[JohnnyB]

There's a lot of truth to what he's saying, but it's not just true about hip-hop. Pop music in general does a pretty fantastic job of glorifying or idealizing lifestyles that are full of what could be considered outside of healthy and positive behavior. Highly emotional caricatures sell music. People are swayed by simple and emotionally charged images. The caricatures that have roots in the origins of hip-hop just happen to involve a lot of racial stereotyping because of where the music grew out of. Can still celebrate the successful hip-hop artists who aren't just performing as racial caricatures though.

Curious to know how others view Childish Gambino in relation to this. Guy is a successful and well-educated (NYU) performer who puts on a totally fake accent that clearly does not represent his own roots and plays on stereotypes in order to communicate a political message in This is America. Is that damaging or not?