With the bad rap that rap and Hip Hop have been getting as of late, DMC, one-third of the legendary group Run-DMC is ready to take a stand. In collaboration with the Jam Master Jay Foundation for Music and others sponsors, the J.A.M. Awards will take place Nov. 29 in New York City. The show will honor individuals within the Hip Hop community in the areas of social justice, the arts and music. Talib Kweli, dead prez, and De La Soul are among those scheduled to attend. DMC says the awards show is not about the music and will focus on the other elements of the culture. “It’s not about the videos. It’s not about the records. And it’s not about the celebrities, that are just byproducts of the hip-hop culture,” he said before adding, “(The) purpose of the J.A.M. Awards is to show that hip-hop didn’t just create rappers, it created journalists, writers, directors, designers. We’re putting the focus back on the positive creative influence of the culture, not just the music.”

In a surprising twist on the discourse of rap lyrics and their effects on society, one journalist is taking white fans to task. In an editorial titled “Offended? The Rap’s On Me” appearing on the Washington Post web site, Justin D. Ross (who is also white) questions why white fans–  who, according to the article, buy around 70 percent of the rap music sold– continue to support “the latest rap music that glorifies violence, peddles racist stereotypes and portrays women as little more than animals.” He goes on to wonder if the music would sound any different if a label were headed by the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The entire piece can be found by Clicking Here.

Prince is the latest artist to enter the battle against online piracy. He’s enlisted the help of Web Sheriff, a British company specializing in monitoring the web for piracy. Prince has also retained a top notch legal team to file law suits against companies such as Youtube and eBay for failing to protect his copyright on their sites, according to Web Sheriff President, John Giacobbi. “Prince initially hired Web Sheriff to patrol the Web for illegal uses of his material, and then to send “take-down notices” to sites when they found illegal usage,”Giacobbi said. “But sending written notices had little impact. In the past couple of weeks, we have removed about 2,000 infringing clips from YouTube. We get them down and the next day, there are 100 or 200 more. Their business model is built on making money off other people’s creative work.” If Prince‘s suit is successful, it could set a precedent that will allow other artists to file suit against companies like YouTube.