So I'm not going to lie and say that I know anything about hip hop, because I grew up in East Greenwich, which in 99.9% white and for the most part I listened to Taylor Swift and stuff like that. There is not a lot of violence and no gangs. Even though we have a Main Street and below it there is the lower section of East Greenwich. It is where the families who are on assisted living live, and everybody knows it, they have a reputation. And that is as close to "ghetto" as we get here in East Greenwich. When my stepdad Shaffie moved in we created a big fuss because he is so dark and it freaked people out.
Aaron and Shaffie - Summer of 2008
But when it wasn't until Shaffie moved in with us that I started thinking about hip hop in a new way. Sure I danced to the songs at all the dances but I never really listened to what they were saying or cared enough. We always joke that he is teaching me to become more gangster... it's not going to well, obviously. So for his birthday one year I actually made him a "gangster mix". And it starts out with songs that I used to think were "ghetto" way back in the day
"Ghetto Superstar" by Pras
And has explicit songs that really stands out like "Gangsta Gansta" by Lil Scrappy.
I believe that Hip Hop is becoming too commercialized and that is why you can see the shift from the first video which came out in 1998 and the second which was released in 2006. Although I don't listen to rap music or hip hop, I can still hear the difference. But why is it that I don't listen to this kind of music?
And while I was writing this I found this and thought I would throw it in just for giggles:
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