Lupe Fiasco - Hurt Me Soul

Now I ain't tryna be the greatest
I used to hate hip hop
Yup, because the women degraded
But Too $hort made me laugh
Like a hypocrite, I played it
A hypocrite I stated
Though I only recited half

This is one of Lupe Fiasco's older songs, but it's probably my favorite. I know plenty of progressively-minded folks that love hip hop. To those people, this song poses a difficult question: how do you reconcile your political and social views with your enjoyment of music that is so often intolerant and regressive?

I had a ghetto boy bop, a Jay-Z boycott
'Cause he said that he never prayed to God, he prayed to Gotti
I'm thinkin' golly, God guard me from the ungodly
But by my thirtieth watchin of "Streets is Watchin'"
I was back to givin' props again
And that was botherin'
'Bout as uncomfortable
As a untouchable touchin' you
The theme songs that n-ggas hustle to seem wrong
But these songs was comin' true
And it was all becoming cool 

I don't think anyone would disagree that mainstream hip hop too often celebrates misogyny, tolerates (at the very least) homophobia and glamorizes crime. Is it okay for us to enjoy music like that? I don't have an answer for you, Dear Reader -- and neither does Mr. Fiasco. You'll have to figure that out on your own. But if you feel at least uncomfortable about it, here's a song for you.