Sister Souljah: Capitalist Tool

Is Bill Clinton on the secret payroll of Sony Music Entertainment Inc.? The question arises because of the publicity bonanza Clinton bestowed on one of the company's artists, rap singer Sister Souljah, by publicly attacking her at Jesse Jackson's National Rainbow Coalition convention in Washington. As a surprised and obviously angry Jackson seethed on the stage, Clinton repeated a Washington Post story that quoted Souljah saying after the Los Angeles riots, "If black people kill black people everyday, why not have a week and kill white people? . . . So if you're a gang member and you would normally be killing somebody, why not kill a white person?" Those remarks, intoned Clinton, were "filled with the kind of hatred that you do not honor today."

Clinton's assault made the previously obscure rap artist, whose preachy 360 Degrees of Power never managed to climb higher than No. 78 on Billboard's list of best-selling R. & B. albums, into an instant political cause celebre. Puffed up with outrage at Clinton's affront, Jackson demanded that the Arkansas Governor apologize to the performer, who "represents the feelings and hopes of a whole generation of people." Clinton declined. Souljah added to the din on the Today show, where she denounced the "racist" and "hypocritical" Clinton. "I think ((he)) is like a lot of white politicians -- they eat soul food, they party with black women, they play the saxophone, but when it comes to domestic and foreign policy, they make the same decisions that are destruction, destructive to African people in this country and throughout the world," she said.

All this amounted to a blast of national exposure that money couldn't buy for Souljah, Clinton and Jackson. What really fueled the curious coming together of politicians, a "revolutionary" rapper and a multibillion-dollar entertainment conglomerate was their shared concern for the bottom line. Clinton achieved a key political objective: refocusing the media spotlight on his message to moderate voters that he is unafraid to deliver unpopular messages to important Democratic constituencies, including blacks. Jackson, who has been groping for a way to elbow into the campaign, obtained a grievance that he can use to browbeat Clinton for concessions. Lenin is supposed to have written, "Capitalists are so hungry for profits that they will sell us the rope to hang them with." Souljah has reformulated that maxim in light of the go-for-it '90s. A few days before her appearance at the Rainbow convention, she admonished the audience of a black radio talk show in New York City to purchase her CD at the record store rather than from lower- priced bootleggers. By doing so, she said, they would help prove to big companies like Sony that "revolutionary music" is "profitable."