The relevant influence that I failed to see mentioned is money. Without taking sides, rappers do what they do because they expect to earn a profit, as do the billion dollar record companies that promote and distribute their music. That's not a justification, but in many cases, these guys are getting pimped as bad as the women they disrepect in their songs. I love hip-hop and grew up on it, but I don't recognize the music that Casual Observer talks about. If you listen to the radio, or watch TV, then yes, you'll see a ton of negativity. But that's true for most mainstream Media. The hip-hop artists I listen to don't glorify violence, wanton sex, drugs, etc. Try listening to the artists the records companies don't push quite as hard, and you'll see what I mean. Check out the Houston Public Library, they have albums by Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Reflection Eternal, De La Soul, J-Live, The Roots, Dilated Peoples...the list goes on and on. Expand your horizons before you criticize and generalize about a whole genre of music. Look deeper before you place blame.