Sepia Mutiny Tipsters have been buzzing all week about another racist, ignorant and insensitive incident from the hip-hop airwaves. In this case, Radio Jockey’s (RJ’s) from The Miss Jones in the Morning Show, on New Yorks popular Hip Hop Station, Hot 97, recorded and played on air, the “Tsunami Song,” seriously mocking the hundreds of thousands of those who perished in the devastating tsunami this past December. Miss Info, an Asian-American co-host of the show did not participate, because, duh, she found the song to be extremely offensive. If you click here, you can here a verbal spat (that might give some insight into the intentions of the hosts that did participate) that Miss Info had with Miss Jones over the airing of the highly racist and insensitive song.
If you thought the Star and Buc Wild dialogue was offensive, you might want to skip the next paragraph. From the clip, it seems that the two other co-hosts Miss Jones, and Todd Lynn, recorded the song, with some of the lyrics as follows
..All at once you could hear the screaming ch*nks and no one was safe from the wave there were africans drowning, little chinamen swept away you could hear god laughing, “swim you b*tches swim” So now you’re screwed, it’s the Tsunami you better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head and now the children will be sold to child slavery…
If you listen to the clip above you hear Miss Jones and co-host Todd Lynn launching into an abusive tirade against Miss Info for isolating herself and not participating. When Info voices her objection to the clip, Miss Jones tells Info she’s only complaining because “you feel superior, probably because you’re Asian.” Then, at minute 3:37 on the mp3 file, you hear Todd Lynn say, “I’m gonna start shooting Asians.”
Is there any humor in that?
Thus far outrage against the station and the show is muted, although there has been some press, and even a Hot 97/Miss Jones diss track by Asian MC Jin. To me, any reaction other than the firing of Miss Jones and Todd Lynn, is muted. Hot 97 issued a weak apology here, and according to the statement, Miss Jones in the Morning, along with her entire staff, have agreed to contribute one week’s pay to Tsunami Relief efforts.
To stay updated and to find out what you can do, go to hiphopmusic.com, where there is a list of emails for the show, the hosts, and advertisers. And as always, don’t forget to include th FCC on your email list.
Some addresses for Hot 97’s parent company, Emmis Broadcasting are below. The first is their head honcho Jeff Smulyan:
hiphopmusic.com suggests you not use the word “tsunami” in your email as it will probably get filtered jsmulyan@emmis.com ir@emmis.com rcummings@emmis.com jsteele@emmis.com khealey@emmis.com
Don’t forget to ask Hot 97 and its advertisers, how dare you compare a life to a weeks pay?
Links to radio clips taken from 3030radio.com where there is a screen shot of the Hot 97 website featuring the now-removed tsunami song link. Click here for a story on this from the New York Post, here for the asiansinmediawatch website, and here for the story from the Billboard radio monitor. The asiansinmedia website has a form letter/email that you can send.
Sajit,
Is’nt there some FCC regulation governing communications decency?
I’m not sure, but it may be more impactful to use the formal channel
check out my wireless provider’s bullshit response to this blogger’s letter:
“STATEMENT FROM SPRINT
Sprint does NOT have any connection to the Tsunami Song aired on Hot 97 FM.
Sprint strongly objects to any communication or other effort making light of the devastation of the tsunami disaster. The content of the “Tsunami song” clearly runs contrary to Sprint’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and is not in any way supported or condoned by Sprint.
*Sprint has purchased advertising time on Hot 97 but was incorrectly identified as a sponsor of the segment of the show in which the song was referenced. In any case, Sprint was unaware and had no connection to the content of the “Tsunami Song.”
*Sprint has expressed our strong concern about this content to the radio station. The station has issued a public apology and appears to have disciplined the responsible parties. Sprint continually evaluates acceptable content against our own guidelines and we will continue to monitor the process with all outlets in which we advertise.”
:+:
just imagine if every asian customer threatened to leave sprint…a girl can dream, can’t she?
p.s. speaking of ads from the morning show– jackson hewitt was the only advertiser that had the balls to stand up and do the right thing.
