[Patton4]

I'll completely agree that many rappers today are happy to glorify gangsta culture to "get theirs" because the money is out there for them. Do they owe anything to anybody else? Do they force anyone to buy their albums? Are they wrong for trying to get paid?

Isn't the sad fact that what some gangsta rapppers rap about is actually happening in the streets every day??? Blaming rap music is ridiculous and IMO, the easy way out. Look at the schools in poverty-stricken urban areas. You have little to no parental support, the funding is not there, and the facilities are in ill-repair compared to schools in different neighborhoods. That in its own is a recipe for failure to all children who attend these schools regardless of race. And I don't even want to get into poverty as a cause.

But in the end, people want to blame rappers for making music that in some cases connects with what these kids know and live in everyday? Please.

It is truly sad that the record companies and corporate radio owners are such idiots that rappers who could have a positive effect on youth are pushed aside for the junk that is out there right now. Why don't we blame those a**holes?