S. Samuel
A week after New York Hot 97 radio host Cipha Sounds was suspended indefinitely for his on-air, controversial, Haitian AIDS-related joke, SOHH talked to Busta Rhymes to get his reaction on the situation.
While Busta believes Cipha’s joke was inexcusable, he also said people should allow the host to defend himself.
I think Cipha Sounds is going to be fine. I mean, people have to understand at the end of the day, what he did wasn’t good. He didn’t use his better sense of judgement in that situation based on looking at it from the outside looking in. I think it would have been a lot better if it never had happened all together. But unfortunately, it did. and I think he’ll bounce back fine because at the end of the day, we’re humans and we make mistakes. I think we also have to give him the opportunity to fix the situation. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life and I had to do what was necessary to fix my situation and he’s going to do the same. I’m sure that he’s going to be able to make himself clear to the beautiful people of Haiti that it wasn’t coming from a malicious place. Even though it might have come off like that, I know Cipha sounds. He’s not a vindictive dude.” (SOHH)
The Flipmode Squad leader felt Cipha’s comedic notoriety should remind people that he doesn’t have bad intentions.
“Cipha Sounds is more the type of dude trying to make people laugh,” Busta added. “He’s a comedian. He has his own shows where he does the ‘Don’t Get Gassed’ comedy [series]. He has comedians come out and make people laugh all the time so it ain’t even in Cipha Sounds to upset people. He’s more the type of person that wants to make people smile and make [them] happy. So you know, I got faith in the situation that it’s going to work out. Cipha Sounds is going to have his opportunity and time to apologize to the people and make his genuine energy felt. And God willing, we can get past the situation the minute he can get past it, so people can live their lives and do the things they’ve been doing, learn from the mistakes and, keep growing.” (SOHH)
DJ Whoo Kid, who is of Haitian descent, also shared his reaction to Cipha’s comments with SOHH.
“After Cipha Sounds made his remark, I was more concerned about the reaction from the women in my family [that heard it]. Ironically, I had my mother over for Christmas dinner and I asked her did she hear it, and she said, “Yeah, I heard about it. Somebody told me.” I was like, “Wow.” Even before I asked my mother, [Cipha] called me a day or two after the chaos went off because people were like, “Yo, you need to kill him.” Because I’m notorious on radio. But I sort of understood [because of my radio background], where you just try to be desperate to [make] that joke.” (SOHH Guest Star)
Cipha’s suspension from Hot 97 was publicly announced Wednesday (December 23) morning.
DJ Cipha Sounds is a favorite on-air personality in the New York area, but he made plenty of enemies recently with an insensitive comment about Haitian women. However, it sounds as though Cipha Sounds got off easy, as many leaders of the Haitian community were calling for Cipha Sounds to be fired. All of the controversy surrounds a broadcast in which Cipha Sounds said, “the reason I’m HIV negative is because I don’t mess with Haitian girls.” As of now, Cipha Sounds is suspended indefinitely and has to undergo sensitivity training. It’s surprising Cipha Sounds would make such a big gaffe, considering his 15 years of experience. (Bloginity)
Listen to New York radio host Charlamagne Tha God‘s reaction to Cipha Sounds below:
