@maxdog,
Rap is not really my thing, nor is it part of my demographic. But I can talk about art in general. Great art is subversive... it is designed to piss off people in power and to challenge the cultural norms.
My teen-aged daughter loves the song "Verbatim" by a group called Mother Mother. It is a guy boasting about how manly he is posing in women's underwear. The lyric is
Quote:I wear women's underwear
And then I go to strike a pose in my full-length mirror
I cross my legs just like a queer
But my libido is strong when a lady is near, ya
What defines a straight man's straight?
Is it the boxer in the briefs or a twelve ounce steak?
I tell you what a women loves most
It's a man who can slap but can also stroke
This is current adolescent poking at their parents generation. It is supposed to be shocking, but it is also a generation defining itself.
What I understand of rap is from the community that it came from. They are saying... this is the life we lead and this is our way to approach it. Again it is supposed to shock... particularly middle class Americans who don't know what is going on in these communities.