Ban ‘indecent’ hip-hop music on radio in the day – Bronx group pushes for law to protect children

Being one of the most widely listened to music genres globally, hip-hop is widely and heavily rotated on radio especially during peak times in the day.

However, in Bronx, New York, which is regarded as the birthplace of hip-hop, a Councilwoman and veteran radio host are pushing for the limited airplay of the music genre.

According to WPIX-TV, Councilwoman Inez Barron and Bob Law, on Wednesday, introduced a council resolution seeking to limit the rotation of explicit music on popular hip-hop stations from 6 am to 10 pm as children are more likely to be listening during that period.

“According to the [Federal Communications Commission] website airing indecent programming at any time is a violation of federal law,” Councilwoman Barron said.

“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,” Law also added.

The resolution is part of a campaign known as “Respect Us”. Launched by the National Congress of Black Women, the campaign aims at ending the airplay of music that objectifies women.

“The Respect Us Campaign is aimed at ending support for broadcasts from “urban” radio stations that feature music that demeans, denigrates and promotes violence against women, with Black women as the primary target,” the group explained in a Facebook post.

The Atlanta Black Star also reports that the initiative is supported by the National Black Leadership Alliance, who together with the National Congress of Black Women in 2018 released a joint statement calling for an “immediate end to the broadcasting of music that encourages violence against blacks in general, and black women in particular.”

“While recognizing sexual misconduct as deviant behavior is at the forefront of mass media, sexual misconduct and violence against Black women are being promoted and normalized on radio stations that target African American audiences,” the group said in the statement.

“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 also said in the statement.