I hear you...but you know what, I can't agree 100% on that because when NWA came out...they was spittin real shit from the heart. Shit that was goin on back then (and still today....check my "And they Wonder Why We Hate Them" post). They had a cause...they stood for something...even though you might not have agreed w/ them...they weren't just following a trend. They were true to themselves. The stuff that comes out nowadays...these rappers are "me-too" rappers. Just tryin to make a dollar. Which is all good...but I couldn't do that at the expense of my character. And the fact that the radio is force feeding this simple minded shit to a weak minded generation...it's killing an art form. We're losing this battle.
100% cosign
And Stress in the 70's thats all they knew, so Dre has been doin his thing.
I liked Renagade by them cats when it first dropped..
When we didnt have a hipop past those dudes were creating it.Not all of it was good, ie the John Wayne rap.
It was new and expirimental then so no one knew any better.Now adays they do,
although I dont entirely disagree with you on that being a catalyst I think its cuz the "White" record Industry looks only at this as dollar signs instead of an artform.