New Yorkers could see a decrease of some hip-hop tunes on radio stations if a recent bill proposed by activists ultimately passes.
PIX 11 reports that longtime radio emcee Bob Law and Councilwoman Inez Barron went before city officials on Wednesday to submit a proposal that would reduce the playing of vulgar and offensive music between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., the hours they believe adolescents tune in the most.
"According to the [FCC] website airing indecent programming at any time is a violation of federal law," Barron said to the news outlet.
Law echoed his co-sponsor's remarks with comments of his own.
"The radio stations that market these kind of ideas refuse to play music by artists whose message is more life giving, so that you have to be a killer rapper in order to get into heavy rotation," the veteran DJ explained.
Spearheaded by the National Congress of Black Women, this bill is a part of the "Respect Us" campaign, which aims to encourage corporations like McDonald's and State Farm Insurance to reconsider advertising on hip-hop radio stations. The initiative launched in 2018 and also takes aim at stations that refuse to replace these arguably crude lyrics with appropriate anthems written by more appropriate artists.
By playing these songs, Law points out that these stations also endorse rhetoric that proposes violence against women, as several rap singles refer to ladies as "b***h" and "hoe."
"These stations program a consistent playlist laced with demeaning and degrading lyrics while constantly using the "N" word in order to make it clear that they are only referring to Black women," Law said in an October 2018 news release announcing the campaign.
Founded by politician Shirley Chisholm and Dr. C. Delores Tucker, the National Congress of Black Women is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to the educational, political, economic and cultural development of African American women and their families.