There's a distinction between linguistic variance and innovation on the one hand, and the kind of rhetoric and posturing that Richard was referring to, on the other. It's important not to blur that distinction, and people sometimes do.

I agree with you said, McGrath.

But in mainstream media and on mainstream Internet discussion forums {is Mudcat a mainstream forum?}, you hear & read much more about the "rhetoric and posturing" of hip hop culture than about hip hop culture's "linquistic variance and innovations".