The thing is, everybody takes something different from it. I mean, as a white boy / cracker like myself, I listen to gangsta rap, and I don't feel much - if any - compulsion to try to literally live out most elements of the lifestyle portrayed. But the attitude, the energy, the mentality, the aggression, those things - in the abstract - do connect with me, which is why my white arse has no problem saying I'm a big fan of Tupac, Dre, Eminem, Snoop, etc.

Same thing with metal, in a way... a lot of the metal I listen to glorifies violence, satanism, drug use, and all manners of excess related to sex, alcohol, etc. But while I like sex, alcohol and rock & roll as much as anybody, just listening to metal doesn't mean I'm going to start worshiping satan and go burn down a church.

That said, I don't disagree with your overall point, to the extent that I can understand it as a white person. It reminds me of what Richard Pryor said about how black youths screw themselves by refusing to speak proper English, study hard in school, etc. Unfortunately when a black man says something like that, he gets labeled "Uncle Tom" and what-not. :-(