How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans



How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans

                Brent Staples shows his disgust for the way rap music is now a days right off the start of his article.  He also talks about racism and says, “The most poisonous one defines middle-class normalcy and achievement as “white,” while embracing violence, illiteracy and drug dealing as “authentically” black.”  His whole article is mainly about how rap music today is mostly about being drug dealers, being in gangs, having shootouts with other gangs, and insulting rival artists.  You can tell from the title of the article that he has negative views towards this subject.

                Brent Staples names some rappers that have been killed in shootouts and they are Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.  He also mentions one other artist that writes almost all of his songs about dealing drugs and insulting other artist and raising the tension as well, and that would be none other than 50 cent.  50 cent or Curtis Jackson III released a new record and named it The Massacre.  Mr. Staples writes, “The Massacre promotion raises the ante in a most destructive way.  New artists, desperate for stardom, will say or do anything to win notice –and buzz—for their next projects.  As the trend escalates, inner-city listeners… are being fed toxic diet of rap cuts that glorify murder and make it seem perfectly normal to spend your life in prison.”  The way he writes so negatively about the rap music you can tell he thinks that it will eventually get out of hand and it will become unacceptable to the public.