People in the 70s and 80s were getting down way worse at young ages too and they had nothing but soul and funk music
You think all the legendary street figures back then were just doing that shyt as grown men? All them nikkas got into that shyt as kids. You got Prodigy talking in his book about how literally every kid at his middle school was selling drugs (and then he tried to do it too to fit in and got busted immediately
). I think people on both sides lack perspective of how much worse shyt was back then. Violence is a societal problem that you cant just blame on music. And even though the streets are still bad and I dont doubt rap is helping keep it bad...it was A LOT worse. 80s and early 90s Chicago and NYC were some fukking Mad Max shyt.
Even with early rappers kicking that positive shyt, it only got WORSE.
And I'm a young dude saying this. you gotta have perspective.