Is Hip Hop Sexist?

In light of the Don Imus controversy and Oprah Winfrey, BET and others weighing in on the subject of Hip Hop lyrics and videos as a result, I wanted to chime in with some observations of my own on the subject. I believe first and formost that the lyrics and images we're seeing now have actually existed for some time, it's just that they have become more overt. A Few years back Too Short, 2 Live Crew, Ict T, N.W.A and The Geto Boys were the artists who pushed the envelop in terms of explictness. Now it seems everyone's trying to see how far they can go. I believe the problem is not that we're being bombarded with these lyrics and images. It's that that's all the record labels are promoting. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a video where women of color are not objectified and lyrics that don't refer to them as just oversexed, money grubbing opportunists. I think with the recent attention given to the subject, everyone tried to connect the dots between Don Imus' remarks and Hip Hop. I firmly believe that they are two entirely different matters. Don Imus is in my opinion, a racist male chavenist who stated what he truly felt and remarkbly still had the wherewithall to know what to say to deflect attention from himself and his remarks. What's going on with Hip Hop now is a matter of those who run the industry taking responsibilty for marketing and promoting more that what they have thus far. No human being is one demensional so why continue promoting one demensional images of our men and women? Just a little food for thought.