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.
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).
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".
Compare Kanye West and Brother Ali to see one example of the difference.
EDIT: Switched to a better example of hip hop. Also, someone downvoted me for making a distinction? Strange.
> and is a piece of performance art in its own right
Very much so. Excellent point.