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Hey, Hey, Hey! Cosby's a Rapper Now

His hip-hop record will criticize hip-hop culture, without the bad words

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 6, 2008 8:46 PM CST

(Newser) – Bill Cosby, long a vocal critic of urban street culture and its gangsta rap, is holding his enemies close. His next record, State of Emergency, will be nothing but hip-hop, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The album will address sober issues faced by America's black youth, such as teen pregnancy and drugs, but steer clear of profanity and misogyny. No word yet on a release date.

The 70-year-old has had a prodigious recording career as a comedian, and the rap foray will be his 35th album. While Cosby frequently criticizes the state of African-American culture on television, his new attempt has the Inquirer recalling the rhymes he laid over Beatles and Motown covers on 1968's "atrociously psychedelic" Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band!

[Images (4)]

[Videos (2)]

Cosby speaks during a taping of "Meet the Press" at the NBC studios Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007 in Washington. (Associated Press)

Comedian Bill Cosby speaks with reporters in this July 23, 2007 file photo. (Associated Press)

Entertainer Bill Cosby talks to neighbors as he leads a march against the recent rise in homicides in Philadelphia on Monday, June 4, 2007.(AP Photo/George Widman) (Associated Press)

Comedian Bill Cosby entertains a crowd during a NAACP show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, in Philadelphia, on Tuesday, July 13, 2004. © KRT Photos. (KRT Photos)

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Bill Cosby "Raps" in this parody animation. (OverlordKojiro (YouTube))

Bill Cosby about Gangsta Rap, drugs and youth on Meet The Press. (ykaroos (YouTube))

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Hey, Hey, Hey! Cosby's a Rapper Now