dmc.jpgDarryl "DMC" McDaniels of the pioneering hip-hop group, Run-DMC, is frustrated with the way the hip-hop culture is being portrayed in the media. "Every time -- if it's pimp, pusher, drug dealer -- they relate it to hip-hop," DMC tells the Associated Press. "Those are just elements of society. But for some reason, whether it's a dogfight, whether it's the n-word or the b-word…It kills me. Yeah, you know Michael Vick - he hangs with thugs and that's the hip-hop lifestyle. No. What [do] you mean that's the hip-hop lifestyle?" So what is DMC doing to change the perception of the hip-hop culture? He's collaborating with the Jam Master Jay Foundation for Music and organizing the J.A.M. Awards to pay tribute to the positive contributes that are often overlooked in hip-hop. Set to take place on November 29 in New York City, the show will honor one figure of the hip-hop community in the fields of social justice, the arts and music. Artists such as Talib Kweli, dead prez, Cassidy, De La Soul and Snoop Dogg will take part in the event. "It's not about the videos. It's not about the records. And it's not about the celebrities, that are just byproducts of the hip-hop culture," DMC says. "[The] purpose of the J.A.M. Awards is to show that hip-hop didn't just create rappers, it created journalists, writers, directors, designers. We're putting the focus back on the positive creative influence of the culture, not just the music."

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