Celebs Get Serious


Kanye West: Following Hurricane Katrina the country watched an entire city fill with water while the government did nothing. As each day passed one question needed to be asked: “Where is the help?” Kanye West asked it and he asked it loud. Realizing that those in Washington D.C. needed to be held accountable for leaving the citizens of New Orleans stranded, West decided to use the nationally broadcasted Hurricane Katrina Relief telethon to voice his opinion. Standing next to  Mike Meyers, as they hosted a segment of the telethon, West veered away from the script and vented his frustration with the governmental response to Katrina. Myers continued to read from the teleprompter, and before the segment finished West delivered one final line before the cameras cut away. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Following the telethon West endured criticism from many different media outlets for the forum he used to voice his opinion. Even members in the Hiphop community questioned his motives such as Master P, due to his album Late Registration being released just days earlier. Above all, the fact still remained that Kanye West’s comments sparked the mass criticism the entertainment industry would express towards the government, and that there response was by no means acceptable. 

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Mos Def: Many artists involved themselves in relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, but very few ever elevated from financial contributor to political activist willing to place their ideologies into the public eye. Mos Def realized that the contribution ofmoney would only temporarily heal the wounds Katrina left behind, and without more individual effort the country would soon forget the injustice that took place in New Orleans. Using music as the tool to raiseawareness, Mos Def expressed his feelings on “Katrina Klap.” While rapping over Juvenile’s “Noila Clap”, the song served as a tribute to those still suffering in the Gulf and discussed the lack of Government response. Day’s after Hurricane Katrina struck Mos Def performed the song outside of MTV’s VideoMusic awards, with no affiliation to the event. During the performance he was arrested, but through his efforts he has set an example for the Hiphop generation to follow… “Don’t Talk About It. Be About It.”