As I sit here and listen to the oh so hard rhymes of Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R.," I just can't understand what happened to my beloved hip hop. I'm just asking for one rapper to step forward, and leave all your pretenses of being a soldier of the streets behind you, and actually become the hip hop artist that fights for your people. But as always, I'm going to be disappointed. Disappointed by the lack of caliber artists on the streets that can actually rhyme something other than "cash" and....the fight for equality among all Americans? Hip hop is not just some tool. It never has been. A tool is something you use to gain for yourself. Hip hop is about selfless-ness, rallying, defying, changing, living, being! Now tell me please, where do drugs, guns, alcohol, promiscuous, young, and scantily clad females come into play when those of a darker skin complexion are still fighting to just get considered in the same light as our fairer skinned counterparts? There's a lot of talk today about racism against Caucasians and unfair standards towards them. But let's be real. Minorities are still stuck in the same ghettos they were at during the Civil Rights Movement. Just now we can use the same bathroom as you all? A bathroom you wouldn't use anyways because it looks too "ghetto?" But yet, while minorities are suffering in these neighborhoods, we continue to make it harder for those trying to leave by perpetuating a stereotype of laziness, stupidity, and downright lack of respect for our peers as well as others. All through a simple 808 with a sped up 60s track laid over it, and a rapper that says nothing more than how much stuff he bought with the royalties from the track he hasn't even released yet. Educated, right? But the fault lies with us. We are all the people that buy these albums, download the songs illegally, and keep these cowardly soldiers fat and happy. When was the last time you heard someone randomly talking on the bus downtown about how fly that new joint from Talib Kweli is? Or how Mos Def ripped it on this sample you heard? Or how this new kid took Bush on in a whole song? You haven't. Because we are too busy learning how to "crank that soulja boy" and "pop, lock, and drop it." The change lies within us. When are MINORITIES going to start thinking progress? Hopefully soon is my response, because the America we live in is going to need it.