These artists often unrepentantly argue that they are only reporting things as they happen in the 'hood. Many critics find their line between art and reality much too thin for the youth of America, and hate to see them spreading their gospel from the top of the music charts. Gangsta rappers such Snoop Doggy Dogg, Slick Rick, and 2Pac Shakur not only take the controversial subject matter of their lyrics to new extremes, but have also been accused on numerous occasions of enacting their scenarios in real life, serving time in jail for manslaughter, robbery, or similar charges. 2Pac's 1995 album "Me Against the World" debuted at No. 1 even as he was serving a prison sentence at the time. .
Although mainly hardcore and uncut, there do exist Rap artists that strive to set positive examples for their followers. Kurtis Blow rapped in a video for the March of Dimes' fundraising drive to battle birth defects and he has campaigned against teenage drinking as a spokesperson for the National Council on Alcoholism. On the television show "Reading Rainbow," RUN-DMC told viewers how books enabled them to become "kings of rock." On another occasion, group member Darryl "DMC" McDaniels said, "Little kids like to follow me around the neighborhood. I tell them to stay in school. Then I give them money to get something in the deli." RUN-DMC is one of the several rap groups advising kids to keep off drugs (and most recently, to drink Dr. Pepper). Grandmaster Flash and Doug E. Fresh have each made records telling of the horrors of cocaine. On Grandmaster Flash's hit "White Lines," he details how the drug can ruin a life, and shouts, "Don't do it!" .
Rap music, once only popular with blacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and other scattered eastern U.S. territories, has grown to become one of America's freshest form of music. It gives off a vibe almost reminiscent of the mid-1900's when a new form of music known as "Rock-n-Roll" (coincided from "the Blues", which also happened to be a primarily black subculture) began to take shape.
