ABSTRACT
Popular topics included food, fashion, relationships, Hollywood, sports, and national and local politics. Locally, the concerns centered on "the neighborhood" and its changing racial and ethnic make up, who was "taking over," and whether or not the area was being "ruined" because of it. Far more than a mere genre of music, hip-hop became a way of life for an outlet to vent pent-up frustration and rage; to work through anger and fear; to express joy, love, and sorrow; and to imagine and manifest a world free of suffering. One had to go. And so, out the window went anything contrary to the wealth of knowledge was receiving through hip-hop. Even though the Beastie Boys, 3rd Bass, House of Pain, and Vanilla Ice had all enjoyed commercial success in rap by the 1990s, the waters were still uncharted. Indeed, dozens of "manufactured" white rappers had cropped up over the years as pure business ploys to make a quick crossover buck.
