The State of Hip Hip/Rap...What Is your Opinion?

I've been doing some reading on the state of Hip Hop/Rap. It's interesting to me to see that people's opinions haven't changed much in the last 10 years. The majority of people say that Hip Hop/Rap is hurting and it's lost touch with it's roots. I agree with that to a certain point. Below are my thoughts about it.

Hip Hop/Rap in my opinion is hurting and growing at the same time. Yes...it has gotten away from it's roots. Most songs these days don't have any substance. Most are about how much money they have, how many cars they have, how many women they can get, and places in the world they can go. But, what happened to the songs about life...emotions...people? Those are far and few these days. Now...there is nothing wrong with people wanting to make a living doing what they love doing. I'm pursing the same thing. But, doing something solely for the money, in my opinion, is wrong. Music should done for the sake of doing music first. Music is my love and passion. I do it for the love of doing music first. But, like everyone else, I want to make a living doing it. But, I don't put the money aspect as the number one priority. Too many have lost their integrity over the pursuit of the almighty dollar. I've seen it so many times...people using people for their personal gain! They do whatever they have to do to get that deal. But, not knowing that they are only hurting themselves in the end.

On the flip side, Hip Hop/Rap has become so widely accepted by the masses that it has become the most dominant music genre in the industry...surpassing Country! The last I checked, Hip Hop/Rap accounts for approximately 40% of all music sales. That says alot! So...that shows that Hip Hop/Rap is still growing and prospering. That is a good thing as Hip Hop/Rap was supposed to "die out" within the first 10 years of it's existence. Well...30 years later...it's still here! But, we as a whole have to be mindful that it's up to us to step it up and keep Hip Hop/Rap growing and thriving. We can do that by taking some ownership of what we say and improve it!