Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, Dr Dre, MC-Ren, Eazy-E, NWA etc all these artists and bands will always be the legends of rap. They may have said things like "Put a gun to this n.igga's head" etc but this doesn't necessarily mean that they were trigger-happy. They had no choice to do this because of the dangers in the hood, in which was a large problem back then. These artists were the voices and told the world stories of what it's like growing up in an environment like the ghetto. They rapped about their problems to raise attention. Then you have all these new guys like 50 Cent or whatever who didn't grow up in such an environment and take rap into a whole new perspective. Instead, they rap about treating women like sex objects, shooting people for no apparent reason, killing cops, riding in a Cadillac Escalade with 30" chrome wheels with hydraulics, living in some big mansion with women wearing next to nothing walking around the house, who can bang the most hookers and nonsense like that that instead of solves problems, creates problems. Sure, it's good to listen to at times but it's pretty meaningless for the people who pay attention.