[Ideal08]

MISS JONES SUSPENDED FROM
HOT 97: Action taken over tsunami
parody; Asian rapper Jin responds.

*New York DJ Miss Jones and
her morning show crew on New
York's Hot 97 were suspended
indefinitely Wednesday for airing
a tasteless song parody that made
fun of the tsunami victims and
referred to them in racist terms.
"What happened is morally
and socially indefensible," said
Rick Cummings, president of
Emmis Radio, in announcing
the disciplinary action. "All
involved, myself included, are
ashamed and deeply sorry. I know
the members of the morning team
are contrite. They know their
actions here are inexcusable."
The song, a parody of the
charity single "We Are the World,"
aired last Friday on the Emmis
station WQHT-FM, known locally
as Hot 97. Afterwards, the station
was bombarded with thousands of
angry phone calls demanding Miss
Jones (a.k.a. Tarsha Jones) be
fired.
The DJ offered an on-air
apology, and the station initially
announced that she and a half-dozen
other members of the morning team
would donate a week's salary to
tsunami relief. The station, in a
statement posted on its Web site,
said management later decided
"stronger action was necessary to
demonstrate the severity of the
situation."
As previously reported, the
song included references to
"screaming chinks" "drowning
Africans" and orphaned children
"sold into child slavery." The
chorus began, "So now you're
screwed, it's a tsunami, you'd
better run ... go find your mommy."
The indefinite suspension of
Jones, her sidekick Todd Lynn and
others was not enough for some
politicians. Others had called for
advertisers to boycott the station
and for Emmis to fire its staffers -
a move supported by City Councilman
John Liu, whose Queens district
includes a large Asian population.
"It's clearly not sufficient,"
Liu said. "Miss Jones and Todd Lynn
need to be terminated, taken off the
air permanently."
*Meanwhile, Chinese-American
rapper Jin, known best for his seven-
week undefeated run on "106 & Park's"
Freestyle Friday competition before
being retired to the "Hall of Fame,"
fired back at the Hot97 parody in a
new dis track. According to SOHH.com,
the song - set to Jay-Z's "Breathe
Easy" - contains lyrics aimed at Miss
Jones, calling her a "no-talent
wannabe shock jock." At the end of the
song, he tells Miss Info, who is part
Asian and the only member of the
morning crew to denounce the song, to
"keep your head up, Ma."
Jin also says in the song: "F***
the Tsunami song and whoever thought
of it. / Matter fact, f*** the engineer
that recorded it. / And the brains
behind the scenes, that applauded it/
Anything for ratings huh... the sh** is
corporate/ That little bullsh**
statement has got to be/ the world's
most half-assed apology/ Thousands are
still getting discovered each day/ how
dare you compare a life to a week's pay."
According to SOHH, Jin is calling
for folks to protest the Hot97 parody
by directing complaint letters to the
station's sponsors - including Reebok,
McDonalds and SprintPCS.