OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts

OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts: "Violence and vulgarity are hardly unique to rap. The mainstream is full of gore and borderline porn. But these tendencies are undiluted in rap, which is why many young African-Americans and Latinos who grew up embracing hip hop as a grassroots, multimedia art form now deplore rap as a cynical 'neominstrelsy' being mass-marketed not just nationally but globally.

This global twist is new. A decade ago, critics worried that 'gangsta' rap was portraying African-Americans as drug dealers, killers, 'bitches' and 'ho's.' Today the worry is international. Essence magazine recently launched an online debate about the image of black women in rap, and according to former editor Diane Weathers, that debate now includes Africans. 'They are disgusted by what their African-American brothers and sisters are doing in entertainment,' she says. 'They wonder if we've lost our mind"...