when I heard that Alicia keys had said that, my respect for her plummeted. until today, I always thought of her as an intelligent, strong-minded, talented young woman, and then hearing her talk about all these gangsta rap conspiracies made me sad. but, we weren't there, we don't know what really happened, and she IS a prominent figure in the industry, so maybe she knows something we dont... then again, she isn't much older than myself, so she would have only been a teenager when that stuff went down.
I don't think it was any sort of conspiracy, I just think it's a case of pop culture out of control and having a firm grip on a specific demographic.
hip hop isn't just a genre, it's a "lifestyle". That is, if you call living in government houseing on welfare with 4 kids and living off payday loans, spending more money on your weave and "bling" than on your children, and keeping track of 3 baby-daddies a lifestyle.
on a similar note, I just read a news story about a couple who was arrested for a domestic dispute. Guess what the fight was about?
Which GANG should their FOUR-YEAR-OLD join.