>Wu-Tang is pretty much the opposite of what the stereotype about rap culture is
As a die hard rap and Wu fan I would just like to say that very few artists actually fall into that stereotype. There's no "rap culture". Rap is about expression, and it happens to express different things when made by different people.
As a die hard rap fan as well, I would say the vast majority of artists fall into that stereotype.
I love rap, but even I have to admit that a lot of rap lyrics are dumb and offensive, and definitely play into the hands of those who talk about "rap culture" (I think Boondocks does a pretty good job of showing this by the way).
IMO the majority of artists that are positioning themselves as "rappers" are actually pop artists, coming straight from the assembly line of the big music publishers. (also truhead speaking here)
Not a big Wu fan, but I'm die hard hip hop fan also.
Pretty much everyone in the mainstream falls into exactly that category. Macklemore probably the exception to the rule at the moment.
Compare with the underground artists like Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Immortal Technique, Shad, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious etc.
They are worlds apart! It's such a shame that hip hop has ben positioned as an almost antithesis of intelligent music in the public eye, when it started out as music with a message (much of the underground still has that ethos). It's so bad that I usually have to justify my music choices to people who know no better "why would you listen to that shit? - nothing but bitches and ho's".
As a die hard rap and Wu fan I would just like to say that very few artists actually fall into that stereotype. There's no "rap culture". Rap is about expression, and it happens to express different things when made by different people.