Well, speaking as a self professed expert on black people (I've been one most of my life), there's nothing inherently wrong with rap music. I'll agree with you (Fmeh) on what you said about the Music Industry however, as it is really the problem, and not the music itself. Does rap music promote a lot of stereotypes, many of which negative? Yup. But other forms of music do as well.
Trying to single out rap music as a bane of what's wrong with America's youth isn't racist, but it is certainly biased and unfair. You asked how many people spend their live savings trying to emulate rock stars and the like. I ask you if you've never heard of someone blowing upwards of 2 thousand dollars on a guitar, when they can barely hit a chord?
Do some people dress in the outlandish jewelry and baggy clothes showcased in rap music? Yep.But don't some people also shave thier heads into a mohawk and wear ties with t-shirts because that's the style promoted by their particular favorite band and/or genre of music? Aren't there grown ass men who converge en mass on Las Vegas every year dressed up in rhinestone jumpsuits and pompadours? Don't the skater kids and whatnot share a similar style to the types of bands and whatnots that they listen to?
I mean seriously. Look at some of the subcultures here in the United States and tell me that the style of clothing prevalent in them doesn't reflect the type of music most in that subculture listen to.
As for the negative stereotypes, mannerisms, and thought processes Rap/Hip-Hop puts forth (IE, women as property, crotch grabbing, etc) you can't honestly tell me that other genre's of music, for instance hard rock or punk, didn't inspire certain people to adopt certain attitudes and behaviors. The notion and music of rebellion has been around long before rap, and more or less doing the same thing. Songs about sex, drugs, crime, and violence are almost as old as music itself. Hell, one of my favorite songs ever is "Summer Wine" which is more or less a song about getting drunk off your ass and then robbed by some chick you just met.
I'm fairly sure "I Think I'm Turning Japanese" and "I Touch Myself" are songs about masturbation. Also, didn't The Clash have a song about fighting The Law? And didn't the Sex Pistols remake said song so that The Law lost?
Johnny Cash if I recall correctly had a song called Cocaine Blues. And didn't he kinda glorify murder in Folsom Prison Blues? I mean, "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die" is one of the most quoted lines ever.
Dean Martin played a notorious lush back in his day, so much so that being constantly drunk became a part of his celebrity. Chuck Berry found his only real hit with the aptly named song "My Ding-A-Ling". But at this point I'm just ranting and raving.
Sigh....
The short version of what I'm trying to say is, all the things you hate about Rap music have been around long before it was, and they were glorified long before rap started doing it. Ok, another semi-rant....but isn't Keith Richards partially famous for, lacking a better phrase, still fucking being alive? I mean seriously! I'm not a huge Stones fan, but just about everyone on the planet knows that man's had more drugs in him than whatever fictional hospital Dr. House works at. I mean for crying out loud, for the longest time the phrase has been "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll". Funny how you can lump one bad thing in with two good things and no one really bats and eye.
Hell, I listen to some of the names or rock and pop groups out today and ask myself WTF? Bullet for my Valentine? Seriously? Death Cab for Cutie? Fall Out Boy?
Eck...
Second tl;dr....
All music is crap. Except Salsa and Merengue.
