good thing you said 'generally' Catrin...I am quite narrow in my musical tastes and tolerances..*grin*...but I try to have wide tolerances and respect for ethnic diversity...

the problem with 'rap' is that it is not a happy music/....it is hard, bitter, pushy, angry...etc...and telling me that it is just a reflection of the lives of the people who do it, does NOT in my view, make it tolerable as entertainment...If someone wants to study the underlying causes of rap, be my guest...but don't play it near me!...

(and I don't seem to remember the last time a ballad singer ..or even a banjo player...was gunned down in a drive-by shooting)