From: Steve (scatanzaro4_at_cox.net)
Date: 2004-10-16 01:31:43
Actually, I got it from the Arizona Republic, which got it from Knight
Ridder. (Sorry for not citing the source.)
BUT, it is important to note that this wasn't just from the tabloid. His
comments were delivered at the New Yorker festival and confirmed by the
New Yorker spokeswoman.
Read the Rolling Stone article here;
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/6559895/krsone?pageid=rs.New
s&pageregion=double1&rnd=1097881943867&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.85
7
As for the "poor" being oppressed by BMG, Universal, and the radio
stations...
Yeah...
I wonder how many budding musicians/mc's dream of being oppressed by a
major label the way KRS-One was in the late 80's/90's...
And, did BMG or Clear Channel have offices in the towers? Kind of
reminds me of Michael Moore saying Al Qaeda brought down the wrong
buildings, as most of those people didn't vote for Bush...
Poor poor KRS-One... Poor Michael Moore...
(capitalism really sucks... ps that festival cost $20 to attend...
nice.... pps is he gonna give his VH-1 award back?)
A young lady asked about what we can do beyond voting
to change the political state of things in our
country? I responded not by irresponsibly stating that
"America has to commit suicide if the world is to be a
better place" and that's all. I am a poet and I speak
poetically. My full statement was "America has to
commit suicide if the world is to be a better place.
If you want to go beyond voting American interests
must put a gun to its head and commit suicide because
as long as we are only interested in American
interests we go out and invade the rest of the world.
The real question is are you a citizen of the United
States or are you a citizen of the world? And so for
me, I would say voting in a corrupt society adds more
corruption."
I was asked by the New Yorker magazine to discuss
"different and personal beliefs musicians hold and the
contribution artists like myself can make to the
nation's political dialog". My views were indeed
different and most were personal. However, when I was
asked about why Hiphop has not engaged the current
situation more (meaning 911) my responds was "because
it does not affect us, or at least we don't perceive
that it effects us, 911 happened to them". I went on
to say that "I am speaking for the culture now; I am
not speaking my personal opinion". I continued to say;
"911 effected them down the block; the rich, the
powerful those that are oppressing us as a culture.
Sony, RCA or BMG, Universal, the radio stations, Clear
Channel, Viacom with BET and MTV, those are our
oppressors those are the people that we're trying to
overcome in Hiphop everyday, this is a daily thing. We
cheered when 911 happened in New York and say that
proudly here. Because when we were down at the trade
center we were getting hit over the head by cops, told
that we can't come in this building, hustled down to
the train station because of the way we dressed and
talked, and so on, we were racially profiled. So, when
the planes hit the building we were like; mmmm
justice." And just as I began to say "now of course a
lot of our friends and family were lost there as well"
but I was interrupted.
My intent is never to demean or disrespect anyone's
loss or gain; and of course I did not literally "cheer
when 911 happened". I made an objective statement
about the feelings of those who were oppressed by
world trade policies. I was just as saddened as
everyone else on 911. However, for many of us that
were racially profiled and harassed by the World's
Trade Center's security and the police patrolling that
area as well as the thousands of American protesters
that spoke out against the World Trade Organization
months before in Seattle, Washington there was a sense
of justice, a sense of change, a wake up call watching
the twin towers fall.