Dont' blame Hip-hop

When I saw that a Sun-Times editor, Sue Ontiveros, wrote an article about how today's music stars haven't made anti-war songs like the stars of the '60's, I was very hopeful. It seemed that someone was finally going to expose the shallowness of the modern music industry in print. Instead, she shows her own shallowness.

She said it was reported that Patrick Daley, Mayor Richard Daley's son, had enlisted in the Army and that Eddie & Jobo, B96 morning DJ's, played the Destiny's Child song "Soldier" in their honor. Unfortunately, playing that tune was inappropriate, at best: the subject matter is about the girls "...on the prowl for a guy in a nice car with street cred." Ontiveros was correct to point out the idiocity of this. It makes me seriously ill that not only can a popular group have the gall to use references to purple hearts and soldiers in a shallow booty song, but that the single is so popular. I understand that what can construed as worse subject matter has been addressed in R&B, but that is no excuse to be just as senseless as everbody else.

However, it is unfair to expect all of hip-hop and rap to be the sole voice of reason that speaks to today's youth.

Hey, it's not todays youth are just interested in Hip Hop music.

And if you want to blame someone, blame the media outlets for not paying attention to enough of the artists who do have a positive and/or revolutionary message.