I hope thats propaganda crap and she didn't say that. She is an awesome singer (and is very hot...yes Mars!).
Record execs helped promote gangsta rap because they saw one color....Green! Anyone that thinks otherwise likely has a politically motivated misunderstanding.
Exactly!!!
While the origins of some problems in minority communities are quite debateable, rap & gangsta rap is not. Came directly from the people. Its disappointing that its become so acceptible for some to blame whites and the establishment for some of the poor judgement and trends in the minority communities that hurt themselves. Why feminist groups weren't more aggressive against the whole rap culture is beyond me...I can only guess, they feared some insensitivity rebuttle. Black Americians made some of the best music ever. As a musician, I am floored by the absolute talent & creativity of the jazz, blues and classic R&B musicians...all this great music to be usurped by rap? Shameful really.
There are a whole host of genres out there, but they must compete for distribution. Those who held the purse strings (record execs) dictated which artists got signed to labels, which records got cut, which songs were released and which were promoted.
I've had an inside peek at the record industry and how it works, ...and it's pretty mindboggling & eye-opening.
Now adays, with the advent of file sharing, YouTube etc., one doesn't need the labels as much. instead of begging them, labels are now begging artists, but a huge percentage of what is released is determined by those other than the artist.
btw - This is not a black or white issue. This is something experienced by ALL artists. There are some artists who HATED having to sing some of their songs, ...songs that made them millions infact. They hated
hated HATED those songs, ...but the labels demanded they sing it.