As a fan of hip-hop, I’ve been extremely proud of some of the events that have taken place this month. VH1 presented its annual installment of the Hip-Hop Honors program, which recognizes the legends of hip-hop. BET also aired its second hip-hop awards program. Among the most positive events of the BET program was KRS-One’s announcement of a new Stop the Violence movement. Many of rap’s big names came together for the movement to denounce the senseless violence that has infiltrated the youth of America. Despite this progress, there has been a parasite in the body of hip-hop which can – and hopefully will be – eliminated.

That parasite’s name is Karrine Steffans – and she’s coming to USF Nov. 28 to talk about hip-hop in America.

The woman, who earned a nickname based on her oral sex prowess, wrote an autobiography titled Confessions of a Video Vixen that became a New York Times best seller. The book was basically about her sexual escapades with various actors, athletes and musicians. It also entails how some of these men made large financial contributions to her while she dated them. At various points in time, she has stated that she wrote the book to educate women about the music industry and the destructive life that the entertainment industry facilitates. She has since released another book, The Vixen Diaries, which follows the aftermath of the first. Her second book, albeit lighter on the sexual material, still features the dishonorable name-dropping of various celebrities, among other things.

What sickens me about this woman is that she now claims to be an intelligent and enlightened person who has learned from her mistakes. She claims to be a person who supposedly gave up life in the fast lane to become an author of class and integrity.

Yet, after listening to the radio interviews that she conducted while promoting her second book, most notably The Jamie Foxx Radio Show and The Wendy Williams Show, I’m not convinced. The language and the unmitigated thoughtlessness that she exhibited on these shows illustrated a person who would say anything to get people to buy her book.

On Foxx’s radio show, for example, when she was asked a question about Big Tigger – a former host of BET’s Rap City and one of her ex’s – she admitted that this man had at one point been giving her money so she could feed her son.

But in the blink of an eye, she went on the attack, making some of the most disgusting and inflammatory statements one person could say about his sexuality, including: “I walked into a situation which was questionable, which included blood on the sheet, blood on the bathroom and his a–hole was blown out. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

She later reiterated her thoughts about the situation, saying, “I’m not a liar and I know what I saw,” on the Wendy Williams Radio Show. She then appeared on BET and talked about how people shouldn’t use rappers and other celebrities as role models because their lives are often infested with drug and alcohol abuse. While I don’t dispute her claim, I do pose the following question: If these guys are such bad people who can rarely function when sober, then why does she -the single mother of a 9-year-old – still hang around the guys who she claims are so wild and out of control?

She told VIBE Magazine and the Foxx show that she has a very intimate relationship with rapper Lil’ Wayne, who, according to MTV.com, has been arrested multiple times over the past year for drug possession. On Foxx’s show she also said: “Wayne is not gay. I love him – he’s a part of my life.”

She has said that her main reason for writing these books is to take care of her son. While her writings have landed her a multi-million dollar contract, she apparently is not thinking about the psychological damage her son will suffer when he is finally able to comprehend how his mother has conducted herself over the years. As far as I’m concerned, her son will be considered a successful child if he can make it through high school, even if he has to visit a psychiatrist regularly.

People like her are bad for society – not just hip-hop. Despite this, USF is bringing her to campus in November to speak on hip-hop in America. While the University is at it, they may as well book Adam “Pac-man” Jones to counsel USF’s football team on athletes who break the law.

Ryan Watson is a graduate student in mass communications.