Television has taken on an MTV, BET image the last few weeks.

Rapper Cam’ron told everyone to stop snitching on “60 Minutes.” Common said all women were princesses on “Oprah.” Snoop Dogg’s explanation of how rapper’s usage of words differs from Don Imus’ played on several network news programs.

Their goal: to restore hip-hop’s image in the wake of recent criticism stemming from Don Imus’ now infamous words about the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

But they may be too late.

Long before Imus uttered his “nappy-headed ho” comment, rap, the music part of hip-hop culture, was in a downward spiral. After about 30 years of growth, rap sales nationwide decreased 21 percent from 2005 to 2006. Sales of other kinds of music in the same time frame only went down 6 percent. Those numbers, from the Recording Industry Association of America, include compact disc and digital sales.

Lawrence rap, which is usually grouped together with Kansas City as one scene because of the cities’ close proximity and large number of venues in Lawrence, has also been affected. Sales have plummeted about 70 percent at one Lawrence music store since 2005 and crowds have decreased where rap artists play.

“The last few years have been terrible for rap,” said Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur, co-founder and CEO of AllHipHop.com, a leading rap Web site.

You only need to look at the track listing on a few rap albums to see the presence of misogyny in hip-hop culture.

Jermaine Dupri sang about “Jazzy Hoes.” Ludacris distinguished women as “Ho.” Jay-Z invites people to read the scripture of “Money, Cash, Hoes.”

“The way they talk about women, the way they use the term bitches and hos and stuff, I think is a really sad commentary,” said the Rev. Leo Barbee Jr., pastor of Lawrence’s Victory Bible Church, 1942 Massachusetts St. “God has given us women to be an asset. To talk about them like that is to demean them.”

Imus’ comment may have sparked criticism against hip-hop, but studies and polls show people were tired of raps negativity long before.

That doesn’t mean rap’s declining popularity can be entirely blamed on some artists’ perceived negative messages.

“If people were sick of that,” said Sean Hunt, also known as Lawrence rapper Approach, “then the radio would stop playing it.”

Creekmur credits the decline to increased bootlegging and a lack of creativity in artists.

The style of local rap acts differs from mainstream rap, but violent incidents, including a murder at the Granada and the murder of Clacc, a member of the local rap group Da Bomb Squad have given hip-hop a bad name.

“With Lawrence, you have a really small town,” said Laura Watkins, co-DJ with Jason Agron on Hip-Hop Hyp. “Whenever there’s something like the shooting, people are just like, ‘hip-hop, it’s all bad.’ That really damages it.”

Rap sales at Love Garden Sounds, 936-1/2 Massachsetts St., are down 50 to 70 percent from two years ago. and local venues are also attracting fewer fans for rap concerts.

Local rap’s differences with the mainstream could actually be part of the reason it’s struggling. Rap listeners, Hunt said, have become obsessed with hot singles that have ready-to-sing choruses. The songs are perfect for purchasing on Itunes or for a ringtone. Mobile phone and digital download sales have increased 98 percent and 71 percent respectively since 2005, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The artists and record companies who make those singles, Hunt said, don’t always focus on making quality albums.

Local artists are using podcasts and MySpace accounts to increase their popularity. Hunt said he expects these steps will help area hip-hop sales increase when several rappers come out with new CD’s in the near future.

Changes like those could help local sales bounce back, but an improved image for all of hip-hop could be an even greater benefit.

Hunt said he’s worried about the apparent dissension between the critics of hip-hop and the members of the hip-hop community. He wants the two sides to come together. Then, rap music can get back to its old status.

“It’ll come back,” Hunt said. “But it’s not going to be one-sided.”

Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@kansan.com.

— Edited by Mark Vierthaler