Rap/Hip Hop as a Representation of Inner City Life

I don't believe anyone can assuredly say whether rap music gives a realistic portrayal of impoverished "urban" (which is basically a euphemism for "poor African American") neighborhoods and lifestyles, or that yes, rap has caused a rise in "inner city violence." Although there's no empirical way to be sure, I personally think that rap music contains violent lyrics today mostly because it is rooted in the unstable racial/political society that inspired the first generation of rappers in the 70's and 80's. These days, the types of violent songs that stereotype hood lifestyles are the songs that sell records, so they continue to be produced whether the artist has experienced them or not. Not that there aren't people who live like the rappers in music videos. It's just that these people just make up a minority of the American population and of the rap audience population too.
Rap's stereotyped and violent aspects draw huge criticisms from all sorts of social circles. For example, (Said in very proper white person voice)- "That hippity rap music is corrupting our youth," some proclaim. "Those rappers are indirectly responsible for every crime that doesn't take place in the suburbs," others assert. These claims are just ridiculous (and are slightly exaggerated, but you get the point). Aside from the fact that people committ crimes for many different reasons, the rap music that critics always harp on seems to be only one type: gangsta rap. True, gangsta rap is usually about hustling, carrying a weapon, hoes, etc, but it is just one branch of a wide genre of music. You can find rap/hip hop artists who rhyme about anything. From Christianity to intellectualism to being the best MC, hip hop has something for everyone. It's not all about poverty and violence, or sippin bub and getting laid. People need to really investigate what they condemn before they shoot their mouths off about how it is a major problem in America.