Download The 'oprah Song' For Free!

April 10, 2008 - PRLog -- (LOS ANGELES, CA) – Whether or not Oprah hates rap music and looks down on the entire hip-hop culture has been under question by many in the hip-hop society. The powerfully-persuasive talk show host has been publicly criticized by Ludacris and Ice Cube, both alleging that they have been mistreated by her in the past. 50 Cent has also openly dissed Oprah, saying she doesn't make an effort to appeal to hip-hop fans. However, Oprah insists that she does not have a problem with rap and that she actually bumps a little Kanye and Jay-Z in her iPod, but she feels that rappers need to hold themselves accountable for their words because they hold so much influence with young people across the world.

Perhaps she is referring to how loosely some rappers use derogatory words toward females and abrasively illustrate woman as only body parts and bed candy.  Perhaps as an African-American woman who has fought her way through many male egos and defeated the testosterone-driven industry to earn respect as one of the worlds most powerful and influential business women who has spent most of her life compelling woman to understand their value, she's got a very good reason to immensely despise certain sexist lyrical content. Perhaps it's not hip-hop music itself, but specific vulgar and misogynists lyrics dominating rap music that really pisses her off.  

Specific rappers thrive and bank on these degrading lyrics, while other rappers stick to songs with more – uh, shall we say – class and integrity. And perhaps that is precisely why the notoriously explicit rappers find themselves being left off her guest list, while only a handful of emcees are invited to have a seat on her infamous leather couch. Perhaps there is a method to this madness, or maybe as powerful as she is (And when we say powerful, we mean in the history of civilization) she knows a thing or two about playing hardball. Either way, she is Oprah – she can do whatever the heck she wants to do. And being Oprah, if she comes across a rapper whose music is worth showcasing, she may just want to showcase their music – ah, see how that works?

Such may be the case with rapper/producer/musician Sterlen Roberts. In Sterlen's song "Runnin'," he reaches out to Oprah and shows her his love and gratitude on behalf of the hip-hop community. "I made references to Oprah because I did that [song] and that's what I was feeling. I was feeling like, 'Oprah, we all know how you feel about rap, but we all look up to you, Oprah. We do what we do and if you were our age, who knows, you might really get down with us. But we love you, Oprah, and we're showing love,'" says Sterlen Roberts to his publicist.

"Oprah I'm tryin' to do something good" starts out this song about Sterlen Robert's personal journey and his admiration for Oprah, with his heartfelt and respectful lyrics that will impact a generation caught up in a digital world where anything explicit can be accessed with one click of a mouse. In true Sterlen Robert's style, the song is a combination of hip-hop and gospel influence. Sterlen's father, who is a Grammy-nominated gospel writer and producer, allowed him to sample one of his songs called "Wait," a critically-acclaimed and popular gospel song. "Runnin'," Sterlen says, "Is just about all of us rappers and actors and singers, we're running and we feel like it's kinda dangerous, we might lose a lot of our credibility with fully giving our life to God because we'd have to stop a lot of the things that we do, or we may not, you know, but it's just asking God 'If I do this, can I rely on You to keep it moving with me?' Which we all know we can."

The music video is set to be filmed in Sterlen's hometown East Oakland, California and will be launched exclusively on www.myspace.com/sterlenroberts and hosted by YouTube. "The song was coming from my heart. These [type of positive] songs may not be the songs that the kids wanna hear and stuff like this, but it's the real songs to me that mean something to us as artists.  If we won't be who we are, then we'll just be dead... we'll be walking zombies."

MTL Records, Sterlen's label, is releasing the highly-anticipated single "Runnin'" as a free download for a limited-time only, exclusively on www.mtlrecords.com.
MTL Records CEO, Todd DiMartino says, "We decided to donate this song because I understand the vision and artistic expression that Sterlen [Roberts] is trying to share with the world."

Download, “Runnin' (The Oprah Song)” today right here:
http://www.mtlrecords.com/Runnin.html