A few things that came to my mind:
Fairly early: The point about rap being doomed to fail because of the individual greed and blind strive of every each one to be at the top no matter what it takes: This is a problem of how the commercial forces in the business of music misinterpreted this core idea of Rap music, meaning the often misunderstood idea of battle. I understand battle to be there for the sake of competing not for the sake of determining who is the best. Lets focus on the production of musical art utterances rather than the celebration of already gained success.
This is what came to the front. The over the top celebration of artists and their own success.
To reduce that to healthy measures I believe the answer can be found in Hip Hop culture itself. Looking at the Element of Graffiti. Here we are talking also about leaving something of quality behind. Making yourself being respected for what you achieve and thus pushing the whole community to activate talent and produce quality. Also the idea of colouring your surroundings instead of getting frustrated by seeing grey all day and being doomed to passiveness.
But unfortunately those who badly influence the development of Rap just lost connection to those notions. How far has Rap distance it self from Hip Hop culture. Bring that back by washing those brains that are the ones making superficial music successful. Namely the listeners themselves. In order to for that, there need to be places where people discuss their art form. There are no Jams anymore here. So thanks Phara that there is The Forumz of Ninja to do exactly that.
A place to hold hands
At 18:30 The question raised here is: Why do people accept what they hear? Why is the answer to that by the conscious fans of this art form to yell out for an Alpha Dog to articulate all those things that go wrong, letting the broad community lean back on couches saying "Yep I agree, thats how its all shit thats happening" If Rap has the power to change things, why dont all of those calling themselves Rap work together in order to achieve. I believer there is a responsibility of Artist towards their artform and it development but those that have the power to shape are those that consume. So fight the cause! All of us!
Its an analogy to the discussion of how civil societies can be motivated to participate in postdemocratic nations and their governance.
74:00 Yes, I think cocaine is bad for Rap as it is for everything it comes in touch with. I believe since the white powder can be considered doping and when consumed over a long time leads to numbness its everything Rap does not need. No decent competition and general lack of appeal since the drug is the appeal itself.
25:50 Finally I think it is a form of irony that a word used by so many artists shows the binary dichotomy this art form seems to show.
Chain:
Meaning A: a giant, expensive often tasteless piece of jewelery worn to show
Meaning B: a selection of bonds holding (hands) forming a greater piece.
I would love to have an encore with those questions posted, that have not been addressed.
