Hip-hop, rhymes with flip-flop

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on May 1st, 2007

From the NYT Magazine interview:

NYT: Why don’t you try dating, say, a professor the next time around?

Simmons: A professor? I can barely read.

NYT: Are you dyslexic?

Simmons: No. I can read. But I can’t understand anything.

The hip-hop mogul, who sold his interest in the record biz, but now makes baby clothes, seems to have reversed his stand on the banning of certain words. Earlier in the interview, when asked what he thinks of those who call for a reform of rap lyrics, he replies, “What we need to reform is the conditions that create these lyrics.”

April 13, “our job is not to silence or censor that expression.”

April 23, “We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words ‘bitch’ and ‘ho’ and the racially offensive word ‘nigger.'”

April 29, Simmons says that we need only reform the conditions that create these lyrics.

We think he might be right about that reading thing. He seems to be unable to read even his own words.

More from the NYT interview:

NYT: You’re known for dating models. What do they offer besides flawless skin?

Simomons: They’re better than actresses. Actresses are kind of a little crazy.

And, on the previous question, he said that his wife, from whom he is separated, “works upstairs,” (?!) and that people think “it’s inspiring the way we handle our partnership.”

My ex works upstairs, while I bang an endless string of models! Inspiring indeed!