All kidding aside - I'm sure you're a swell guy 'n stuff, and don't take it personally when I say that imo - that statement is complete and utter B.S. I'm certain that there are some well-intentioned rappers out there, but as a vehicle for social commentary by the under-privileged, the rap "genre" is a complete failure and it hasn't united anyone knowingly or unknowingly in a
positive or
altruistic way as a vehicle for change. For an example of genres that have perhaps done a better job at that endeavor, take a look at Reggae or American Grassroots Blues. On the contrary, rap has predominantly united those with a propensity for thug mentality, and it's plagued with an image problem which evokes a sustained one-dimensional message of violence, subordination of and abuse of females, and most ironically - boasting rights over material accumulation ("cribs", "being seen at the da club", "cashmuney", etc., mo pussy) It offers little or no resolution to the social situation it supposedly loathes and uses as a justification to exist in the first place. If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem. Especially in America, all of the raw materials and avenues to pull oneself out of the muck by ones bootstraps and change ones conditions are there, provided one has the will, persistence and drive to do so - don't sit around and moan about being held down by "
The Man" - get off of your ass and expend some creative energy. Lastly - take a tally of how many successful & wealthy rappers who got rich off of their audiences have actually given something back to society and the poor disenfranchised huddled masses who listen to their muthafuckin lyrics and paid to see their performances. My cashmuney says that tally is pretty thin. Sadly, at the end of the day, however noble it's origins, rap is just another form of musical expression that ended up being corporatized into a money machine. Just my 50 Cent worth.
