50 Cent on the Today Programme

My ears pricked up this week when I heard 50 Cent on the Today programme.

In between items about climate change and the justice system, the rapper was interviewed about a new business and self-help book he has published.

The unexpected inclusion of a popular rapper on Radio 4’s high-brow breakfast show reminded me of a similar instance when Dizzee Rascal appeared as a guest on Newsnight.

On that occasion, Jeremy Paxman was accused of being ‘patronising’ and ‘crass’ for asking, ‘Mr. Rascal, do feel yourself to be British?’ And Dizzee Rascal was criticised for fuelling negative stereotypes of black people through his poor grammar and unserious attitude.

Youth Culture

On the Today programme, however, the presenter Evan Davis proved to be far more in touch with youth culture than might be expected of a man who shares a studio with John Humphreys on a daily basis. He appeared as comfortable questioning the platinum-selling rapper as he would a Member of Parliament, and was able to refer to other rappers and 50 Cent’s career without appearing unnatural.

50 Cent was softly spoken and thoughtful. His ideas are probably not the most original –the principal being that you have to conquer your fears in order to succeed in business and life in general. Though the parallels he drew between business life and life on the street were interesting, if at times slightly uncomfortable.

At the beginning of the interview 50 Cent compared criminal bosses who murder to people in the corporate world who speak metaphorically about killing the competition.

If such comparisons made for slightly uncomfortable listening, references to 50 Cent’s own experience of violent crime were more problematic.

Face Slashed

At one point Davis referred to an incident from 50 Cent’s past, in which he slashed the face of rival’s assistant. In response, the rapper told Davis that if he had had the choice he would rather not have gone through such experiences, but did not express remorse for what he had done.

In September, the BBC was criticised for a programme in which the disgraced former Conservative MP Jonathan Aitken revisited the house in which he grew up. Criticism of the programme centred on the fact that it provided Aitken, who spent seven months in prison for perjury, a platform for restoring his public image.

If the BBC can be criticised for helping to rehabilitate a man who has committed perjury, surely it deserves greater criticism for helping to promote the work of a man who has committed serious violent crime –and who stops short of apologising for it. In the case of 50 Cent, he is already incredibly successful and does not need help to rebuild a career, though the respectability which the BBC provides could still be beneficial.

Puzzled

Aside from the ethics of broadcasting such an interview, I found myself puzzled by its inclusion on a programme like Today.

In spite of all that I have said, I found the item interesting and a welcomed break from the other hard news stories which made up the show. But I am sure that I belong to a small minority of Today listeners who knew anything about 50 Cent and his music.

If Today was trying to represent a more multicultural worldview and broaden the horizons of its middle-aged, middle class listenership, these are highly commendable objectives. But I fear that by choosing an interviewee such as 50 Cent, they maybe have been compounding, rather than combating, negative views which some of their listeners may have about minority groups.

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