Hm, all these responses so far have been super tone deaf.

Hip hop has long been an outlet for urban youths, typically low income, ever since its onset in the late 80s, early 90s. The struggle in these urban communities is lost on most people, Americans themselves are just as ignorant to it as non-Americans but I'd wager there are more non-Americans here given the nature of the sport.

Either way, the behavior that some of these guys learn on the streets can't just be turned off. It's not like many of them grow up in stable families with food on the table. They're forced in many cases to be out on the streets looking out for themselves, or at least that's how they see it. Combined with a lack of education and support, the amount of options to realistically better yourself are slim.

When your music happens to take off and you get a following, these are behaviors that sometimes can't really be turned off.

I empathize with these dudes, truly. It's an economy and a world that has more or less forgotten about them.