I dont hate hip hop. I simply hate some of the negativity (and musical degeneration, but that's another post) that come from the morons that have taken it over (50, Jeezy, Wayne, TI and those of that ilk).

>Yes, thug-centric hip hop is a problem but Whitlock paints
>the hip hop community in one stroke. It's all bad.

Because that style and sound is the mainstream representation of the genre, and like it or not, pretty much all genres are judged by the mainstream perception, fair or not.

>I also think that is silly to focus so much on hip hop when it
>is as much of an effect and it is a cause. Maybe if we
>actually worked to fix our schools, give everyone an
>opportunity, and helped clean up our inner cities, people
>would see thug-centric hip hop as the misguided babblings that
>it really is (and it could inspire more positive or
>progressive hip hop)

Good sentiment, but the way entertainment and pop culture is scrutinized and obsessed over and it's ideals internalized (please don't try to argue that hip hop "swagger" isn't internalized by impressionable kids and some adults, because I KNOW that that is a fact), and knowing how much music means to the black community, The entertainers have a lot more influence (and responsibility) than folks who defend hip hop to the death will admit.

>
>Whitlock isn't completely wrong. What he does that is
>misguided is funneling every mistake into one issue: hip hop.
>He acts like if you changed hip-hop, suddenly all of the
>violence would cease.

>
>Sean Taylor made a lot of mistakes in his life that led to
>this tragedy. Personally, I don't think his choice of music
>was one of them.

Hip-Hop is more than music, it's a lifestyle. Isn't that one of the hip hop cliche's that you've heard repeated over and over again? The actual disc itself obviously hurts no one, but lifestyle that is represented in the music sure don't help.