I was thinking of people like KRS-One, or Common, Mos Def, or even Public Enemy. Most of this stuff was more socially conscience that the stuff that's around today.
I'm not saying that everything that comes out now is about gang banging and riding on "dubs" and bling, but the sad reality is that the majority of it is. Especially if you put on BET...what are you exposed to? What it boils down to is what the media gives us exposure to. If the radio and TV show these new rappers talking about pimps and cars and shooting things then the majority of the population are going to assume that is what rap has evolved into.
It is the music industry in general that is to blame. Look at any genre targeted at youth. Bands or people last an album or two and then they are yesterday’s news. You really think that Britney is going to make a come back? Music is no longer timeless. I guarantee people are not going to be sitting around in 20 years with their kids or friends listening to their favorite Sum 41 album or their favorite Snoop Dog album. Music today just doesn't have the staying power it used to in my opinion...but I digress.
My point was that the older rappers, the originators had a message and were fighting against something or someone that was oppressing them, they had a purpose and if they got paid for it then good. Today guys you've never heard of drop their first single and they already have millions of dollars behind them like they have been in the game for decades. Anyways, the point is that rap is dead or dying a slow at the hands of mass media because they think they found "the" formula to make quick money and now they are replicating it like crazy and shoving it down our throats.
oh and by the way...when it comes to whit rappers I prefer Vanilla Ice.
