Rap today is like glamour rock of the 80's. It makes no sense, but suprisingly sells alot of records; mostly to teenagers. The record biz is all about money and until good artists get the spotlight, the genre will look bad. But rock rebounded (eventually), I think rap will as well sooner or later (prolly later). But there's hope, Common, Lil Brother, Talib Kweli, etc. are still making good music