They've been trying to kill hip hop for years. Sugar Hill Record label got a "distribution" deal that turned out to be a fancy way of literally stealing their catalog and putting them out of business. The very next year Yo! Mtv Raps was born. True/good hip hop or even rap that has a positive message has been rare since. During some of the 90's there was a bit of resurgence stuff like Tribe Called Quest and Arrested Development for instance carried the torch for the kind of positive message that P-Funk always carried.
It still shows up once in a while. A friend played Hopsin for me a while back. Showed me on YouTube even before the video started I'm like. Man I'm not gonna like this, I hate rap. Then BOOM first line is "Man, I hate rap but if the shoe fits wear it." Honestly the message reminded me a lot of Fearless Four's track Problems of the World Today. Most rap is a consumerist trap that gets kids of all skin tones to want to be part of some "thug game" that really ain't what it's cracked up to be. I don't care what your race or background, but if you get seriously into that "thug culture" and try to live the life you're likely not going to turn out well. Fearless Four, Arrested Development and Hopsin are part of that handful that use the genre of hip hop as it was born to be used: to inspire and point a way out.
At one point rap actually had the potential to be art and talk about people's struggles and the hope for a better future. Now its very negative, consumerist, and corporate controlled.
Tom Mcdonald has a few choice words about hip hop and how its commercial and harmful here:
There's more important shit than what you wear and where you live
And who you fuck and what you drink and what you spend and what you drive
Rappers full of bullshit
Rappers just a marketing vehicle for the product that the man wants you to buy
Rap about a full clip
Rappers just promotin' different liquors and varieties of ways that you could die, yeah
And in a rare fusion, rap and social justice in a nutshell. Creating a sense of victimhood for the purposes of control.
They ain't really tryin' help you, they don't wanna make you better
It's a lie they're tryna sell you so you always buy their records
If you really wanna know the truth they want you strugglin' forever
So you look to them for answers with your Visa or your debit
It's like the record labels working for pharma
Made anxiety trendy by usin' popular artists
Usin' rappers to promote using prescription pills to their audience
They created the problem to sell you pills that will solve 'em It's brilliant
No no no please tell me this is a troll. Its all so fucking tiresome
