I'm not a fan of, or detractor of the Hip Hop culture.  I can see both sides of the argument about Stern and the NBA.  What some people fail to realize in their "why aren't you marketing to me" mindset is that the baby boomer generation has a huge percentage of the money in america, and they are in their early 60s now.  That is why Stern has be molding the NBA's image to attract a more conservative, white collar crowd.  Because that's where the money is.  I expect to see some big changes over the next 10 years as the money inherits down to GenX.  Much more individuality and expression will be seen in the NBA.

I think Chris got a good point.  Maybe I'm a little cynical and I really think conspiracy theories have some truth to them, but isn't where the $ often times become a blatant attack against the visibility of Black culture?

i'm not calling anyone "racist" nor am I saying the NBA is racist, but hasn't the NBA worked extremely hard after the Ron Artest incident to make the NBA as "friendly" as possible (i.e. dress codes, music choices, NBA Cares campaigns, etc. etc.).  I'm totally for "community service" or "social services", but aren't these just great photo ops IF ANYTHING?  I mean really... does reading a story for a group of 5-7 years olds really make a difference?  It really is all about the $; i think Chris makes a good point.  But at some point, the representation of the NBA/Basketball should be seems a little deliberate.  

What are we arguing? If the NBA is racist? Who they should be marketing? Is Hip Hop Actual Music? Well yes the NBA is 10% racist 90% not. They should drop the NBA cares crap and market more towards a younger more hyphy crowd. And hip hop is awesome.

how do you quantify how racist someone/s is?  can you say someone is racist 10% of time?  just curious..

Although putting John Legend on at the past all-star game was nice, he's not exactly one to hype up the crowd solo at least or unless you're takin your girl to see him.  Legend is star quality, but c'mon...the dude, solo, is borderline KOIT (light rock, less talk for those outside the bay area).  I would think that just as your hitting 30s to your early 40s, you  don't all of a sudden throw your tastes out the window and start listening to simon and garfunkel, rolling stones, and weid sheryl crow remixes or music from a different generation altogether for that matter.  I'm rooting for the comeback of destiny's child to the NBA!

But not mainstream hip hop. The Nelly's, the 50 Cents', etc. they don't do anything for me. Too processed, too cookie cutter.

Can't Stop Won't Stop is a great book in that it illuminates the complexity of hip-hop's development and of its reception. Jeff Chang surely knows already that Nike's spending power has allowed it to single-handedly redirect the course of hip-hop...witness John Jay, in his interview with Chang, saying that they're paying artists to create raps about "flow" in order to tap an Asian hip-hop audience.

 So does Nike have an "authentic" hip-hop connection? Well, they've sent their marketing teams out to do the legwork, talking to kids in the Bronx, etc., etc., listening to the music, going to the street shows, all that, just like MTV does their street teams. So they've got all the latest slang exactly right, the gear, all down to the last detail. Then they package it all up to sell shoes to kids whose parents cannot really afford them at the triple-digit prices they command, backed with Nike's image-making power--they've got all the real-life themes down cold, the focus on the individual as a warrior in a cold world, dependent on his or her unbreakable will--oh, Nike understands how it is, they get it!-- so solidly that kids actually enforce the message with each other: own these shoes or else be second-class among your own peers. Be a scrub. Be a mark. Get punked. Get hurt.

Phil Knight is a marketing genius, but I continue to feel sick at Nike's cooptation of hip-hop themes, imagery, and figureheads in order to exploit hip-hop's original constituency: the Black and Brown residents of places like the South Bronx, East Palo Alto, West Oakland, South Central. I can't believe John Jay feels no irony in talking about "originality" and "evolving the culture." The bottom line is what it's always been, and he's one of the people directly responsible for keeping it that way, no matter how he sees his role in world culture and liberation struggles and whatever other grand schemes he imagines himself part of while extending Nike's chokehold on the imagination and wallets of youth.