I must've posted this thread somewhere, it pops up on my "MyATS"..can't find what I said before, but no matter. The govt. didn't create hiphop. Hiphop was started by people who were using spoken word and music to express, and explain, their daily life, and the lives of people in thie surroundings. but, people being people(who generally love murder and mayhem over peace) and, the music industry being the music industry, realized that "positive" rap doesn't sell, for much the same reason that news broadcasts go by the motto, "if it bleeds, it leads".

People love violence, murder, misey. they lap it up, and reject the positive as boring. the music industry wants to make money, so, they stuck with what sells, and will not put any rappers "on" who don't stick to the formula(mostly). You can say that the rappers shouldn't play the game; but even "diddy-dirty-money" has someone who signs HIS checks. In any case, it's not a govt. conspiracy per se. Now, do you think the govt. uses the situation to further it's own ends? you bet. the govt. didn't create hip-hop, and the govt. didn't create the drug trade. but it uses both to achieve political, monetary and (frankly)eugenics-based objectives. We black folks have been placed in a situation where it's so very easy to self-destruct, and a lot of us do, with drugs, gangs, etc. but(and I grew up dirt-poor in the 'hood) I did not follow that route, so I know you can say "no" to it and survive.

The most frustrating thing for me as a black man , though, is my own people. because of our collective low self-esteem; because of our self-hatred and same-hatred, white folks or the govt don't have to do anything to us. we do it to ourselves, and each other. In every field, any you care to name, black folks' biggest enemies aren't white folks, or hispanics, etc. It's other black folks with that self-hate and same-hate. In my field(film industry) the worst things done to me, the most opposition I've experienced, has ALWAYS, with one exception, come from another black person, not a white person, or hispanic, or asian. Until THAT little mental problem is fixed, things will never get better, and whether it be through violent hip-hop, or anything else, we black people will still find ourselves where we are now, 100 years from now. just with better gadgets.