Ech, except here indie spawned emo...

Intentions and literal content of a message are not one and the same. I'm not going to touch that text, and I see no reason to generalize. Some rappers become paper-chasers, others grow up in a community that plays an active role in the development of their forms of expression. You may or may not value that community, their customs or their way of expression, but this does nothing to stop artists emerging from it to be self-aware, critical and creative. They are entirely free to use words, sayings, mannerisms and literary and melodical constructs that not only originate from their community, but also are directed at it.

I can't help but wonder at the arrogance with which so many people look down upon so many things they do not fully know or understand. Sure, 'ghetto products' are not sophisticated in the way that classical music is, by a long shot, and this goes for many other expressive art around the globe. Sure, there's hacks, frauds, money-grabbers and fools out there, contributing an ubiquitous pile of meaningless garbage - but they are everywhere. I can totally understand it if you don't enjoy listening or exploring a genre like 'crime-rap' - I myself am not really partial to it, excepting a handful of masterpieces - and you can choose not to read between the lines. Those are no grounds for denying evident social criticism, expressions of hartfelt emotions and the like, or demanding songs about 'butterflies', whatever good that may do them or us.

(yes, yes, my apologies for staying off-topic, but I didn't see any contributions to the main theme yet, anyway)

 

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino is rather famous :]

timberlake (tim-ber-laek): sterilized, talentless, unchallenging shite.

Absolutely. Of which Timberlake is but one example.

BTW I didn't even know Fats Domino was still alive.