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Roman Morrow, who ran for alderman in the city, has worked tirelessly to get young people off of the streets and into after school programs and other activities in an attempt to stop the violence.  “I think [the violence is a result of] the lack thereof, when there’s a lack at the home, a lack of parenting,” Morrow tells Hip-Hop Wired. “[When] I was growing up we had a mother and a father at home and it was less mothers and fathers that was out there that was strung out on drugs. Drugs is the epidemic or the epitome or like a growing cancer in our neighborhood, it’s destroying black families.”

Morrow also wants the Hip-Hop community to take some responsibility for the role played in glorifying violence. Gone are the days of widely known empowering tracks like “Self-Destruction,” released in 1989. In Morrow’s view, the influx of the “thug era” changed Hip-Hop and it’s collective message. “When the thug era begins, and I hope people know exactly what I’m talking about, when you have that you basically look at, and I’m not saying all music is bad, I’m not saying all music, all Hip-Hop, is bad, but I strongly believe that artists should take a strong responsibility when it comes to their music.

“I’m not blaming it on Hip-Hop, but Hip-Hop plays a bigger role than ever before when these artists sit there and say, ‘Well they can turn it [the music] off’ how can you turn it off if you’re walking down the street and somebody’s blasting it, if radio stations are playing it day after day?  I really think Jay-Z is a hypocrite, and the reason why I’m saying it is you’re going to call women out of their names on albums, but as you soon as you give birth to a daughter you’re going to stop? It’s the same things that goes on and one. ”

A potential solution to the message in the music,  Morrow suggest is that producer Quincy Jones team with rappers to release collective song promoting peace, for each region of the country. “If some record producer like Quincy Jones can step up to the plate and create a thing called, a new version of ‘Self-Destruction,’ and also have one for the Midwest, and have one for the West Coast, so you have different versions of it, you can have the the ‘Self destruction, Stop the violence.’

“If old school artists can do it then why can’t Jay-Z, Kanye West , [or] Lil Wayne, why can’t they do the same thing?”

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