From its early days in the Bronx to its international popularity, rap and hip-hop, the two words used interchangeably, have become a big part of the entertainment industry. Despite its success, the rap industry has been plagued with controversy. News media's attention on rap seems fixated on instances of violence at rap concerts, "gangsta" rap's lurid fantasies of cop killing, female bashing, and black nationalist rappers' suggestions that white people are the devil's disciples. The reality of the situation, however, is that the lyrics many rappers use contain positive messages of philosophy and of personal experiences. Artists use their songs to express themselves and their situations. Much of the criticism Received is due to a biased media which portrays content of many rap songs as nothing but endless profanity and extremely offensive language. In addition, much is said about the extent to which violence is used in the songs. Violence towards women, homosexuals or rival rappers. Also, rap artists themselves, for the most part have become victims of the stereotypical media which portrays them very negatively. Finally The urban youth of America have been given a bad reputation as gang members in waiting, and petty thugs due to fact that the majority listen to rap music.
             The hip-hop community receives much criticism for its use of vulgar and offensive language. When a rap artist such as Eminem is written about in the media, often the writer will focus solely on criticizing the profanity in his lyrics as apposed to the overall message trying to be conveyed in the song. For example, in a recent issue of the L.A Times, Eminem was described as the artist who raps in a "gleefully explicit style..... [that's is] clownish and just plain rude." If the content and style of his music is based solely on the use of coarse language, why then are other forms of entertainment not condemned ...