Thanks, Kat for the insight. However, I still think that what you're talking about is a vast minority of youth. In a country of 270 million+, the youth inspired by the media, pop culture, and music to kill and maim is going to be an incredibly small number compared to the whole. Think of other third world countries where the youth dont even have a prayer on the street and be grateful for a Western standard of living. So you might say, "Why do we need rap at all if it only inspires to kill?", which brings me to my next point. You can't dismiss rap as an art form simply because it is a rabble rouser or because you dont like it. Like so many other movements (modern art, etc.) rap may have contributed to the deaths of many people (even if, as in my opinion, it is a very small contribution), but that doesnt make it any less of an art form. What is there to say that rap is responsible for any death or violence. Simply rationalizing your position by saying rap contributes to a "lifestyle" involving violence is not enough. In the cases Chet is talking about, it is simply part of a cycle. You grow up on the streets, you suffer abuse and poverty, you are mistreated, you join a gang, you react to your misfortune with violence. The fact that rap is a part of these kids' life does not mean that it is their inspiration. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see victims of this lifestyle up close as Chet has, watch the movie "Menace II Society", a movie that depicts rather accurately the sort of situation someone living in Watts or Harlem might have to deal with (in this case Watts). The characters are violent because it is the only proper reaction in their minds. It is not proper because rap music has told them it is proper, but because it is a natural reaction. In general, the em-cee is not making an influential speech, but commenting on the severity and reality of situations with which Urban American Youth are forced to deal with.

Rob (Mandochop)