Hip Hop as a culture is going nowhere until we respect and practice the elements, respect and pay homage to its founders, and get rid of the "powers that be" influence over the "business" of hip hop because that's who basically controls what we listen to over mainstream radio. I can honestly say that I did "buy" into something real when hip hop started. Hip hop seemed like a "mistake" almost, or something that was created out of nothing...which is GOD-LIKE. Now everything is set up and orchestrated and WE ALL KNOW IT!!! I feel proud to have experienced what the culture was supposed to be...but everything is ass backwards now....the wackness is running shit while the dopeness is underground and what people should realize is that we always had a mainstream and underground in hip hop...the difference is that at one point both levels respected each other because they fed off each other when the culture was strong.