"Sadly, the more-publicized demographics of the hip-hop community tend to be of the "gangsta" variety. Even sadder, that's not a new phenomenon. Look at the leagues of black actors and actresses who for decades had to make do with roles as domestics, pimps, hookers and petty criminals. "

You said you disagree but you just made my point exactly! Hip Hop USED to be controled by the people that created it and it didn't look like what you just mentioned above. Once it became a tool used to make money by others look what happened. One thing you have to keep in mind, is all those old actors (like Mantan Mooreland) you mentioned had no other roles availabe to them. These dudes today are playng the "Gangsta" role by choice. And you are right, hip hop is more than "Gangsta" So all these cats that play that role to sell records are taking the easy road and are in turn the real "sell outs" of hip hop and the black community. Just watch and listen to the Public Enemy video for "Give it Up" That shit is 10 years old and touches on all of this very well. Give Chuck props he saw this coming. And like I said, even though you said you disagree I think you helped make the point I was trying to get across when I started this thread. So with that I'll rest my case
[This message was edited Fri Feb 28 9:45:47 PST 2003 by intha916]

Common is so full of shit.