At some stage a few years ago Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons decided the race battle was his to fight. Starting the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and in 2004 defending anti-semetic critisms of the HSAN and his support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, it’s always seemed a little trite.

I don’t know what happened, but after 30 years of “bitch”, “ho” and “nigger” on the label, he finally wants to take a stand. Simmons wants said epithets banned from clean versions of all songs.

“We recommend (they’re) always out. This is a first step. It’s a clear message and a consistency that we want the industry to accept for more corporate social responsibility.”

I already thought censorship on radio-friendly tunes was a bit much with random words like ‘knock’, ‘wreck’ and ‘hitting’ being cut.

Russell should maybe attempt changes in lyrical content and the direction of mainstream hiphop instead of just promoting censorship.

Joan Morgan, author of “When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down, said, “It’s says let’s take the responsibility away from people creating the content and put it back on the corporations.”