Frivolous literary note

[David Dasinger]

dennis grace wrote:
> 
> I don't know the Turner Diaries, but I do recall Ice-T's Copkiller.  I have
> mixed feelings about it.  I believe it's possible to present such a
> character in satire or study without intending to authorize it, but what do
> we expect of the author in such situations?  I beleive Ice T new he was
> recording a piece his gangbanger audience would jam to, but maybe not.  If
> not, if his Copkiller is just a socially relevant characterization, why
> shouldn't he publish it?

Well, I saw performance by Ice T on the first Lollapalooza
tour, before the big controversy broke out.  He introduced 
the song by encouraging the audience to "shoot a cop in his
mother-fuckin' face" after the show. I thought he was an 
asshole with a jr. high mentality. It wasn't satire (IMHO).
I don't have a problem with rage being expressed in music,
but it's annoying when the author can only offer anger without
any substance. 
K.R.S. One put out a song around the same time ("Love's gonna get ya")
involving a kid getting drawn into the gangsta life from a first
person perspective, but he also added a narrator that cautions
that love of the material will "get you". In the end, the kid's
brother is dead and he's surrounded by the cops. 
Two different ways of expressing socially relevant issues,
but which one is more effective? 
I can assure that Ice T sold alot more records than K.R.S.
One.
DD