THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 2, 2006
Filed at 1:51 p.m. ET

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) -- The former co-host of BET's popular ''106 & Park'' show blasts what he calls the destructive messages of many of the show's most popular music videos.

A.J. Calloway co-hosted the show for five years with Free, whose given name is Marie Wright. Both left the show in July.

''I couldn't watch my own show with my niece on my lap,'' Calloway said this past week at South Carolina State University as part of the ''Black Student Today'' panel. The discussion focused on the impact of hip-hop music.

''Pick your five favorite songs,'' Calloway said. ''Write down every word that's in your favorite songs. Read it back to yourself and think about what that has put into your head.''

Calloway told the university audience he had vowed that after facing racism while growing up in New Jersey he would ''never do anything against my race.''

''I felt like I was hurting us by doing what I was doing,'' he said.

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yeah i've read this...funny how all of a sudden he felt something was wrong with the vids when he had been hosting for FIVE YEARS!! The vids were shitty all 5 years he was hosting it....

Also i thought that AJ and Free were fired??? Maybe i heard wrong at that time when everything was going down.

missfee said:

exactly wat i was thinking. c'mon man, this makes u look soo dumb

missfee said:

Yeah, huh. Amazing how easily people sell their souls then backpedal once they're done selling...

eugnj420 said:

OH POOK HAVE IDEA FOR NEW BOOK!

IT CALLED INTEGRITY AFTER FACT

BY A J CALLOWAY AND ISAAC HAYES

POOK said:

LOL! That's funny!

BlaqueKnight said:

BlaqueKnight said:

i actually don't blame them for terrible videos, but don't get all righteous with the fact that "i left because blah blah blah" when u were up there playing the puppet for 5 years.

and even if they did try to change the "quality" of videos that they were showing, a person knows when they are getting played...and he must have known for a while that he was getting played by corporate. Plus I never thought that AJ and Free were all that "talented" in the first place as VJ's... just my opinion.
[Edited 4/3/06 4:51am]

AJ is freakin full of it. Go to enough clubs in NY two yrs. ago, and there was AJ. Where was his sense of pride then I wonder. He was out there w/ everyone else bottle in hand, and boobing along to all those booty songs. Doesn't stop him from playing that same mess BET plays at Cheetah.

eugnj420 said:

Negro please.....

Rogue588 said:

exactly. it's the damndest thing...brotha was sitting up on that damn set for 5 whole years, and NOW he's getting the memo. brotha, PLEASE.

BlaqueKnight said:

yeah, but if that was the case, then why didn't he just split if indeed that was what he was trying to accomplish? stuck on a contract or no, the brotha still coulda left and tried to do the damned thing himself as opposed to staying stuck with BET and sticking with peddling the stuff that they had to.

Now, yall remember last yr BET banned a video by "Little Brother" saying that it was too intelligent for BET's audience. If he had so much integrity, why didnt he leave then? I could accept what he's saying now better if he'd taken a stand then.

LoveAlive said:

He did not leave. He was fired.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Regardless of when he "saw the light," at least he did.

And I'm glad he's speaking about it. He's a face that's recognizable to young folks and has some degree of credibility to them. We weren't all born righteous/conscious/whatever; we've got to start somewhere. And the reality is, kids are more likely to listen to A.J. on this subject than to Cornel West.

FunkMistress said:

True that.....

eugnj420 said:

I'm going to have the kids in my afterschool program do this this afternoon.

FunkMistress said:

But I think in order for him to have REAL credibility, he's gonna have to admit the error in his ways the 5 yrs that he was on the show because people are gonna automatically say, "How can you dis the show that you were fired from after 5 yrs?"

Its gonna appear that he's speaking against BET cuz he's a disgruntled EX employee if he doesnt admit his wrong in being a "puppet" or his part in showcasing the videos for 5 yrs.

LoveAlive said:

yup...this is exactly where i'm getting at on all this.

FunkMistress said:

awesome idea!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

...bracing for a whole buncha "but I don't even listen to the words, I just like the beat!" Yeah, that's why I hear you singing along word for word?

FunkMistress said:

but yeah, i'd be interested in hearing about the results from the project.

FunkMistress said:

ROTFL!!!!!

is there any audio from his speaking engagement that we can hear?

So true AJ was everywhere, and wathcing him interview people like 50 cent and lloyd banks and praise them, much like when Arsenio kissed everyones ass. This is the same shit that Carson Daly used to do, he would kiss ass on trl and then would bad mouth the Boy Bands and Britney and all the others. I think the best thing was when PRINCE did TRL in 1999 and "called" carson out on this whole subject and Carson looked dumber than ever and all he could say was "I gotta pay the rent"

lastdecember said:

yeah, i remember seeing prince on trl and saying that shit...classic stuff.

LOL! Some of you guys are so full of shit that it ain't even funny. So you mean to tell me that NONE of you guys have EVER put up a front while at work? Say, someone you don't like or maybe your boss even, when they come around do you REALLY tell them how you feel? When the boss says "Good work, John/Jane" do you say "Oh yeah!? Fuck off, Mr. Boss! I don't like the way you cut our benefits last year, you asswipe. Kiss my ass!" We ALL have to front in order to survive and AJ is no different. What's he supposed to do, dis The Game and 50 Cent on the show: "Hey, G-Unit! I think your shit is wack and your spreading violence to the youth. But first, we're gonna show your HOT ass video! Give it up for Fitty and The Game, y'all!"

StoneCrib said:

That is the reason the common person has no power... he\she don't belive they do.

StoneCrib said:

Uhhh no. Though what you wrote there is true, there are other ways of getting his point across without being that obvious.

ESPECIALLY if he felt as strongly as he supposedly does..
[Edited 4/3/06 11:25am]