Consider "I'm a Ruff Ryder," which features lines like "Burn the car with the body in it/Bring you the ash" and a chorus in which colleague Jadakiss announces that he's a "weed-smokin', gun-totin' heroin supplier." But dropped in among the cadavers are less threatening efforts, including the pot tribute "Good Times (I Get High)" and "Black Magic," in which the main man declares, "My heart goes out to the homeless and poor" while soulstress supreme Angie Stone makes lovely noises in the background. The toughest talking member of the Lox, he isn't exactly Ja Rule cuddly, as he makes clear in the CD's intro when he describes himself as a "bad-ass motherfucker." This boast is characteristic of the disc's overly familiar raps, which are chock-a-block with de rigueur mayhem. The title of the latest from Styles speaks volumes.
That's why acts and their labels are looking for new and creative ways to make the music appear to be all things to all people, even when it's not.
Crossing over to the pop side of the street is incredibly lucrative, but doing so too overtly puts street cred at risk. At this point in its development, hip-hop is all about the marketing.
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