I wrote something serious and a bit long and lost the comment, duh.

But, yeah, I’m getting worried and I’m looking at Akon and radio bans and decency marches and things look difficult ahead.

All the “solutions” currently being put forth seem either tired, superficial or way over the top.

There’s a lot more at stake here than money and even if something reasonably positive emerges from what Ethan Brown describes as a form of moral panic, a lot of artists will be unfairly affected.

But nothing’s fair on this plane, eh?

One word. Superficial.

I don’t believe the morality referees, they need more people.

this some sad shit.

In any case, I’m on it now Rizoh. Thanks for the push.

^Always glad to put the pressure on.

>>the 25-year-old rapper

—-

Greatest rapper alive, imo.

For a country that does Carnival and Soca- this was stupid

Very interesting I want to know though how was Akon supposed to know homegirl was underage, maybe she had no business being there? Maybe sadly enough these things do happen?

surely she shouldn’t of been in there in the first place. alot of music concerts there is an age restriction…

Akon iz da shiiit

The fact of the matter is . .. Akon shouldn’t have been doing that shit in the first place whether the girl was 18 years old or 75 years old.

Rappers today have to remain professional, on stage and off stage, period.

It’s really not that hard, but some of these rhyme-spitters, just don’t get it.

Verizon Wireless dropping Akon is not going going to hurt their pockets. They can always look to other artists to sell ringtones and cell phones.

It’s not about their lyrics or artists saying “bitch, “ho” or “nigga” in their music, it’s about their professional behavior outside of the music.

Rappers cannot get arrested for DUI (Busta, Eve); banging a 14-year-old girl on stage (Akon); or get caught with an unlicensed, illegal firearm (Fabo).

Now some of these rappers will say, “Well, I’m keeping it real out here in the field. It is what it is.”

Well, you idiot rappers, you are keeping it dumb.

To corporate america — these are risky behaviors that they don’t want to be associated with. And to Verizon, it “Don’t Matter” how much ringers Akon sold for them.

They will take the lose to avoid the headaches. And I don’t blame them.

Rappers and music artists in general must understand that they are in the public eye and they must act accordingly.

All of these rappers are multi-millionaires, so there is no reason for all of this bullshit to enter in their lives.

I’m not going to justified these rappers behaviors and have pity on them when they lose an endorsement deal.

Tough shit Akon. Next time, act accordingly.

^^^
Word.

Trent, don’t mind me and my poor attempt at sarcasm.

My comment wasn’t directed at you Rizoh or anyone else. Rizoh you are doing a fine job and I love your sarcasms.

But I know that there are going to be other discussions on how this will affect hip-hop and business.

And my answer to all of that is zilch.

It’s not going to hurt Akon because he probably got some buyout money for all of his troubles, and Verizon will find somebody else to sell ringers. Case closed.

(Or until Akon gets arrested by Trindad authorities.)

I think the only affect it will have on hip-hop business is that rappers will understand that this is a business and as such you must be a professional. I read an article on T.I. — I think it was on MTV — and he said his focus right now is to drop his new album and get some of this endorsement money. But he also stressed that he is staying out of trouble because there are companies out there that want to partner with him. ($$$$$)

This only tells me that T.I. is not going to do anything to jepordize big-money deals. He’s going to act accordingly.

What’s does act accordingly mean? — it means not acting like a damn fool in public.

Make the music and make the paper.

Akon fucked up. Oh well. And guess what — his fuck-up also affected Gwen Stefani because Verizon stop funding her tour.

And that’s not cool. When you fuck up other people’s money flow, they are not going to like you too much. I betcha you won’t hear anymore Gweni-Akon collaborations.

Akon should chalk this up as a lesson learned. And make sure he educates T-Pain and those two R&B vixens, as well. I see T-Pain falling in the same trap. And that dude can’t sing worth a damn - so he better walk a straight line.

I done with ranting, I just wanted to make sure that I was clear on this topic.

Yeah, you’d think that these artists would take a cue from the Black Eyed Peas and the R&B singers (aka the safe artists) who do little to jeopardize endorsement deals. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time Jay-Z got arrested, and Jay has friends in the feds.

When did Akon become a rapper? He sings (not all that well). I haven’t heard him spit one line. And, as a singer, Akon’s no Seal.

But, he gets in trouble, he’s a rapper. It’s more grist for the “decency” mill…