Editor,
I'd like to thank Jeffrey Bullard for his letter in Monday's Daily Lobo about the March 9 "Street Beat," my show on KUNM radio. I take all comments to heart and evaluate them accordingly. As for suggesting I may be addicted to cocaine, that is a comedic but uninformed comment on my own lifestyle. I would ask Bullard to please consider the people he is offending with such comments.
Most broadcasts by the infamous Rush Limbaugh bring about the same tireless discussion about how much freedom of the press is too much. KUNM requires all broadcasters on air between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to play a station disclaimer: "Portions of the
following program may be offensive to some members of your family ..." In reading the quotes Bullard listed from cuts I played during those "safe harbor" hours, it seems a portion of the material offended several classes of individuals, including white men.
In addition to those lyrics, there were several cuts discussing the despicable situation in Iraq, the misery of gang violence and the love of music as a way to escape our harsh reality. I am not sympathetic to every lyric in every song that I broadcast throughout the night; however, I must show the diversity in hip-hop. Not every hip-hop artist wants to offend a class of people, but some strive to offend all classes. Some want to offend simply for the fact that the First Amendment allows them to do so. Others have true hatred in their hearts. At times, I am
offended by my own selection, but isn't that the point?
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As a tool of freedom, language defines every generation respectively. Musicians and songwriters are masterful linguists and can cause great insecurity about one's own being by the use of a song. The list of artists killed for their offensive lyrics is overwhelming. At other times, those same artists may help people define themselves and take pride in their differences, whether those differences are race, gender or sexual orientation.
In the case of Bullard, the words of those artists opened a mental door within him that commanded him to proclaim his own identity to the community, with pure enthusiasm and humor. I was slightly offended, but I understand.
Joseph Sullivan (DJ Kayote)
KUNM DJ
