Uncle Luke Says Oprah Has 'Come To Her Senses' In Hip-Hop Battle

Rapper/mogul Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell recently gave props to media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who recently launched her new cable TV channel, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network).

Uncle Luke was pleased with the launch of OWN, because after years of criticizing Hip-Hop, Oprah was forced to acknowledge the power of the genre with the debut of the series Master Class, which featured superstar entertainer, Jay-Z.

"By debuting with Jay-Z, she is acknowledging she needs rappers to generate interest and revenue for her new media venture. I'm happy to see that after spending so many years bashing rap music, Oprah has come to her senses," Uncle Luke told the Miami New Times.

Over the years, Oprah has criticized the lyrical content of some rappers and reports have claimed that she "banned" Hip-Hop artists from her show, although that has changed in recent years.

In 2006, Oprah invited cast members of the movie Crash on her show, but didn't extend the invitation to Ludacris.

When he was finally accepted to appear with the other cast members, Oprah took aim at the rapper and then allegedly edited out his responses, prompting Luda to speak out.

As a result, rappers like Ice Cube and 50 Cent public condemned Oprah, who eventually capitulated to the pressure and ended up featuring Jay-Z on the Oprah Winfrey Show in late 2009.

"I listen to some Hip-Hop. I've been accused of not liking Hip-Hop and that's just not true," Oprah said in 2009. "I got a little 50 [Cent] in my iPod. I really do. I like 'In Da Club.' Have you heard the beat to 'In Da Club'? Love that, love Jay-Z, love Kanye, love Mary J. Mary J. is one of my friends."

According to Uncle Luke, now that Oprah Winfrey is in control of her own network, she has no choice.

Hip-Hop has become such a global force, that even Oprah Winfrey must submit to the power and influence of the genre.

"She's realized she can't have a network that appeals to just vanilla audiences," Uncle Luke explained. "For her to debut a show called Master Class with Jay-Z, whose lyrics are controversial and explicit, says a whole lot about the direction in which OWN is going."