I just heard about a club in Cincinnati has just canceled its Hip Hop Sunday nights due to an act of violence that took place early Monday morning. From what the article states, there was a fight in the club that, unfortunately, led to the tragic death of two young men. The owner had this to say about doing away with the hip hop Sunday nights: "It's the element of people who come down here on hip-night on Sunday. So, we're going to do away with it.”

Now I don't know about ya'll, but that had a different meaning than what was actually spoken. I will say this, I don't know what other problems, if any, the club has had with violence, especially on Sunday, but "the element of people" just doesn't sit right with me. To me, it sounds like he said that there were too many black people hanging around and this was a way to stop that issue, but maybe I'm reading too much into this. Either way, I don't want to make this a race issue, but more a the bad wrap that hip hop gets (which is of course still partially attributed to race).

Once again, I don't know what issues the club has had in the past with violence, but to blame hip hop for this very unfortunate situation is ridiculous. Why can't it be that a few people had an altercation that ended in great misfortune. I am very sympathetic to what happened and I send the deceased families' my condolences in their time of suffering, but I am just frustrated that hip hop is to blame for people having problems.

I want to know what song the club was playing when this took place. Was this a song that promoted violence? If so, why play it if you felt that there was a risk that something like this would happen; especially given the "element of the people." Or were they just playing a song that encouraged people to dance and nothing more, not indication violence in anyway? In this case, how was it the music that provoked such a heinous action?

Now, hip hop does have many flaws and its glorification (or what can be mistaken as glorification) of violence is an issue, so I am not taking away from that at all. We as the culture have to take responsibility for that. There have been A FEW hip hop events, concerts, etc. that, at times, have sparked feuds and acts of violence, but just because a crime was committed with a heavy bass line in the background doesn't mean that is what lead somebody to kill or do any other action. If Beyonce was playing when this happen, would her songs be banned from the club?

The fact of the matter is, this is a two way street. We have to stop killing each other, simply for moral reasons. The more that we do, all we do is prove those that criticize right. On the other hand, those that don't quite understand have to realize that you don't all of a sudden become a killer because a hip hop song is playing. If somebody is going to commit some sort of harm amongst another, they are going to do it, regardless of what music, movie, book, or anything else they have been expose to.

Unfortunately, I may be preaching to the choir, but how do ya'll feel about this? I think we all know that too often hip hop is unfairly blamed for certain events, but what about this? Is the ending of hip hop themed Sundays justifiable? Comment or email at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com. For the whole article on what took place, go to http://tinyurl.com/lpngbl.


Peace.