Comments on: Does The “New York Times” Have A Double Standard When It Comes To Hip-Hop Artists’ Stage Names?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:02:38 +0000

I remember my friend telling me about going to the movies with his dad and having his dad say, “Ice Cube? Who the hell is Ice Cube?” For some people, Mr. Cube would be a little to weird.

By: Sam Adams

Sam Adams — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:04:45 +0000

CJR might have a better case if they didn’t pick such stupid examples. Try Prince, or Cher, or Liberace. And learn how to spell “antichrist,” while you’re at it.

By: Lax Danja House

Lax Danja House — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:18:44 +0000

I imagine it's because Alicia Keys and Erykah Badu follow the standard First name Second name format whereas none of the cited rappers do. And I totally would refer to Ghostface Killah as Mr. Killah.

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:18:41 +0000

I’m still figuring out whether my Jay-Z CDs should be alphabetized under “J” or “Z.” And should “Dr. Dre” be under “Dre,” or the latter part of the D’s (because it’s “DR.”) or the earlier part (because “Dr.” is short for “Doctor”).

As my hero George Carlin once said, “These are the things I think about when it’s late at night and the lights go out.”

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:02:45 +0000

The Times already fudges its own rules elsewhere - the sports pages dispense with "Mr." and "Ms." altogether and refer to players by simple sobriquets like "Jeter" or "Jones" (not "Pac-Man").

I suspect the Times doesn't want to have to establish a formal rule for this, but they might as well.