When Will Hip Hop Re-Grow Up?

When did the grown men disappear from Hip Hop and R&B? Growing up, I listened to groups like Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane, and so forth who discussed issues like police corruption, racism, sexism, self-respect, safe sex, and uplifting the Black community within their music. Now I turn on Hip Hop stations and hear the same formula: gold/platinum chains and teeth, hoes, bitches, guns, killing, and partying. Now while I will proudly challenge you to a Soulja Boy dance-off and know that Afrika Bambataa and Kool Herc were making party music back in the late 70s and early 80s, why did dance music have to become so vulgar? Nowadays, songs with excellent beats make it almost mandatory for women to be called out of their name, regardless of whether they deserved the title or not, and somewhere along the line, there had to be a line about being affiliated with some gang, crew, or shooting someone. Why? When did the Hip Hop community decide that we didn't have anything else to talk about?

We can blame it on record labels, but the fact of the matter is no record label is taking a whip to anybody's backs and making the stereotypes come flying out of these rappers' mouths. Record labels want to make money just like rappers do, and when they see that phenomenal and intelligent albums like Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come" made less money than Jay-Z's "American Gangster" album, that tells them that stereotypes sell. So what do they ask for? More ignorant, stereotypical music. I hear people complain that the majority of negative music is being purchased by white people who already believe that black people are negative. However, when I walk into a predominantly black club, I'm more likely to hear Lil' Wayne rapping about licking lollipops than I am to hear a Lupe Fiasco track debating record labels who want him to "Dumb It Down." So who is really buying the music?