All Your Favorite Rappers Met With President Obama About Criminal Justice Reform

[nightflight]

President Obama hosted some of hip-hop’s biggest stars for a meeting at the White House on Friday.

According to a White House official Nicki Minaj, Chance the Rapper, Alicia Keys, Wale, J. Cole, and Ludacris were among the stars who sat down with Obama and some of his top advisers to talk about criminal justice reform and the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. An official says the stars were singled out due to their work within communities to confront issues facing young people.

“Through their own nonprofit work or artistic commitment, many of these artists have found ways to engage on the issues of criminal justice reform and empowering disadvantaged young people across the country,” an official says.

http://time.com/4296265/dj-khaled-obama-white-house-criminal-justice-reform/

 

[seashale76]

http://time.com/4296265/dj-khaled-obama-white-house-criminal-justice-reform/

I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, I'm beyond glad to see their activism to help young people. Kids idolize them. I've seen it repeatedly. You would not believe how much impressionable kids tend to hold these folks in high esteem and attempt to emulate them. On the other hand, a good start with influencing the youth would be with the things some of them tend to glorify via lyrics and themes in their music (not all- of course- but some). Because, half the time, when kids think something is cool, it's because they've seen it glorified in a questionable song or video by one of these folks.

 

[MennoSota]

If Kurtis Blow wasn't there, I do not care.

 

[nightflight]

I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, I'm beyond glad to see their activism to help young people. Kids idolize them. I've seen it repeatedly. You would not believe how much impressionable kids tend to hold these folks in high esteem and attempt to emulate them. On the other hand, a good start with influencing the youth would be with the things some of them tend to glorify via lyrics and themes in their music (not all- of course- but some). Because, half the time, when kids think something is cool, it's because they've seen it glorified in a questionable song or video by one of these folks.

Back in the early nineties we had the Stop the Violence movement on MTV:

Just a couple of years later gangsta rap swept the nation.

 

[MehGuy]

I don't have any favorite rappers..