�ś W E L O V E H I P H O P, B U T D O E S H I P H O P L O V E U S ? ”

ality. But BET, owned by the media conglomerate Viacom, defended

its right to air the program. �śUncut has developed an almost cult-like following because of the freedom of artists to express themselves,”

spokesperson Michael Lewellen said. �śIt is specifically for adults.

These are music videos whose content is too strong for our day parts.

We exercise more scrutiny than is required.” Uncut was scheduled right before the religious program Success N Life with Robert Tilton.

Many familiar with the late-night lineup joked that after being im-

mersed in Uncut’s sex-soaked videos, viewers needed a little religion.

Filled with images of women simulating sex with each other,

dancing in the nude, and pictured in one degrading pose after an-

other, the �śTip Drill” clip was quintessential soft-core porn. Just

when it seemed as though the song’s hook, which proclaimed a pref-

erence for the female’s ass rather than her face, said it all, the video managed to say much more. When one of the male characters in the

video swipes his credit card down the backside of one of the dancers, many viewers became incensed. �śTip Drill” was not the first video to

celebrate the hedonism popularized in the more �śthugged out” ex-

pressions of hip-hop masculinity. Still, its pornographic sensibilities touched a nerve.

In the Spring of 2004 the proverbial shit hit the fan when students

at Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta, mounted

a massive protest against �śTip Drill” specifically and the rampant

misogyny in hip hop more generally. In a scenario only fate could

create, it just so happened that Nelly’s 4Sho4Kids Foundation was

scheduled to hold a bone marrow drive on campus later that spring.

After learning that his sister suĆłered from leukemia, Nelly launched

the service organization to encourage more African Americans to

register as bone marrow donors. Many of the women on campus

faced a dilemma�"should they remain quiet about their disgust and

hold the drive or speak out and thus run the risk of a cancellation of the event.

�śNelly wants us to help his sister,” Sasha Jennings, president of the Student Government Association said, �śbut he’s degrading hundreds

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