All articles discussed hip hop as an industry and how this industry is presented to African Americans through the commercialization of hip hop and stereotypes in the company. The articles also discuss how this representation influences African Americans' views of others and themselves. The first article, “About a salary or a reality? – Rap's Recurrent Conflict" by Alan Light, explains the evolution of hip hop from the different camps to what it is today - a mixture of the gangster rap that it was from the beginning and the pop rap that has arose. Rappers believed that no matter how graphic they were, they would sell albums and prove their commitment to their street heritage at the same time. Many have said that that's the whole point of rap. San Francisco rapper Paris said that “[e]veryone gets into rapping just to make money or to get famous” (Light 143). Others believe that money and fame should not and have not been the only reasons. Light explains this when he says: Rap is about giving voice to an otherwise underrepresented, or even silent, black community in mass media. It has always been and remains… directly connected to the streets from which it came. (144) Although many hip hop and rap artists are only in it for the money and fame, others are in it to get their message across, including artists like Common and Lupe Fiasco. For these artists, money is an added incentive. I think many artists should have this way of seeing things, instead of emptying their songs of meaning just to make money. The second article, “Commercialization of the Youth Subculture of Rap Music” by M. Elizabeth Blair, expresses the interest in using rap. music to sell a product even if the advertisers know nothing about the subculture....... middle of paper ...... society causes its own members to have a negative opinion of themselves and of others according to media representations which occur in an undesirable light. Works Cited Blair, M Elizabeth. “Commercialization of the Youth Subculture of Rap Music.” Rep. in That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, New York: Routledge, 2004. 497-504. Print.Kelley, Robin. “You're looking to get paid: how some young black people are putting culture to good use. » Yo' Mama's Disfunktional! : Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998. 43-77. Print.Light, Alan. “About a salary or a reality? – The recurring conflict of rap.” Rep. in That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, New York: Routledge, 2004. 137-146. Print.Style Wars, Dir. Henry Chalfant, Tony Silver. Perf. Cap, Daze and Dondi. 1989. Cinema.