Hip Hop: Golden Era vs New Age Era - Gangsta vs Drug Addicts.. Choose..

As I sit here and listen to the radio its an endless track list of songs talking about how many percocets a rapper can take, how loud their weed is, and how purple their drink is. I begin to reflect on rap music and hip hop culture over the past 25 years and how it has changed. I've been listening to Hip Hop for as long as I can remember. I remember when I was 10 years and I got my first Rap Greatest hits tape and it had Kool Mo-Dee, Whoodini, Big Daddy Kane, etc. They were rapping about having a good time, partying, and how fresh they were. Fast forward to 3 yrs later and I get my first Wu-Tang Clan tape and it blew my mind. For the first time I heard cursing on a tape, violence, and drug dealing. It was hyper masculine, misogynistic, and very underground. It was something that was never heard before. It shaped my adolescent years of growing up. Now I sit here in my car and hear this new wave of music and I think to myself, if i had to choose one of these eras of hip hop knowing the influential impact it has on a youth which one would I want to raise me. The era of Gangsta Rap or the era of Drug Addict rap?