Hip hop still has a conscience. I often miss the likes of The Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, De La, Queen Latifah, etc, but there are artists who still make music that isn't about bootie shaking, pimps, drug dealing, etc. Mos Def, Talib Qweli, Common, The Roots are all making music that I'd want my little nephew to grow up listening to. Ever hear the song "Little Brother" by Mos Def and Talib Kweli? With lyrics like "Don't be standing still/If you don't plan ahead then you plan to fail" and "can't wait for opportunity to knock you gotta make it happen" they are trying to tell these kids there's more to life than standing on the corner.

"What comes to mind when you think about rap?"

Well, just off the top of my head, "You can't spell crap without rap." Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Although the trend in rap/hip-hop/black music towards gangsta-rism existed before, once Eminem hit it big it became the only subgenre promoted in mainstream entertainment. Eminem's success gave the white middle-aged music industry gatekeepers permission to embrace the most vile, misogynist, materialistic, stereotypical anthems and artists. These usually one-hit wonders are shoved down our throats on the radio, television, and movies(how did "Hard to be a Pimp" win an Oscar? black teenagers weren't voting). A casual listener would be surprised that any African Americans were making music about other subjects besides bling, grillz, hoes, and coke.

Media and critics promote these artists over more thoughtful rappers, singers, and bands. T.I., The Clipse, and Mike Jones are praised as REAL while The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli and similar artists are dismissed as soft and bourgie. By mostly white guys living in lily white suburbs, college towns, and hipster hoods.

Working in a record store during the mid-80's, the writing was already on the wall that thug-flavored hip hop was going to push out everything else. As for gansta rap, in many respects it reached its peak by the early nineties; what we've got now is pimp hop. Sure, there's plenty of great hip hop out there, but as Mcquillar argues its way out of balance. Reminds me of how hair metal ruled rock for about half a decade, and then grunge came along and washed it all away. Hopefully there is a hip hop Nirvana waiting in the wings, but i'm not holding my breath.

I guess what I miss about old school rap was that it had a sense of humor and playfulness. If eminem is funny, then I'm not getting the joke. But I guess that's just me getting old.

Now we have proper rap fans longing for the "authentic" "meaningful" golden-era of the near past because the mainstream, corporate product has become crass and materialistic. All the while the "critically acclaimed" likes of Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West arch their eyebrows and self-consciously go after formal conventions and audience expectations with little ironic hatchets.

The same thing happened to Rock in the '70s.

You know it's dead. Dead. Dead. Or as Stuart Scott said yesterday of a long fly ball to deep right field "Tro som D's on dat B"

Yeah rap is dead.

The author implies that we as adults are able to make a distinction between fantasy and reality that children cannot, yet she does not address the question which is other media is "of low quality and morally questionable" so why is rap music different?

The reason that I believe that rap music is different is because of their authenticity. In order for a rap artist to be accepted he/she must show that they are "real." While their stories are usually incredible and totally fabricated, they must live the role. Thus we have rappers like Young Jeezy, whose thug background eclipses his questionable talent.

The danger then comes to the fore when an undiscerning (mostly young) public listens to the music and cannot differentiate between the rapper and the character that they play. When I watch Terminator I know that Arnold is playing a role, When I listen to 50 Cent, he wants me to believe that he actually does everything he sings about. And for someone that has been indoctrinated into that culture that's a hard distinction to make.

I'll never forget the first time I heard that rap. NEVER. And that goes double for "Fight the Power." I'm sorry, but nothing Kayne West or Mos Def has ever done will compete. Grand Master Flash and Chuck D were the Lennon and McCartney of rap, even if they never worked together. They were and are brilliant, but sadly past their prime. Until someone with their talent and brilliance comes along, we'll all have to put up with bird-brains like Eminem...who isn't a half-bad actor. Maybe he should try a career change, for the sake of all rap fans.

What's wrong, America? You subject a people to slavery, prevent them from integrating, flee for the suburbs, peer back into the concrete jungle and have the audacity to frown if the music emerging isn't of the highest moral fiber? I'm looking hard at you, Mr. "Rap is Crap."

What's truly offensive is middle-America mediocre sex-rock by the likes of best-selling Hinder, whose misogony comes from a long-standing white tradition, as opposed to the dog-eat-dog streets of the inner-city. At least Ghostface Killah pairs his misogony with sharp wit and musical talent.

Until Americans decide to do something about poverty, let's refrain from condemning those musically-inclined folks (products of their environment, all) who are smart enough to see a quick way out of the ghetto: selling "authentic urban jungle music" to white people.

I am old enough to remember good black music. Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, you all know the names. And Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, King Sunny Ade...

There is simply nothing in rap to compare with the musical sophistication of even the least of the above-listed performers' b-sides. Nothing. And that's even without the mindlessness of the "lyric" content.

And that is a very sad fact.

If hostility, bling, and misogyny equate to "authenticity", then make mine artifice, thankyouverymuch.