[occalmnab]

I've listened to rap music since, wow, I think 1986 or around there. LL Cool J was (and probably still is) my favorite rap artist. I listened to Salt n Peppa, and cheesey artists like JJ Fad...back when rap music was all about the fun in it, before "gangsta" rap took hold of it and made it about bitches and hos, shooting up your enemies, drugs and slangin' in a gang. Back when the worst word you'd usually hear would be damn or hell, and it wasn't "*****" this and "*****" that.

I don't really listen to rap anymore. My son, who is 15, isn't big into rap anymore (he's going through an emo/punk stage). I just don't like the negativity in rap any more. Gimme some Will Smith and Summertime, or some LL Cool J with Mama Said Knock You Out, and I'm straight. Fun songs.

You can call him a legend if you'd like. Lots of artists that were never very good have one tons of awards, too. Shoot, Milli Vanilli won a Grammy (yes, they gave it back, but they won it and they didn't sing a note). I don't judge artists I like based on how many awards are under their belt, and since most of the music I hear on the radio I find to be absolute crap, selling multiple platinum albums doesn't mean a whole lot to me...because people seem to really like musical crap now, from what I can see.

To each their own, but I still wouldn't consider him a legend. It's great he's pulled himself out of a dreary existence and he's able to give his daughter the kind of life he never was able to have growing up. But, I also don't give much respect to a man who in a song has killed his wife, either. He's got some major anger issues he should look at figuring out.