DAVID BANNER - BANNER FIGHTS TO KEEP HIP-HOP HARSH

Rapper DAVID BANNER defended his controversial lyrics on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (25Sep07), as fellow hip-hop star MASTER P apologised for using the word `bitch' on his past hits. The two stars testified before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection in a hearing about rap lyrics. And while Master P, real name Percy Miller, used the meeting to further renounce profanity in his lyrics, admitting, "I was honestly wrong," about past use of derogatory words, Banner was defiant. Dressed in a smart dark blue suit, the rap star raged, "I'm like (author) Stephen King: horror music is what I do. "If by some stroke of the pen, hip-hop was silenced, the issues would still be present in our communities. Drugs, violence and the criminal element were around long before hip-hop existed."