Hip Hop and Russell Simmons changed the “image” of the Pit Bull

The breed’s image remained largely positive until the late 1970s, when some widely publicized attacks on children started to turn the public’s perception, says Karen Delise, author of the book “The Pit Bull Placebo: The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression.”

She blames the music industry — in concert with the media and the Internet — for making the pit bull the devil dog du jour.

“It’s all tied into the hip-hop culture, the image and projection of a dog as an extension of your manhood,” she says.

The Humane Society of the United States points to CDs such as DMX’s “Grand Champ” — code in the dogfighting world for an animal that’s won five straight contests — or the video for Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” which shows a pit bull lunging at the camera.

But rap impresario Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Records and manager of such acts as Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, says those images are just reflections of what is happening on our streets.

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