Oprah's taste in music

May 31, 2006 at 7:07 AM

Oprah’s taste in music is under fire from hip hop/rap singers. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060530/en_music_eo/19141)

Ludacris has complained about Oprah’s treatment of him when he appeared on her show last fall. "She edited out a lot of my comments while keeping her own in," he said. "Of course, it's her show, but we were doing a show on racial discrimination, and she gave me a hard time as a rapper when I came on there as an actor.”

The rapper 50 Cent said, "I think she caters to older white women. Oprah's audience is my audience's parents.”

Rapper Ice Cube is offended that Oprah has not invited him to appear on her show. “She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show,” he complained, “and if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?"

In response, Oprah made a surprise appearance on a New York hip-hop radio station earlier this month to talk to DJ Ed Lover about her reported lack of support for rap acts. “I listen to some hip-hop," she said. "You know, I've been accused of not liking hip-hop, and that's just not true. I got a little 50 on my iPod.”

I’m disappointed in Oprah’s response. In my view, it’s not about age or race. It’s about music. Some of my friends say, “I like all music except rap.” My response is, “I like all music. I don’t consider rap to be music.” I really think Oprah should invite Joshua Bell to be on her show.

Of course, I’m just an older white woman.