I wonder if the writers of the “We Are The World” song have any legal rights to keep their music from being used in such an offensive way, or if this falls under ‘parody’ legislation.
CNN has picked up on this too…
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/26/quake.slur.reut/index.html
Statement from WQHT-FM, HOT 97
New York City – Miss Jones and the HOT 97 Morning team have been indefinitely suspended for the airing of a song that made light of a catastrophic event, as well as comments made at the time the song was aired.
Earlier this week, Miss Jones said on the air “I apologize to all who have been offended by my poor decision to go along with playing that insulting (to say the least) Tsunami song. I should have known better and I didn’t. So I’m sorry and hopefully we can move forward from this, or I can move forward from this being a better hostess, because I am better than that, and I know better than that — and you deserve better radio than that.”
While Miss Jones has apologized on the air, in the media and on the HOT 97 website, station management felt that stronger action was necessary to demonstrate the severity of the situation.
Emmis Radio and HOT 97 will not tolerate such derogatory and racially insensitive content. This incident in no way reflects the spirit of HOT 97. The station has a long-time and well-known reputation for community involvement and support.
Emmis Radio President Rick Cummings said, “What happened is morally and socially indefensible. All involved, myself included, are ashamed and deeply sorry. I know the members of the morning show are truly contrite. They know their actions here are inexcusable.” We would like to clarify that no company advertising on our station had any connection to the Tsunami Song and no company advertising on our station endorsed or sponsored the offensive material aired on the “Miss Jones in the Morning” show. We apologize for any misunderstanding that may have caused listeners to believe that anyone, other than the morning show staff, was responsible for the material that should not have been aired.
Translation: Please stop the boycott. It’s starting to hurt our revenues.
By the way, they didn’t “agree” to donate a week’s pay to tsunami relief, as the writeup says. A story by BET on this issue (look it up on Google News) claimed that the donation idea was done without the prior knowledge of the show’s staff – it was a PR stunt.
Wow, I’ve heard about a lot of obnoxious radio deejay stories, but these guys really crossed the line. It’s good they’ve been punished, and hopefully won’t be back on.
Heads have now started to roll. The wrong heads if you ask me.
People from all communities will be protesting against Hot 97 radio station in New York – they insulted the deaths of Sri Lankans among others who perished in the tsunami by airing a racist tsunami song. It has angered people around the world.
Join CAHM in protesting Hot 97 on Monday, Feb. 14 at 12 Noon in NYC
Black, Hispanic/Latino, White, Asian, Hip Hop, Students … Everyone!
Hold Hot 97 accountable for promoting hatred in our communities.
The Coalition Against Hate Media (CAHM) is organizing a protest rally of Hot 97 and EVERYONE IS INVITED — Come as an individual or part of a larger group. If you are coming as a group, please e-mail them at alerts@asianmediawatch.net This will help us anticipate the size of the protest crowd.
Bring posterboard signs denouncing hatred, racism, and the Hot 97 Tsunami Song. Signs must not be attached to wooden sticks. Use cardboard tubing or hold the signs.
The location of the protest is nearly final, and it will tentatively take place in front of Hot 97 Studios.
Who: Everyone What: CAHM Protest Rally Against Hot 97/Emmis Communications When: Monday, February 14 from 12 Noon to 1 p.m. Where: Hot 97 Studios 395 Hudson St. (between Clarkson St. & W. Houston St.) New York, New York
The announcement will be posted on the web at http://www.asianmediawatch.net To receive the announcement via e-mail, subscribe to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asianmediaalerts
In case of severe weather, call 914-882-1279 for the latest information
Newsday has just withdrawn all advertising from Hot 97 as a result of the wicked tsunami song.
Many companies have already pulled advertising from Hot 97 including McDonalds, Reebok, Sprint, and Toyota. We urge Newsday to also withdraw their ads.
