Piece Description

Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons in an interview at the Hip Hop Summit Action Network in Kansas City - September 9, 2005. THIS IS JUST AN ACTUALITY, EDIT AS YOU LIKE: SIMMONS: But hip hop has lasted so long because it’s kept its roots – it comes from the poor people in this country. It’s an expression of their voices, and they need voice because they’re mostly locked out and not heard. So they need to have a Kanye West make a statement like he made the other day – just because they couldn’t get it out themselves. So when he says something that shakes up the system. It’s what the rappers are trying to say for the people. People want to say it, so then a rapper says it – so that’s why it’s so important. So that’s why it keeps re-affirming itself as such an important cultural phenomenon in this country.