It was interesting to read how hip hop affected you and to learn that people had more enlightened stances on the subject than myself.

Like Marbles said, 'hip hop was ours,' and I know for myself that caused me to be protective of it (to the microscopic degree of ownership that I had of the culture). As a young idealist, I thought it could change the world or at least make a big dent in it.

And when hip hop became as influenced by the greater power inequality as hip hop influenced it, being an active member became disillusioning. Also, some mental health conditions led to music (and much of pop culture) becoming less relevant to my day to day life.

My_SP_1200 brought up an interesting point about hip hop being a route into an interesting career. As a kid in St. Louis, the thought of working within hip hop was about as realistic as earning a living in sports. (which for a 5'10" kid who wasn't mad UPS was hiring, working in sports was the farthest thing from my mind)

It seemed there was a time that if you had good taste and a solid work ethic there were legitimate career paths in hip hop.

But it was an amazing time to watch the birth and growth of a culture that became so influential to the greater culture, even across the globe.