In the wake of radio host Don Imus' firing over racially insensitive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, many activists in the black community have turned their attention to rap's misogynistic lyrics and begun to question what steps the music industry should take to police itself.

Now, Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, on behalf of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, have issued a recommendation that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily censor the "misogynistic" words "bitch and "ho" and the "racially offensive" word "n*gger" from future recordings.

"We recommend the formation of a music industry Coalition on Broadcast Standards, consisting of leading executives from music, radio and television industries," the HHSAN statement continues. "The Coalition would recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards within the industries. We also recommend that the recording industry establish artist mentoring programs and forums to stimulate effective dialogue between artists, hip-hop fans, industry leaders and others to promote better understanding and positive change."

Some rap artists believe the issue is being taken out of context. "I call women 'hos' in my music but that doesn't mean I'm trying to degrade someone. That's just the way we talk," female rapper Remy Ma tells Billboard.com. "I think 'Pac said it best: once you take the power away from the word, it doesn't mean the same thing."

So that takes care of the mainstream, commercial hip-hop. Super. What about the rest of the scene? What about local MCs, DJs and mix-tapes that constitute the foundation of the scene in the first place?

I think the main point of what Simmons is suggesting is to censor the stop the more impressonable people (the youth) would be hearing.

Imposing lyrical and visual standards for songs and vidoes is borderline wrong I think, but at the same time I'd love to not have to hear bitch, ho, and nigger tossed around every other word.

So is it cool to formally start citing 2pac as a dead expert on hos or what

Hey dickheads.

Russ is speaking about clean records. Records that are already censored. He's trying to make an official list of words that would be censored on records deemed "clean."

Get the fuck with it, peep the context. Russell Simmons is the shit.

Where in the hell does that article mention clean records? Also - the fact that he wants to impose visual standards is pretty shitty too.