Geraldo Rivera: Talk Show Host, Rap Aficionado?

"Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years,” Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera said on HuffPost Live on Feb. 17, thus sparking controversy.

Now, I may have missed the memo on when Rivera became an aficionado on rap and hip hop culture, so if this is indeed the case, then I apologize to The Celebrity Apprentice loser for the contents of this story.

Assuming that Rivera has not changed his title from talk show host to hip-hop’s newest holy father, he has certainly crossed the line once again. In Rivera’s HuffPost Live interview, he basically goes on to challenge the audience to find a Harlem or South Bronx resident who has been successful in something other than rap music.

“When you find the youngster, a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem, who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of onetenth of one percent that make it in the music business, that’s been a success in life walking around with his pants around his [expletive] and with visible tattoos…” Rivera said.

Aside from being extremely offensive to South Bronx and Harlem residents, Rivera doesn’t address rap music but rather the fashion of rap artists. It makes me question if he’s actually judged a rapper on the content of their lyrics instead of their fashion choices.

Don’t get me wrong – I can see where an argument of Rivera’s nature might come from if you only listen to what’s on Top 40 radio. However, there are plenty of MC’s – Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar, Joey Basa$$, J. Cole, Nas, Common, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Tupac, just to mention a few -- that are known or have been known to talk about issues facing these black and brown people as well as many other political, social and cultural issues. In fact, there is a whole subgenre of rap that addresses these issues known as conscious rap.

Furthermore, let’s discuss a little about the history of rap, and no, I’m not talking about a Jimmy Fallon sketch. DJ Kool Herc has been credited with essentially creating the hip hop genre at a Bronx party in 1973. Shortly after, hip hop became more conscious.

“Hip hop signaled a profound shift at the beginning of the ‘70s, following the FBI’s suppression of late ‘60s radical black groups and the waning of gang wars,” a 2013 BBC article about the beginning of hip hop stated. “Rather than taking political action, a new generation expressed itself through DJing, MCing, b-boying/b-girling (breakdancing), and graffiti, the ‘four elements’ of hip hop.”

These themes are still apparent in today’s hip hop culture. For example, as a response to the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and all other black and brown women, men, girls and boys, rapper J. Cole gave a powerful performance on “Late Show with David Letterman” of his song, “Be Free.”

Similarly, Nas reflects on raising his daughter in today’s society in his song “Daughters,” Tupac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” praises women and openly discusses the injustices many women face, Joey Bada$$ talks about how he wants a better life for his future family in “HardKnock” and lastly, in Notorious B.I.G’s “Juicy,” Biggie tells of “stereotypes of a black male misunderstood.”

On that note, I completely disagree with the notion that hiphop, a genre of music that is meant as inspiration and empowerment to not only black and brown people, but to all people, has had a more negative influence than racism, the hate and intolerance of particular races.

In fact, I think there is something unfair about calling out hip hop as damaging to black and brown people. A common argument is that rap music glorifies taboo subjects such as sex, drugs, violence, etc. However, take a listen to almost any song on the radio, and these themes are represented. The same goes for the genres of pop and rock. So why does hip hop get so much slack? I think we all know the answer to that.

Following the controversy, Rivera released a statement on his blog further explaining his HuffPost Live comments.

“Wouldn’t Dr. King be horrified?” Rivera states in the last paragraph of his blog post. Sadly, Martin Luther King Jr. was not able to comment on how horrified he is of current hip hop culture as he was killed by convicted assassin James Earl Ray in 1968.