To a large extent I think hip hop has contributed negatively to the overall culture by glamifying the gang, drug, and violence lifestyle. Actually let me rephrase I think cvertain types of hip hop do this and others do not. It bothers me when I see gangsta hip hop artists say they arent promoting the lifestyle and just saying it like it is. Well if alot of money, power, and hot women are part of that lifestyle then sign me up!!! Having a sense of how the hip hop culture actually influences people who arent making the g's, those less off I see a very negative influence. I think its created a fairly rude self centered culture and has led indirectly to the deaths of 10's of thousands of people and the destruction of many of our cities from those who buy into that lifestyle. Now does hip hop influence everyone in the same way? heck no it doesnt but I do know for those who may not have the greatest family structure or direction the "lifestyle" seems appealing. What sort of messages are we sending children wh havent lived the lfestyle yet byut are being exposed to it in music videos and lyrics at home? What are we creating? The gang banger life is portrayed as fun and cool and powerful, a big load of testosterone, big bad dogs, and violence. Certainly doesnt promote neighborly friendship. The gangsta life is no way to get peace, real respectable success, and stability into ones life!

I was not pinpointing mos def. I was making a larger statement. Nothing in my ststement said anything about Mos Def in particular.

ha ha mos def is for white kids, trust me 95% of his fans are white, and although he's one of the "blame whitey types" his message is overall positive. But gangsta rap does have an effect on inner city youth, you'd be a fool to think otherwise. I'Il accept that the gansta lifestyle was aroud b4 gansta rap, but g-r nutured and glorified the lifestyle to point where its an accepted part of the culture.

I was not pinpointing mos def. I was making a larger statement. Nothing in my ststement said anything about Mos Def in particular. In addition I clearly stated "I think certain types of hip hop do this and others do not" in refering to good and bad influences.

If what iamBuffalosfuture said about the content having hints of "blame whitey" in it then I am offended. Do we have a double standard in this Country?

i have a very good idea of what people are listening to and who likes what, as i am college aged, talk to alot of music fans and am one myself. sorry i know what i know, go ahead and try to refute the demographics of mos def's fanbase. there is nothing wrong w. appealing to mass fanbases, im never one to criticize an artist for "selling out" by advancing their music in a diff. direction. And as evidence of Mos Def's blame whitey tactics, he rallied support for the Jena 6 thugs. Im too lazy to pull examples from his lyrics but feel free to look them up.

i think it is

haha I read that stuffwhitepeoplelike a while back, saw it in rolling stone not much later. pretty hilarious I think it is very narrow minded to characterize his fanbase. One city is not an accurate representation for the nation, first of all. Second of all, most people I know listen to/like mos def, black and white. they did some black jack johnson stuff on the new danger.

I saw spike lee about 4 years ago at daemen. When one of the comments made was there were no rapper actors making positive moves, mos def was spike lee's enthusiastic rebuttal. I had to work today, and I have to work tomorrow so I will miss this lecture, however it is something I would very much like to see.

UPDATE: The event was postponed until tomorrow. He was stuck in NYC.