New York's Power 105 Cracks Down On Hip-Hop Lyrics

WWPR (105.1 FM), one of two New York City radio stations that feature hip-hop music, said yesterday morning it's going to stop playing songs with degrading images. "The station won't sound that different, because we weren't playing a lot of that anyway," said program director Helen Little. "What we're doing is holding labels and artists accountable for what they say and how they say it. "We want our listeners to know that whatever they hear here, we thought about it." Little went on the air yesterday morning with Ed Lover, Egypt and Donnell Rawlins, music director Nadine Santos and guests who included activists Kevin Powell and the Rev. Al Sharpton. This "town meeting" was designed to involve listeners in a discussion of content issues surrounding hip hop and radio. The discussion came as some critics, including Sharpton, who pushed for last week's firing of WFAN's Imus, vowed to turn their attention to negative images and lyrics in hip-hop music. Lover and Little said, however, that Power had been having this discussion for some time, and Santos, among others, cautioned against linking Imus' comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team with hip hop. "Let's not get it twisted," she said. "This isn't what hip hop is about. What Imus said has nothing to do with hip hop." There was also discussion over whether some listeners want more graphic lyrics. Little said they may, and that's fine. "We're not saying you can't make this music," she said. "Just we won't play it. "Our intention is to encourage people not to talk this way anymore." SOURCE: HTML Code: www.nydailynews.com