Rap music...

I haven't bought a rap cd in a long time. To be honest, for the most part, i'm disgusted with most of what I hear. It's not the lyrical content that disgusts me, it's the lack of creativity. Everybody can't be selling drugs, killing people, screwing thousands of women, and making millions before their first single even hits the streets. It's boring.

I don't really watch videos anymore either. Do all rappers lay around the pool at their mansion while half naked girls roam around for the viewing of their crew? Once again, no originality. It's so annoying.

There are a few that break the mole like, Lupe Fiasco or Kanye but if you look at what you see on television and hear on the radio they are few and far between. I know that's not really the case, but i'm 40 years old and I don't have the time to be digging around for good rap. Common's an actor now so we probably won't be hearing anything from him for a while. Lauren's a bit nutty and i'm not even sure she's rapping anymore.

Some would wonder why a 40 year old woman even cares about rap music. First and foremost, i'm a lover of all music. I listen to it all. Mostly, I remember when this phenomenon called rap music first took off. I lived down the block from Kool Herc. I remember going to jams in the park where the deejay had to steal electricity from an apartment to get his equipment going. I remember me and my friend, Bena, going to Skate Key to see The Cold Crush Brothers, The Zulu Nation, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One More, and so on. It was a beautiful thing and it felt so real and so genuine, and we had so much damned fun.

It saddens me to see a culture that the people I mentioned worked so hard to build is no longer fun. It's so damned materialistic and violent. It hurts me. Some of them are so young. Then again, you have those like Fat Joe who shows no growth from cd to cd and wants to be Joey Crack forever. What are you bringing to your community by constantly rapping about being a drug dealer?

My daughter and I were watching Hip Hop vs. America on BET and David Banner was on the panel. He was constantly saying it's not his job to raise people's kids and he's a man and a father first but rapping is his job. I call bullcrap (still keeping my promise to Auntie Ann)! If your number one job is to be a father, then isn't it your responsibility to raise your own kids? Is it okay for them to listen to some of the crap that is out there?

Another point David Banner made that is really sad, but unfortunately true, is positive music doesn't really sell. It's true. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, and a host of others should be platinum, if not diamond, selling artists. Fortunately, they do it for the love of their craft and not money. They all have loyal fans who believe in them and support them to the end.

Why is our culture so violent and negative? All attention is paid to bad things and not enough to good. Paris Hilton is famous for being a partying whore, but you don't hear much about Raven Symone who is a wonderful example for young girls. It's disgusting.

Like I said, I haven't bought a rap cd in a long time but I plan to buy the new Nas cd. He's saying things I want to hear. I might even buy two copies just to support him.