Hip Hop Talk

A House Commerce subcommittee hearing on stereotypes and degrading images in the media became an opportunity for Rep Ed Markey (D-MA) to take a random swipe at BET, blasting the net for putting out “the lowest common denominator of cheap and tawdry music videos and other questionable programming.” Markey said he’s encouraged to see an article about some of BET’s new content, “but frankly, it has a long way to go to make up for much of its previous programming.” Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman highlighted BET’s 3-part series “Hip Hop vs America,” which provides a forum to debate some of the genre’s controversial content (debuted Tues, 9/25).