Hey, thanks for that great link. Here's a viewpoint, coming from a different place, but with the same recognition of the one-dimensional quality of commercial

Hey, thanks for that great link. Here's a viewpoint, coming from a different place, but with the same recognition of the one-dimensional quality of commercial rap, from a lover of hip-hop as a verbal art form -- http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2009/09/all-of-my-purple-life/26823/ http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2009/09/all... "I think that mix of vulnerability, confidence and honesty was why our mothers loved [Prince]. I think that was the sort of alchemy we missed in hip-hop. We got close a few times--notably De La Soul on Buddy or Eye Know, or The Roots on Silent Treatment or You Got Me. Also, there are a few Outkast joints. But we never achieved that sort of confidence--that sort of true manhood." Another viewpoint is from DJ Shadow ("Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96") -- it's the money.