The Secret Meeting that Changed Rap Music and Destroyed a Generation
Hip Hop is Read - Interesting story from someone who claims to have been party to a 1991 meeting in which the private prison industry enjoined leaders in the music business to support gangster rap. Why? To put more people in prison. Can't speak for its authenticity, and the author sent it anonymously.
Quickly after the meeting began, one of my industry colleagues (who shall remain nameless like everyone else) thanked us for attending. He then gave the floor to a man who only introduced himself by first name and gave no further details about his personal background. I think he was the owner of the residence but it was never confirmed. He briefly praised all of us for the success we had achieved in our industry and congratulated us for being selected as part of this small group of “decision makers”. At this point I begin to feel slightly uncomfortable at the strangeness of this gathering. The subject quickly changed as the speaker went on to tell us that the respective companies we represented had invested in a very profitable industry which could become even more rewarding with our active involvement. He explained that the companies we work for had invested millions into the building of privately owned prisons and that our positions of influence in the music industry would actually impact the profitability of these investments. I remember many of us in the group immediately looking at each other in confusion. At the time, I didn’t know what a private prison was but I wasn't the only one. Sure enough, someone asked what these prisons were and what any of this had to do with us. We were told that these prisons were built by privately owned companies who received funding from the government based on the number of inmates. The more inmates, the more money the government would pay these prisons. It was also made clear to us that since these prisons are privately owned, as they become publicly traded, we’d be able to buy shares. Most of us were taken back by this. Again, a couple of people asked what this had to do with us. At this point, my industry colleague who had first opened the meeting took the floor again and answered our questions. He told us that since our employers had become silent investors in this prison business, it was now in their interest to make sure that these prisons remained filled. Our job would be to help make this happen by marketing music which promotes criminal behavior, rap being the music of choice.
Oh brother...
I don't know if this "music" contributed to the situation or not, but I can assure you that the "drug war" and the rest of the war on people/individual liberty is the main cause.
When some people are given power over other people, tyranny is the inevitable result.
And that happened way back when "music" was a drum and a bunch of guys chanting. :) The prison industrial complex is just a modern refinement.
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