After finally reading this letter in its entirety, I am APPALLED at what this company put out as a "rebuttal against a petition. To say that it is tasteless is an understatement. That letter is on the level of a pissed off kid or child like adult. There is no way a company, Black owned or not, should publish anything of that sort without having it reviewed for coherent language, coherent punctuation. Not only that but the "tone" of the letter is ridiculously harsh and had I not read it on the Soul Train website, I surely would have taken it for jest.

The letter could have very simply said:

The employees (or whatever) at Soul Train have received notification of the petition that is asking Soul Train to reconsider our selection of Ashanti as Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year. At Soul Train, we believe that our selection of Ashanti has merit based on her record sales, videos, concerts, etc. and her overall contribution to the music industry that Ashanti has in fact earned the title of Aretha Franklin and we are proud to honor this young artist. We appreciate the point of view of the inititator of the petition as well as those who have signed it, but we are going to proceed with Ashanti as entertainer of the Year.

Thank you

In that letter, they state their position, support it with evidence, and offer a conclusion. **Can you tell I teach English?** Also no where in that letter do they sound like the most IGNANT mofos in the world!! Nor do they dog out the folks who signed the petition or BET.

with the help and support of all Ashanti petition signers, to open your own Internet website, which should, appropriately, be entitled, "I'm a _____ loser, I'm not talented or successful, I don't know ____ about the music industry and I need to get a mother______ life!!"

:eek:
:eek:

Ok, why did I send them an email regarding the ghetti trashiness of their response.




Edited for the language. ~~CT4

Looks like they've done some editing, as the white-owned comments and the last sentence that was quoted on here are no longer a part of the rebuttal. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to edit any of the grammar! They certainly aren't doing Ashanti a service by defending her nomination in such a manner. It will probably provoke even more people to sign the petition.

Actually librasoul, I agree with you on those things. I myself am not an Ashanti fan--I HATED Ain't it funny (with it's shallow lyrics) and I don't like really like any of her music. She isn't even in the same category as ARTISTS like Lauryn Hill or Jill Scott. My only point is that somebody out there is buying/requesting and being entertained by this girl's "music", else she wouldn't have been nominated in the first place. If she gets booed, the public can only blame themselves, not Soul Train.

Good morning ladies,

I'd rather watch Al Sharpton eat a two piece and buscuit in his cowboy hat rather than hear ASTANKI sing!!!!

sincerely,
black~n~proud

I didnt bother to read the rebuttal, although everyone has commented that it was in poor taste. However, I heard on the radio that the responds was not from soul train, so I dont know if the actual head hunchos wrote that especially since it appears to have grammatical errors and is politically incorrect. For Chicago peeps, I think it was either GCI or 92.3 but I am not sure. DID anyone else hear this???

....Just a thought, I doubt Soul Train actually wrote this. Anyone can create a link using "soultrain". I doubt Don Cornelius is that tasteless. That statement smacks of a hacker/fan....or someone from Murder, Inc's camp.

There is something I noticed about the statement. The author talks about the number of records Ashanti has sold. If that is true, then I think the integrity of this particular award is in question, since the naming the award after Aretha Franklin denotes the idea the award is based on LONGEVITY and SINGING TALENT (ala Patti LaBelle, Whitney, Mariah or Mary J. Blige, etc). It sounds like the award is based on POPULARITY AND RECORD SALES. Although Aretha possesses those qualities too, maybe Soul Train should have created an award based soley on records sales and named it after someone else? (But, isn't that what the Billboard awards are for?)

I think that if this award is actually based on POPULARITY and RECORD SALES and not the talent and/or longevity of the artist, then this becomes a question of integrity of the awards, plain and simple. For that reason, the "real" powers-that-be at Soul Train need to address this situation intelligently as soon as possible.

You are correct when you speak of POPULARITY and RECORD SALES as being the factor for the recipient of the award. The ST camp wants high ratings for their show, so they will award those who are popular at the time.

If there was a ST Man of Soul Award show, more likely than not, NELLY and JA-Rule would be your top award recipients.

:D :D :D LMAO!!!!

I just signed and I'm like 16,000some. I have to THANK YOU ALL for the link, because I heard about it like a week or so ago, and didn't know where to find the petition. I signed it and emailed the link on. I think that Ashanti is a hook singer (would that make her a hooker LOL). But seriouly, she can do a mean hook, that Fat Joe joint is my groove. But solo, she is not the "Entertainer of the Year" by any stretch of the imagination. She made it by biting off of Ja Rule. And after seeing Happy video I lost what little shread of respect I had for her. She is an Aaliyah wannabe (she and Ja were quoted to have said she was similar to Aaliyah, and would end up being the next Aaliyah, or something to that effect). And whoever told her she could dance needs to be shot in the eye. She "thinks she's cute" (you can tell by the way she acts) and does not have the talent to back it up. I signed the petition with pride!!! Soul Train needs to be shot!!! :mad:

I just signed in as well and I'm like #16000??? :). I hope these signatures really count and that we're not wasting time.

show you right!!!!!

Soul Train - The Untold Truth
http://www.messed-up.com/soultrain.htm

From The Untold Truth
 

Right, right...

Maybe it's time for a MUSICAL Revolution where we as consumers hold the record companies/ "entertainers" more accountable for the music/videos presented.

Re: From The Untold Truth
 

**taking you back** ;)

GET READY FOR THE REVOLUTION!!!

OOO OOO OOO WHOOO OOOO OOOO

Do You wanna revolution?
whoo whoo
I say do you wanna revolution?

sick and tired of rappers saying MUUUUUURDER
sick and tired of singers singing hooooooks?

Do you want a revolution??
WHooo whooo

:D