"I disagree that the rap scene is harmless. Some of it is fine and I like it. With that said, many mainstream rappers make it cool to mistreat "hos", kill cops and do crack, and generally be an unproductive member of society. Kids emulate them, never learn to read or do math, and end up on the streets as dealers or homeless people."

In an effort not to hijack a good thread for the sake of discussing your comment posted above, I thought I'd start a new thread.

I don't entirely disagree with your comments regarding rap lyrical content but the lyrics in rap are not that much different than when rock and roll started way back when. Granted, there wasn't much talk of killing cops, which is never acceptable lyrical content but the other things you mentioned have been used in lyrics since the inception of rock and roll, a term that was coined in the '20's, by the way.
When Big Joe Turner, one of the pioneers of rock, sang "My baby's a jockey and she's teaching me how to ride" he wasn't talkin' about riding horses. Drug references have also been part of the lyrical content since the beginning also.
As far a kids being dissuaded from learning because of rap music, I think that's more of a parental control issue than because of the lyrics. My sons both listened to rap when they were younger and both are doing well as adults.
I'm not sure how old you are but when rock and roll first hit in the early '50's the outrage at the songs and the singers was great from all sides. When Elvis first appeared on tv, the stations wouldn't even show him from the waist down. Of course, a black singer performing for white kids was a tough sell in the Jim Crow era also.