russell, as quiet as its been kept YOU ARE NOT HIP-HOP!"

THIS IS HIP-HOP