Press Release of the Day

To the staff of 60 Minutes: When sending out PR about your interview with a hip-hop artist, you might want to find someone under 30 who can proofread it for you:

RAPPER KANYE WEST SAYS USING THE WORD “JESUS” IN SONGS ON MAINSTREAM RADIO IS JUST AS OFFENSIVE AS USING THE “N-WORD” – ON “60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY” ON CBS

Evangelical Christianity is flowing into the mainstream now more than ever. Rappers and rockers are making hits and making money while spreading the gospel to national audiences. Christian groups can be heard on secular radio, seen on the “Tonight Show” and, earlier this year, the group Third Day played at the Republican National Convention. But their success doesn’t come without criticisms, and rapper Kanye West, who became a part of this seismic shift in American culture, tells correspondent Bob Simon, why he feels that using the word Jesus in songs offends some people as much as using the n-word would offend others. Simon’s report will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY on Dec. 8 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

West has always been in the secular mainstream, producing hits for stars like Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. He’s considered a genius at creating what he calls a "dope-a-- beat," but he tells Simon that most of his record industry friends warned him about making the single, “Jesus Walks.” West recalls, "People would be like, 'Yo, it's the best song I ever heard, but it'll never make it on radio,' and it frustrated me, so the second verse I wrote about how they say you can't say Jesus on radio... The word Jesus was like saying [the n-word]… It’s gonna offend people for you to say Jesus..."

I guess that's why he works for roc-a-fella?

I'm not convinced his use of the "J Word" was all that courageous, but he is a master of self-promotional spin, I'll give him that.