The possibility of UNC hosting a free Snoop Dogg concert has been a subject of intense debate around campus. People have raised objections about the concert ranging from the artist’s lyrical content to the policies surrounding the show. Snoop Dogg is certainly a controversial figure, but he is being misrepresented.
Most pertinent to the me as an athlete and sports columnist is the fact that Snoop Dogg founded a charitable youth football league aimed at inner city kids.
The program in fact is growing, and has recently decided to expand to Chicago.
He’s doing other charity work as well. He is currently in the process of raising money for victims of the crisis in Japan.
One of my fellow columnists, Matthew Moran, argues that Snoop Dogg’s offensive messages seem out of place considering our progressive community.
But since when has barring those with alternative opinions and messages (particularly in the field of art) from expression been a pillar of a progressive society?
If judging the appropriateness of a musician is at all relative, Snoop Dogg fans are in good shape. Sean Kingston, who performed in concert on UNC’s campus last spring, referenced being suicidal in his song “Beautiful Girls.”
Controversial lyrics did not hinder the esteemed University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution, from hosting rapper Ludacris in concert in 2008. The opening line from Ludacris’ best-selling CD “Word of Mouf” is: “The royal penis is clean, your highness.”
Clearly, the University of Pennsylvania community is full of backward misogynists.
