>Sagging pants

This one I'll file under questionable fashion sense.

>Gang Affiliation
>Violence
>Misogyny
>Drug culture
>Thug mentality
>Extreme materialism
>Hyper masculinity
>Prison mentality

All of this? These have been issues for black folks before an MC rocked any party. No way on god's green earth did hip-hop cause any of this. If anything, hip-hop started speaking to these issues (or reflecting them).

>These prevalent themes in mainstream hip hop have changed the
>mind state of many young Black and Brown males (and females)
>in impoverished areas to the point that it's visibly
>noticeable in everything they do and say...they truly embody
>the music moreso than ever and that's scary. Whether art
>imitates life or life imitates art, it's painfully obvious
>that the art of mainstream hip hop is no longer that.

If it's anything, it's art imitating life. And there's no way that I can fault hip-hop for reflecting or talking about what already existed. They want hip-hop to be the scapegoat that causes us to look away from some of the real causes.