No Limitations | Master P *ahem* Percy Miller to start cable station

In this day and age, racial equality and harmony go hand in hand. We are on the brink of a historical time in this nation’s history with the possibility of our first African American Commander in Chief come November. The influx of black and brown within communities across the country signals that many Americans are not happy with status quo and are willing, more and more, to look for better solutions to life’s problems and alternative methods to make themselves better people in society.

And so it is when it comes to how we spend our entertainment dollar. We are a culture incredibly influenced by what we see and hear. Many times, we will not wait to hear the full story and make our own snap judgements. Life seems like its one big sound byte sometimes.

This is especially prevalent in the hip hop world. If you listened to mainstream media, Ludacris is the scourge of the earth for what he said on a track about Hillary, McCain, and W. Or that Snoop got stopped at the airport with weapons possesion. Or some such nonsense…Hell, you would think that no one in hip hop had anything on their mind then talking shit, toting weapons into airports, smoking weed, or any other controversial thing you can think of.

But we all know that’s not reality. We know that Snoop coaches his son’s youth football team here in Cali. We know that Jay Z has part ownership in an NBA franchise, along with his numerous musical and entrepreneurial endeavors.

Perhaps someone who doesn’t immediately come to mind, but is no less a positive force in the community and our culture at large is one Percy Miller, better known to some as Master P. From his own record and production to his clothing line, Miller has always been at the forefront of uplifting the consciousness of the minority community with his efforts. But because he’s a “rapper,” somehow his accomplishments lose their luster. But he’s about to embark on a whole new endeavor that may finally get him his just due.

Master P has completed his image makeover with a name change and the announcement to create his own cable television channel. P’s reinvention of himself as Percy Miller, his birth name, was announced earlier this week via a press release, and the creation of his Better Black Television network.

“I believe that there is a market in our community for a new diverse network that provides a new brand of superior programming that caters to all aspects of television, from reality to original programming,” Miller tells the Hollywood Reporter. “We believe TV content can be positive and responsible and still have good ratings with great content.”

The move is in line with Miller’s profanity free label, Take A Stand Records. As expected, the new network will be in direct competition with BET, whose founder, Robert Johnson, may have inadvertently provided its inspiration.

“I wanted to know TV, so I hung out with Bob [Johnson] and learned the TV game from one of the best in the business,” adds Miller.

BBTV has already assembled an advisory board that includes Denzel Washington, NAACP Executive Director Vicangelo Bullock, DJ Kool Herc and several high-ranking people in the business world. The network’s list of developmental programming includes the video show Sunset and Vine, the stand-up showcase One Shot Comedy Show, Manage Your Money, the What’s Cooking TV Show and youth-oriented programming such as Gee Gee the Giraffe.

As far as Miller’s decision to change his image, he released the following statement:

“I’ve branched out into so many different arenas that range from being the first African-American to have a clothing line at Wal-Mart, to writing books, and speaking on Capitol Hill, but all that gets overshadowed because I come from the hip-hop industry. There are a lot of people out there, who are afraid to grow up and change, but I’m not and P. Miller is the evolution of me, Percy Miller the entrepreneur, the business man.”

Now, I know, the first thing that will come to mind in a lot of people’s mind, particularly those who
will never want to let go of their image of who Master P is, he sold out. why would he want to go from cussing on records and having” more bitches than light switches in his videos and DVD’s” to doing a total reversal in his career path. And I guess I can kinda see where you’re going. But how is he any different than Ice Cube, who has done more “family friendly“ type movies and let his music take a back seat by and large. What about Xzibit? What about any other rapper that has crossed over to mainstream?

It’s almost like we as minorities want to see each other fail cause we didn’t do or we didn’t come up with the concept. We always do that. Always. Maybe not you are reading this right now. But it will happen. You’re probably sitting there right now thinking what does this Hispanic who looks like a white boy know anything about the hood?

I guess what I’m getting at is that we need to applaud the efforts of those who will command respects of the masses from all walks of life. Percy Miller is using his persona, his mind, his efforts, to show that anyone, from the young child prodigy to the Wall Street investor, do exist in places other than White America. As the saying goes, you cannot expect others to do for you if you’re not willing to do for yourself…

And so, in his latest effort, that’s exactly what P, uh I mean Miller, is doing. It’s all about positivity. Are we more worried about image or substance? Image will only get you so far. Maybe we are all afraid that he might actually succeed and it might force us to think outside our comfort zone. We all go through changes. Maybe BBTV will succeed, maybe it won’t. But some people said a sitcom centered around an African American family with two successful career parents with intelligent kids wouldn’t fly because such a thing didn’t exist. Hmmm, I guess it’s a good thing Mr. Bill Cosby believed in it. Otherwise we’d all be content with our life and never aspire to dream and grow. After all, it’s always easier to be the “victim” right? Late

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