David Banner testifies

Master P and David Banner both testified at a Congressional hearing held in Washington, D.C. earlier today (September 24) to discuss the lyrical content and imagery of African-American women in hip-hop.

According to The Associated Press, the hearing was also attended by Georgetown University Professor and Author Michael Eric Dyson, representatives of the National Congress of Black Women and top industry executives including Doug Morris, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, Alfred Liggins III of Radio One, chief executive officer of Radio One, Edgar Bronfman Jr. chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group and Philippe Dauman, president & CEO of Viacom, which owns such cable networks as MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET.

During the hearing, music videos showing scantily clad women were played and the uses of the word "b***h", "h*e" and 'ni**a' were discussed.

"This hearing is not anti-hip-hop. I am a fan of hip-hop," Rush, who was known for founding the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers during the 1960s, said. "[But] there is a need to address the issue of violence, hate and degradation that has reduced too many of our youngsters to automatons."

All parties seemed to disagree on who was to blame for the offensive material but they all opposed government censorship as a solution.

David Banner took the panel in hip-hop's defense saying the culture shouldn't be blamed for society ills.

"If by some stroke of the pen hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present in our communities," he said. "Drugs, violence and the criminal element were around long before hip-hop existed."