U.S. rapper RZA freezes out racist ice cream truck jingle

[rooster59]

U.S. rapper RZA freezes out racist ice cream truck jingle

By Darnell Christie

 

Rapper and actor RZA of the new television show "Gang Related" participates in Fox Broadcasting Company's part of the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter 2014 presentations in Pasadena, California, January 13 , 2014. REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

 

(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - American rapper RZA has taken on racism at street level - by creating a new jingle for ice cream trucks to replace the decades-old "Turkey in the Straw" tune.

 

Studies have found that the widely-distributed melody that stemmed from British and Irish folk songs was made popular in the 1800s by minstrel shows using blackface, with some adaptations using racist lyrics.

 

The rapper, who led the hip-pop group Wu-Tang Clan in the 1990s, teamed up with U.S. ice cream brand Good Humor to create a new tune that will be made available for free to ice cream trucks throughout the United States immediately.

 

"We've come to found out that it has racist roots," RZA said in a video on the ice cream brand's website unveiling the new jingle while deliberately not playing "Turkey in the Straw".

 

"We wanted to make a melody that includes all communities that's good for every driver, every kid."

 

Good Humor, that is owned by Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever, called on all ice cream truck drivers to adopt the new RZA chime.

 

"Good Humor has not owned ice cream trucks since the 1970s, nor did we create "Turkey in the Straw" or any other jingles," the company said in a statement.

 

"However, as a leader in the industry, and the creator of the original ice cream truck, we want to be part of the solution on this issue, particularly since we work closely with so many ice cream truck drivers across the country."

 

(Reporting by Darnell Christie, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-15

 

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[rupert the bear]

racist ha ha in 1800s ireland and rural england there were no black people but they were well known for their ability to sing well,so the singers charcoaled their faces.ahh sad times we live in.

[Benmart]

This coming from a former member of the hip-hop group, Wu-Tang Clan. One of their songs was entitled "Shame on a Nigga". He comes across as a pathetic hypocrite looking for relevance.

 

Wikipedia: The word Wu-Tang originates from “Wu Dang, the Taoist holy mountain located in the Central China in the Hubei Province”.

 

Nothing holy about this group.

[chilli42]

The world is now a better place.  What a joke all this virtue signaling is.

[Shot]

This guy is a real piece of work. I would post the lyrics to "Domestic Violence", but I would get booted from ThaiVisa for eternity. 

 

 

[timendres]

There are days when I wish it would all collapse. On top of morons like these.

[unblocktheplanet]

Fer Chrissakes, aren't there important racist issues?!? Nobody alive remembers Harry C. Browne and Good Humor trucks play a jingle, not the racist lyrics. Moreover, the original lyrics to Turkey in the Straw weren't even racist. Get a grip, people! PC kills us all...