Could Hip Hop save Oprah or Visa Versa??

When she decided to step down as empress of day time television, people had mixed reactions.  Who was to fill her shoes? What was daytime television going to be like without seeing her in the 4′ o clock hour? She ruled this slot for 25 years. She made her audience love her personality, not to mention, she delivered some of the most exclusive interviews of a lifetime. Oprah Winfrey naturally has an amazing talent for dissecting matters and getting down to the meat and bone, the truth.

Not to be out smarted, Oprah announced that she had no intentions of retiring to a gardening  or knitting pastime for the rest of her days. She was going bigger. She was launching her OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) channel. Discovery Communications, is a  major investor in OWN. In fact, OWN actually replaced their, Discovery Health Channel, which was getting lower ratings than what OWN is doing now. Discovery,  continues to be patient and optimistic for a turn around in ratings.  After a year of being on the air, OWN isn’t doing the greatest in numbers.It launched on January 1, 2011. February of 2011 the average viewership was 135,000. That was a huge fall from the station launched. The viewership was at 505,000 viewers in January.

So what is Oprah going to do now? I know she isn’t going to let it go down ugly without a fight. Surely she has something up her sleeve already in the works behind the scenes. There aren’t very many black networks on television today. Well after a year since OWN’s birth, the lights are getting dim. It is reported that so far the network has lost over 300 million dollars.  On April 2, 2011 Oprah did a morning show on CBS in which she stated that she made a lot of mistakes and basically she may have went in a little over her head. She rushed it just a tad. More planning and development needed to go into the network. Ouch! Truth stings sometimes, even when it comes straight from the horses mouth. I’ve watched some of the programming and honestly in my opinion, I’m kind of 50/50 on  it so far. She has some innovative show and programming and then, she has a lot of  “dry” content on there as well. Just keeping it 100.

Whether you like her or not, you can’t help but respect her grind. Oprah Winfrey is a huge advocate for women’s rights and education. With her extensive career background and humanitarian works, it is obvious that she is passionate about leaving a positive mark on the world in hopes of improving society. With that being said, I think that she should go back to the drawing board with some of the programming. Why not reach out to your polar opposite: Hip hop. Is it crazy or crazy enough to work?

Oprah has had a crazy relationship with hip hop over the years. At one point, it seemed like she hated it and particular a few particular rappers. Her name was thrown into the news a bit, especially with Atlanta rapper, Ludacris in 2004 during the time that “Crash” hit theaters.   She’s stated that she doesn’t have an issue with hip hop and that it is a free artistic form of expression the same as jazz is.

Salt n Pepper on Oprah

The game is producing so much wackness that pollutes our airwaves far worst than any city smog mixed with a natural disaster to the TENTH POWER. Television isn’t really too much better neither. Oprah set out to change this, at least for television. That is what OWN is all about.

In her own words, she stated:

“Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold.  For me, the launch of OWN is the evolution of the work I’ve been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show.”

. . . Oprah Winfrey

When I ask, could hip hop save Oprah and vica versa, this is what I mean: One of Oprah’s passions is Women’s rights. Look at the current state of women in hip hop now. Look at all of these reality show where women knowingly allow themselves to be exploited and sometimes even morally degraded all for fifteen minutes of fame. Television is so supersaturated with this concept, what about an affirmative change. I do believe that this programing can pull in more of her target demographic.  What about a docu-series On women in hip hop? Not a fabricated reality show. You can do women today and women who pioneered such as: Salt and pepper, Roxanne Shawntae, and Queen Latifah to name a few. It’s all about how you put it together. I feel like the younger hip hop America is in need of another creative outlet  with “real” not “reality” content.  I’m not saying to completely cross over and make ever show about hip hop, what I am saying is that hip hop, regardless of the state that it is in now, still has too much power and influence. It is an art form that is respected universally by so many people even if  it’s not what it used to be…..

Oprah and Beyonce

Some hip hop artist have even went as far as to blast her in the media. Ice cube expressed that he was hurt when she invited everyone from the cast of Barbershop to do her show except for him him, and those were his movies. 50 cent has also publicly said that she doesn’t even try to appeal to a younger hip hop demographic.  Oprah, if you show the hip hop audience  interesting and informative programming, they will support you with their viewership. You’re  Blue Ivy Carters godmother. The Carter’s are cool with you. What about a film project with Beyonce or Jay-Z. Not a reality show. I say that to say this: They both are one of America’s favorite couple. Society hear their names daily whether we want to or not, They are both new parents and powerful people. Both Jay Z and Beyonce are in a new refreshing place in their lives right now. Why not catch their new creative process on camera? When Beyonce and Jay get ready to drop there next projects, the world would not mind seeing what they were doing while they were going thru their working all while adapting to being new parents. I’d watch that show.  If those two were to trust ANYONE to film them like this, I bet it would be Oprah…

Last but not least, as crazy as this sounds…… I would give Killer Mike his own show. He’s one of the realest emcees in the game. He went to Morehouse and is extremely educated. He’s all about the people. He comes from the street but he has that intellect/street psychy that attracts people to him. Whenever he drops an album, Hip Hop clicks the link…  He never dissed Oprah about the Oscar Grant situation in his “That’s Life 2” (PLEDGE album. He simply kept it G and asked where was Oprah and Obama? How come they didn’t say anything….

sources

http://corporate.discovery.com/brands/us/own/

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1534119/oprah-doesnt-have-beef-with-hip-hop.jhtml