Joshua Bursh said he used to have drug and alcohol problems, but he has never felt influenced by the messages of hip-hop music. Now he is the program manager and morning host of Max 94.1, a hip-hop station in Baton Rouge.
Students sat on the floor and lined the walls Thursday morning in Leonard Moore’s history of hip-hop class where Bursh, more commonly referred to as “Jtweezy,” DJ Big Cheeze and DJ Marquis debated with the students how the content of hip-hop music may have a negative influence on society.
The DJs said that despite their personal preferences and opinions of the music, they have to play what will keep their ratings high to maintain their employment.
“I’m looking for songs that can gain an audience,” Bursh said. “I admit that sometimes I don’t like the simplistic lyrical message of Southern rap, but I can’t deny that it makes my head bob.”
Several students said the music Bursh plays on his station such as “Bad Bitch” by local rap star Webbie and “I Smoke, I Drink” by Mr. Magic degrades women and promotes drug use and violence.
Many people in the class emphasized the power and influence music has over people.
“With power comes responsibility,” Moore said. “What comes over those airwaves is powerful.”
Bursh said he thinks people are smart enough to avoid being influenced by songs they hear on the radio.
“I just can’t believe that music makes people get high,” Bursh said. “I have to believe people are more intelligent than that.”
Bursh said it is unfair to credit hip-hop with “every ill of today’s society” because there are other equally negative images portrayed in other media outlets.
He said music before hip-hop such as rock ‘n’ roll by icons like Janis Joplin has gone uncriticized but has also glorified drug use.
“I’m careful to criticize someone like Jay-Z who might degrade women in his music because he might just be the next Marvin Gaye,” Bursh said. “We don’t see the evolution of it while it’s happening. It’s always after the fact.”
Bursh said jazz artists such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane were music legends who were never criticized for their heroine addictions, but a student argued that Davis’ and Coltrane’s music never encouraged people to emulate their personal behaviors, unlike today’s hip-hop artists.
Bursh responded that actions speak louder than words, and while hip-hop artists may have negative messages, many of them are active in community service.
He also said his own radio station participates in philanthropy through book donations and raising money for treating alcohol and drug abuse.
Some students urged Bursh to play gangster-rap alternatives such as Talib Kweli and The Roots.
The DJs said they play music that the majority wants to hear.
“It’s straight business. If my numbers start to drop, I’m fired,” DJ Marquis said. “I’m trying to throw something positive out there, but the community doesn’t respond.”
Bursh said artists who avoid derogatory content, such as Erika Badu and Lauren Hill, have fallen off the charts.
“The industry is bigger than you and I. The consumer has to change things,” Bursh said. “Don’t get mad at the artist; get mad at yourselves for buying it.”
A student told Bursh he is culpable because he is a distributor of the music that is reaching many young children who are easily influenced.
“If a 14-, 15-, 16-year-old with a drug and alcohol problem is listening on the radio to ‘I drink, I smoke,’ he’s going to think that’s OK,” he said. “It falls a little on your shoulders if your sole motivation is money because you’re always going to go with the flow.”
Moore told Bursh his radio station has the power to change public opinion, but Bursh said most people aren’t listening to their music for education, only entertainment.
“Why are hip-hop artists responsible for being our moral guardians?” Bursh asked.
He said family, friends and teachers need to be held more accountable for moral decisions.
Louis Harrison, kinesiology associate professor, responded that there are children who come from troubled upbringings who lack parental protection from the negative messages in music.
“Those of us who have influence should use our influence for good,” Harrison said.
After the debate, Bursh said that while he was impressed with the artists who students expressed an interest in, he questioned whether their concerns were motivated by their professor’s beliefs.
“In the end, people listen to music for many different reasons,” Bursh said. “And at its basic core, people listen to music for entertainment.”
DJ Big Cheeze said the discussion may lead to a change over time in the music played on his radio station.
“We found out that the age group we’re targeting are more conscious and intelligent than we’ve given them credit for,” DJ Big Cheeze said. “But it will be a gradual thing.”
 
 
Contact Rebekah Allen at [email protected]