Deportee, STAR Writer

Master P contributed

Clean hip-hop lyrics may be the Cinderella of the hip-hop world. Plant a seed of truth in the most urban of areas and you may have a change. Fighting for this change is none other than Master P, rapper, entrepreneur, businessman, marketer, the list of adjectives go on and on.

Master P has come a long way. The 'lil' southern boy from New Orleans, who is as well known and loved as apple pie, is one of the wealthiest rappers in the business.

"Hip hop is more than music, it has to do with the skills you have," he says.

Born Percy Robert Miller in 1969, he is what you can call a true product of hip hop.

Hip hop under attack

The musical genre is coming under attack. From the heady days of Run DMC, Biggy and Tupac, hip hop was the black man's poetry scribbled on wax. It was used to paint images of his graphic suffering and to portray his happiness.

Then came the East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry which spawned a new form of music called 'gangsta rap'. Dr Dre was the founding father of gangsta rap and Master P took it on even when Dre said it was dead. Now he has come full circle and is fighting for a change in the music.

Why the change?

"I want to save somebody's life. I was part of the problem. They (rappers) have to take individuals into context and also think about the future of our people. If I have to turn my music down, so as not to let my kids hear the lyrics, then something is wrong. I have to make a stance. I have to be a role model for my son (Romeo, now 17 who's at the University of South California)," he said

Cynics

Master P's latest album is entitled Hip Hop History and it has a father and son combination. It contains some good tracks and Master P points out that this is what music should be about. He joins the list of a few celebrities who have come out hard against hip hop, the likes of Russell Simmons and Bill Cosby.

Cynics will say you're rich, so you can say anything, he was asked. Without a pause, his voice raised a bit, the urgency of his words coming crisply over the phone line:

"I had to make a change. This is not about money. It is about growing up, being responsible adults. Help some of the kids. Someone has to do it. I am not gonna be perfect. My point is, people want light," Master P said.

He continued: "we have to cut past the ignorance and the stereotype. Education is key. Forget about the money. With education you can make money."

Hearing him speak, it brought back memories of Marcus Garvey, whose birthday is today. Master P believes in generational investment. Black people suffer from lack of generational investment and that was something Marcus Garvey many years ago endorsed.

Still, Master P's new commitment to authenticity may have real roots: in the mid 1990's he was an underground powerhouse in gangsta rap music. Creating a mini empire, he bypassed established labels and created his own, NO Limit Records, which became powerful.

Family man

A family man, he has been married for 15 years to the same woman and is a father of seven kids. "We have a responsibility as parents to see what is right," he says.

"Sports saved my life," Master P said of his stint as a pro ball player.

"I was an athlete. Hip Hop is not all about music, it is all about skills. It is overcoming barriers. You have to take people for what they got and not where they come from. I was better than many of the players on the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors but my hip-hop background precluded me from reaching far in the NBA. I could have gotten more endorsements," he said.

So, the man knows the inside out of the business. He is not a hurry-come-up advocate of clean music. In his quest, he is alienating other rappers and business executives but he is the captain of his ship and the master of his destiny, and that ship is sailing full speed ahead.

All his talk about empowerment of black people is no idle thrust as he has onboard celebrities such as Will Smith and Democratic senator Barack Obama.

"As a people we always try to highlight the negativity. We never seem to want to praise success," he went on.

Butterfly effect

His main thesis which he explains is: We still are all dark-skinned people. Whether you're from the U.S.A, the Bahamas, or Jamaica. We are brilliant, smart but we always hating on each other. That is what is holding us back. We should be providing for our kids and make a living investment.

"We have what you call the caterpillar to butterfly theory. Many people do not want to seek higher goals; they reach the cocoon stage but yet they are still closer to the ground and they never reach the butterfly stage.

"We are living in a politically correct world. We are living in a world where blacks are sill disadvantaged," he said. "It is time for black people to stop complaining and do something."

The butterfly effect is on and Master P's recipe is well worth sharing.