Hot 97 radio, owned by Emmis Communications, demeaned and dehumanized millions of victims of the South Asian tsunami to the horror of appalled listeners. To the tunes of “We Are the World,” Hot 97 radio hosts sang lyrics containing racial epithets and profanity, and denigrated tsunami victims in the name of God.
Lyrics include “You can hear the screaming chks … little Chinamen swept away. You can hear ‘God laughing swim you b**es swim.'” To read more about this incident, listen to the song, or read the full lyrics, visit the website http://www.asianmediawatch.net/missjones/
The Coalition Against Hate Media (CAHM) was formed over two weeks ago to combat the hatred and intolerance promoted by Hot 97’s Tsunami Song, and to hold Hot 97 and parent company Emmis Communications accountable for their actions.
CAHM is a diverse coalition with representatives from different communities: Black, Hispanic/Latino, White, Asian, Hip Hop, student groups, etc. CAHM member organizations attended the January 28 protest rally at Hot 97 Studios, in support of the protest efforts led by City Council Member John C. Liu.
In response to public outcry, Hot 97 fired two staff members, suspended others, and pledged a donation to tsunami relief. However, Hot 97’s actions were done unilaterally and not in a spirit of mutual cooperation with the communities they so deeply scarred.
Senior executives from parent company Emmis Communications, not Hot 97, need to meet with community leaders including City Council Member John C. Liu and representatives of CAHM. Firings and suspensions are not enough. Hot 97 management can simply hire new hate producers and DJs. Hot 97 must change its culture of hate: one that condoned, produced, and repeatedly broadcast the Tsunami Song.
About CAHM The national Coalition Against Hate Media (CAHM) is a diverse coalition of over 40 national and community-based organizations that promotes diverse, fair, and balanced media representation. CAHM denounce messages of hate that discriminate against people based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or religious background.
if you really care, email the sponsors, advertisers, station, dj and parent company responsible for this racist b.s. below for your easy cutting and pasting are the current list…let them know how you feel AND spread this list so others can easily email them as well!!
this issue is worldwide!
peace
abarney@apple.com, asnow@sleepysmail.com, BoardofDirectors@Pepsi.com, dacker@sleepysmail.com, dowling@apple.com, fcook@apple.com, hot97@hot97.com, ir@emmis.com, jdimick@hot97.emmis.com, jsmulyan@emmis.com, jsteele@emmis.com, jwright@emmis.com, khealey@emmis.com, lancome@us.loreal.com, missjones@missjones.net, ppinsker@wwortv.com, programming@wwortv.com, rcummings@emmis.com, rhornaday@emmis.com, service@sleepys.com, shop@lancome-usa.com, Timothy_Tyler@lordandtaylor.com, wilder@apple.com
its just getting started!
Hey, good point and when an Act-of-God hits your trailer-park, I’ll make sure to stop spanking the monkey so I can give you a hand.
“… Mudslides in CA? Any foreign aid. NOPE!…”
Hey, pi$$ed off american, you’re right–I’m going to send more money to fund public education so you can learn the difference between 11 dead in CA vs. 150K+ dead in South/east Asia.
[Please note that both Hardginer and Ballbeer’s comments immediately preceeding this one are responding to a racist message left by “pi$$ed off American”, that has been deleted by the Administrator]
Hi,
I just came across a clip of the ‘Miss Jones’ show on the Badmash website and chased a few links across Google looking for more info on the incident.
Hey, sarcasm and parody are popular in Oz…. but this was a really disgusting clip, without humour, without intelligence. And even more disgusting was the behaviour of ‘Miss Jones’…the song was rehearsed and premeditated, but it was her ‘spontaneous racism’ that frightened me.
She should have been fired for that kind of attack. It was so idiotic, and hateful.
Listening to this, you start to think that perhaps all the horrible things you hear about Americans are really true!
If that woman really must continue on radio, she ought to get some counselling. Not only does she have some destructive ideas, but she argues them really poorly as well. Not cool for someone in ‘communications’.
No hope of a hurricane song from the station, is there then?
Has Bob Geldoff made any comment about the use of the song either?