Nick, you obviously know next to nothing about music in general, no offense to you personally. Half of what you said is dead wrong and can be easily disproven by just searching around the internet for five seconds. Rock and metal albums have been banned all over the world, let alone just in the US, and they've gone through a hell of a lot more than just the PMRC. You also apparently didn't read what I said, because I said that obviously there is stuff in rap that's emotional, political, religious, etc., it just isn't the kind of thing that really defines the genre at all. Rock and, particularly, metal are much more divided by sub-genres. Rap has a few, but probably a fifteenth of what metal's got, and a lot of metal's sub-genres are very focused on specific topics, many of which are entirely inoffensive.
And I've been listening to rap for years. My best friend and I grew up in fucking Richmond and Oakland in the 80s, man. I was surrounded by it. It defined much of what I dealt with in school when I was a kid, and it was the only in I had with most of the kids. No, I don't listen to a lot of it anymore, and that's because I think a lot of the people producing it now are talentless hacks, but I still have some albums that I go back to. I seem to recall gpw and I having a few discussions about some old-school shit like Tribe Called Quest.
And no, obviously no music was considered threatening until it became popular, because nobody paid any attention to it. Then it gets big, people hear what it's about, and they get curious. And when people hear rap, they don't hear anything noble or worthy. They hear greed and the lust for dominance more than anything else. Sure, there are MCs who don't go down that road, and there are songs with decent messages out there, but they aren't the loudest voices and are in a very small minority compared to the rest of it. Just look at the landscape. And why do I dis the shitty culture black youths are following? Because it's garbage. Why do I lay blame at the feet of the music? Because it propagates it. It's the disease producing more of the disease.
Don't let that make you think I don't find fault in other cultures and other forms of music, even those I love. I take issue with many of the fucking punks that listen to metal and try to abuse it. I take issue with talentless nu metal bands and their ilk for their worthless music and lack of insight. I take issue with bands that have serious satanic messages or that promote real violence, the burning of churches, etc. I know their music because I'm a musician and I know a lot of music, but that doesn't mean I support those acts.
Anyway, don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, because that's not going to fly.
And yes, Keebs, I'm also a huge jazz fan. I've made a few attempts to convert Pyro to the cause. Maybe you can assist me. I want to get him an Art Blakey album for his birthday, but I can't remember what he thought of the last album I got him (Brubeck). Never been much a fan of bluegrass, though, so you're on your own there.
