Hip-Hop Summit Action Network pulls out of Source Magazine Rally
Thursday, October 7, 2004 at 02:01PM
TheSpook
Russell Simmons, who
as founder of Def Jam Records is one of the leading figures in hip-hop,
announced Wednesday that he and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network would
not participate in a Source-sponsored youth rally scheduled for
Saturday at the Miami Arena. ''Although I applaud the efforts of The
Source magazine and am looking forward to working with them in the
future to promote these goals, I will not participate in this rally
unless I can create dialogue between all the members of hip-hop,''
Simmons said in a statement. Simmons' release followed one from The
Source stating that he, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton, Ja Rule,
Ludacris and Fat Joe would participate in the Hip-Hop Voter Education
Rally, at 1 p.m. Saturday. ''We invited, and expected him to
participate in the largest annual hip-hop weekend of the year, and he
bailed from the event because he is afraid of the authenticity and
influence of The Source,'' Source co-owners Dave Mays and Ray Benzino
said in a statement late Wednesday. [more ]