One sure way to deter misogyny in entertainment is to boycott its artists, producers and promoters.
Back in February, Carleton University’s Student Association helped organize a Rick Ross show. As usual, the student association sold tickets as part of its agreement with promoters.
Friday, the group reached an agreement with promoters and the Rick Ross concert scheduled for at Ontario’s Ernst and Young Centre on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 has been canceled.
The student association issued a statement on its uneasiness with supporting a Rick Ross concert on March 28. The group began selling back remaining tickets to concert promoters and assured the campus and community that the decision to bring Rick Ross to the Centre was made before his controversial guest appearance on a Rocko record was released.
When the student association pulled its total support for the Rick Ross concert, they agreed to reimburse anyone who purchased tickets from their organization.
Hip hop music, in certain places, is a three credit college course. American Studies PhDs, the nation’s newer set of cultural/political bloggers, have embraced, explained and virtually excused hip hop’s masculinity, fellatio, and its unrelenting sexism (ie. Male artists and their lyrics continue to define female beauty and behavior) far more often than it’s opposed it.
And that’s partly because hip hop music (more so than its lyrics) reaches demographics that transcend culture, education and income.
Despite the trend of academics to explain thus embrace and coddle current hip hop and its artists, the Rick Ross lyrics in the Rocko record went without defense. College campuses of all places can least afford to associate itself with rape. The ironic sadness in the entire situation is that Rick Ross doesn't appear to know better.
In addition to the cancelled concert prompted by Canadian college students, women’s groups, including the National Organization for Women, were outside Reebok’s flagship US store in NYC protesting Reebok sponsorship of Rick Ross, the rapper this past Friday.
It’s unfortunate that outrage at hip hop’s misogyny is limited to rape and date rape drugs. University students everywhere have come out against Rick Ross’s recent lyrics, but the Carleton University Student’s Association is the first to hit misogyny and sexism where it really hurts—the perpetrators' wallets.
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