Hip-Hop Makes Bill O'Reilly Irrelevant

Bakari Akil II
February 16, 2003

Last year, popular FOX TV and radio host Bill O'Reilly went on a crusade attacking corporations who had Hip-hop artists endorsing their products. In one specific case he called upon his merry band of loyal followers to boycott Pepsi due to their association with a popular artist named Ludacris. He labeled the artist a thug and a danger to young people's minds because of his lyrics, which he cited as being offensive to women and full of drug references, profanity and violence.

After his initial call for a boycott, Pepsi was flooded with over 3000 calls the following day from angry customers threatening to stop using their products if they allowed Ludacris to remain as a spokesman for their corporation. In response, they quickly canceled their contract with the artist, sent out an apology to the American public and a precedent was set or rather enforced.

Bill O'Reilly had made his move and put the world of Hip-hop and Pepsi in check. However, not to be outdone, Hip-hop made a countermove and put Bill O'Reilly in checkmate. This week he admitted on his TV show that Pepsi rescinded its decision to distance themselves from Ludacris. Not only did Pepsi renew their association with the artist they also agreed to a multi-year, multimillion-dollar commitment to the Ludacris Foundation and "inner-city youth".

Regardless of African Americans feelings toward the lyrical content of these artists the underlying implications of O'Reilly's actions were easily apparent to astute members of the Hip-hop and greater African American community. Bill O'Reilly is following a long-standing tradition, in US culture, of attacking and persecuting successful, affluent and influential African American men. Whether or not the Hip-hop or the larger African American community agreed with Ludacris' politics the behavior by O'Reilly was recognizable and had to be stopped.

It must also be stated that this reversal by Pepsi did not occur because they were feeling sorry for their actions. It was a result of intense pressure the company received after their announcement. The response was immediate by journalists and columnists who felt that O'Reilly had overstepped his bounds. Hip-hop publications, Black media outlets and people who had a sense of fairness immediately exposed the event for what it was and called for countermeasures for O'Reilly's action. Ludacris remained silent but stated that he was diligently working toward taking care of the situation.

It was "Murder she wrote" when Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network stepped into the fray and notified the world that Pepsi would soon be facing a boycott especially after they created a commercial originally aired during the 2003 Super Bowl which featured the Osbournes. This is a family whose aberrant public behavior has become a national obsession and is broadcast almost daily on MTV. The show is laced with heavy profanity, underage alcohol usage, troubled teens and a dysfunctional family life, which is by no means a good example for children to pattern themselves after. The hypocrisy was apparent and Pepsi was called to task.

As Pepsi realized the amount of negative publicity they were receiving, the speed at which the news regarding the impending boycott reached the Black community and the possible loss of income they were likely to face from one of the most powerful ethnic groups in the US in terms of disposable income, they made the wisest decision and re-negotiated with Ludacris and his representatives.

The results obtained by the actions of journalists, Hip-hop media, the Hip-hop Summit Action Network, Russell Simmons and Ludacris demonstrated what activists and economists in the Black community have been shouting all along and that is the Black community has the economic resources and strategic and intellectual clout to make meaningful differences and power moves if they use their leverage and work together.

Overall, this event is larger than Ludacris and the irrelevant Bill O'Reilly. It proves to the Black community that they have a largely untapped power within themselves. Furthermore, the Hip-hop community has or will gain respect from other segments of the community as a force that can create change and make things happen. Finally, corporations and others nay-sayers have been put on notice that the Hip-hop and Black community cannot be pushed around or as Eddie Murphy's character in the movie Life stated,

'There will be consequences and repercussions."

Bakari Akil is an editor for GlobalBlackNews.com and can be reached at [email protected]