4 chapters across the catalog
Dr. Logan Westbrook describes his role as a liaison for the 1972 Harvard Report, a study commissioned by CBS under Clive Davis to create a blueprint for penetrating and dominating the black music market. The timing of the report is highlighted as occurring just one year before the recognized 1973 birth of hip-hop with "Rapper's Delight." The hosts explore whether hip-hop was intentionally hijacked as a mind control mechanism following this corporate blueprint.
The hosts discuss Whitney Houston's transition from the church to pop music and the "poser" label she faced early in her career. Mo Facts explains that Houston was initially rejected by "the streets" because of her privileged background and commercial sound. They compare her struggle for authenticity to Michael Jackson's transition from soulful sounds to global pop stardom.
In 1972, CBS commissioned a study from Harvard students known as the "Harvard Report." Mo Facts describes this as a blueprint for major labels to penetrate and dominate the black music market, leading to the demise of independent black record companies. He notes that executive Clive Davis used this report to consolidate power over the industry.
Mo Facts argues that the music industry has followed a 50-year plan to invert the "good news" of gospel music into negative secular content. By eliminating independent voices like Sam Cooke and implementing the Harvard Report's strategies, major labels gained total control over the messaging in black music. He concludes that the current state of hip-hop is the result of this long-term social engineering.
