Bishop Joe Simon

Joe Simon, former 70’s R&B artist and Grammy award winner, is now a minister and believes all things hip-hop is derogatory and destructive to the urban community. Ironically, the Bishop’s strong stance against “negative” rap music  comes  shortly after filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against 50 Cent. G-Unit, and all parties involved in the making of “300 Shots”.  According to Eurweb.com, Bishop Simon claims that the song “300 Shots” sounds very similar and is the same music from his 1973 hit song “Theme from Cleopatra Jones”.  No word on when the lawsuit will go to trial or the amount he’s seeking in damages.

     From policitians to conscious rappers, everyone has an opinion about hip-hop’s negativity, its lyrics,  and its effect on the youth. Recently, Bishop Simon had this to say about hip-hop’s detriment to the youth and their communities:

 “Music is good and music is bad, but music is extremely bad and destructive when music is not used in a positive way. As a minister, I say to you, all of us should think about and imagine how our children feel when the family and the community lets them down.  To play and promote provocative degrading music that rapes the minds and the hearts of our children is morally corrupt. Using lyrics that call our children and grandchildren prostitutes, the ‘N’ word and the ‘B’ word is totally disrespectful, it is ugly, negative and it is out of order, I tell you, it is also very destructive to our youth, destructive to the family and destructive to the community. We as a family and a community are suffering from this constant contagious global enemy concerning this [so-called] ‘music’ conduct. Billions of dollars are being made through destroying our youth and our communities.”

“A city’s economy is only as good as its infrastructure, and its infrastructure is only as good as the character of the people. When our children listen to offensive, belligerent, poisonous music it is harmful and devastating to the character, the well-being and the future of our children. When you play and promote belittling, poisonous, derogatory music it negatively affects the thought process of our children in the community,on a local, national and international basis, and just because you can market and sell rude, ill-mannered destructive music, it does not mean that it is right. Music is a powerful force, and we must address this issue in order to help society.”

 

Do you agree with Bishop Simon’s opinion regarding hip-hop music???