Baxter sees rap music as being co-opted by wealthy producers who care only about the bottom line. “You have these guys who are completely materialistic and capitalistic,” she says. “They are the worse of the worst.
” She mocks the wealthy elites of the rap music industry, like Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons. “Russell Simmons—he’s not really a rapper. If he had to rap at the drop of a hat, what would he rap about?
‘My mansion sprung a leak?’” “Would you rather the kids care about street life or go to prison…I know that I was intelligent enough that if someone rapped it down to me, I would have taken the advice.” She’s written articles criticizing both hip hop executives as well as more palatable black leaders, including celebrities like Bill Cosby.
(I like Bill Cosby as much as any other white person, but admit it: The Cos’ would probably not last too long in the joint.) In her efforts to get Thugs and Violence off the ground, she contacted many black organizations, such as the NAACP and 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. Of the 50 or so calls or emails she sent out, she received only two or three replies, and they were lame, excuse-making replies.
But she has not been deterred. “Our ancestors are angry,” she says. “Harriet Tubman said, ‘I could have freed a lot more slaves if they knew they were slaves.
’ If she knew that black men were shooting other black men in the street over bullshit…I’m sure she’s rolling over in her grave.” She continues to travel and lecture and perform her rap music and sell her books, which have sold well whenever she speaks. “Somebody’s got to do it, why not me?
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