I'm from the West Coast and I have to admit, I'm getting real sick of gangster rap being honored as if it's the only thing that has come out of the West Coast. What about Pharcyde, Digital Underground, E-40, hell even Cypress Hill (which is like Latin gangster rap)? If you are going to represent and recognized Hip Hop, represent all of it in its diversity. I agree that the Honors should have been given chronlogically...not based on a popularity contest. This would eliminate alot of confusion. But if we went by chronology it would be a long time before the West and South gets recognized so I suppose VH-1 doesn't want to step on toes...whatever
Likewise, I was really disappointed by the segment on the life story of Eazy-E...his death from AIDS may have shook folks in the hip hop community for a minute but the fact that Black folks, particularly Black women have the highest rates of contracting the disease should do more than make people pause. It should serve as a call to action. What is Ruthless Records doing to educate folks about AIDS? This issue really gets me amped up because if you look at the rate of HIV/AIDS in West Hollywood, CA (the "gay" part of town) the rate is 1 in 500 people contract HIV. Go to Eazy-E hometown of Compton (and surrounding areas of Long Beach and Watts) and that number is 1 in 200 people. Double the rates of the so-called "gay" area...so it begs the question: what is the collective hip hop community response to this dreadful disease?
PhDiva