With Hollywood for years being a haven for the long-haired blond and brunette, it’s hard to be a sex symbol…
We’re only human and equally subject to the chronic brainwashing that inevitably instills varying degrees of bigotry. Racism, sexism, homophobia,…
Times are hard especially financially, however, my girlfriend does not seem to realize the whole world is undergoing something called…
It was proven best in the fashionable documentary The September Issue, that Fall is the New Year’s of fashion. Fashion…
Brilliance is defined as: having or showing great intelligence, talent, and quality. Well, if you’ve ever had the privilege of watching…
Once upon a time (i.e. this past spring), Spike Lee put Tyler Perry on blast:
“Each artist should be allowed to…
I remember way back when… Reminisce with me. Life was less complicated for a youngster. My Huffy Bike was valet’d in the driveway, Saturday morning cartoons were in heavy rotation, Puma wasn’t just an animal at the zoo…
Who can take out a housemaid with a single Smackberry? Who can rock community service hours in New York City’s…
It seems like every week a new skin care cream hits the shelf. Products for frown lines, laugh lines, crows…
Talent aside (ahem), there have been very few celebrities who warrant as much media coverage as Robyn Rihanna Fenty. Sure,…
You can kill the revolutionary, but you can’t kill the revolution. – Fred Hampton, Nov. 3, 1969
This week I came across…
The conflict in the Congo is a much overlooked atrocity that is claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of…
I remember when I was in high school. When it came to fitting in with all the different peer groups…
Have you ever come across a group of juveniles whose fundraising practices consist of canvassing commercial hubs, or expressway entry…
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Thursday said that it planned to launch a crackdown on rap music, complaining that the words used by rap artists were “obscene”, the state IRNA news agency reported. “There is nothing wrong with this type of music in itself,” the official for evaluation of music at the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, Mohammad Dashtgoli, was quoted as saying.
“But due to the use of obscene words by its singers this music has been categorised as illegal,” he said. “In coordination with the police, illegal studios producing this type of music will be sealed and the singers in this genre will be confronted,” he said.
Dashtgoli said a large number of illegal rap singers have been already identified. The Islamic republic’s hardline officials have repeatedly complained about a “cultural invasion” by “decadent” western music which they believe diminishes Islamic values. The culture ministry official expressed his frustration that rap artists were finding low-cost ways to publish their music on the Internet. “We should find a solution for this.”
Rap music has become increasingly popular amongst young urban males in Tehran, with explicit lyrics taking in social, political and sexual themes. Producing albums and holding concerts in Iran requires official permission from the culture ministry and, needless to say, rap music is an underground phenomenon in the Islamic republic.
Nevertheless, rap albums are widely available on the black market with artists drawing inspiration from the Persian-language rap of the Iranian diaspora based in Los Angeles. Iran is currently in the midst of its most severe moral crackdown in years, which has seen thousands of women warned for slack dressing, several bootleg music stores shut and “decadent” mixed-sex parties raided. Conservatives have applauded the crackdown as a bold move to promote virtue but some moderates have questioned the value of the drive at a time when Iran’s economic problems are hitting the poor hard.
Dig this sequel by way of Jay-Z’s former friend, Jaz O, as he puts DimeWars down with allegations that the Hova gets…
Lou Jing, a contestant on China’s version of “Idol,” is a recent victim of racial discrimination. The beautiful, gifted, Shanghai…
Are you 21+ with no relationship experience? Never been on a date or approached by a guy you actually like?…
She’s So Ambitious: Rhonesha Byng, Founder of HerAgenda.com
A girl with dreams that stack much higher than her petite 5-foot-2 inch frame,…
Our girl Ayah just dropped her new video for “In My Lifetime” off her latest album “4:15″. This woman is not the one to sleep on!