One of the biggest names in the hip-hop industry has called for offensive sexist and racist words to be banned from songs.

Russell Simmons, founder of legendary rap label Def Jam, said "nigger", "ho" and "bitch" should no longer be allowed and called for the FCC to issue new guidelines.

He explained: "The words 'bitch' and 'ho' are utterly derogatory and disrespectful of the painful, hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African-American women have experienced in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and suffering of women.

"The word 'nigger' is a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain, suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple forms of racism against African-Americans and other people of colour."

Simmons has organised discussions on the subject through his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and called on broadcasters and other labels to remove, bleep or delete the words.

"It is important to re-emphasise that our internal discussions with industry leaders are not about censorship," he continued. "Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African-Americans and other people of colour, African-American women and to all women in lyrics and images."