Struggle Or Bling??

It seems to me, that these days Hip-Hip is more about the “bling” than it is about the struggle.
Traditionally, hip-Hop represented hardship, struggle, anti-racism and a sense of poverty. We saw this through the forms of Graffiti art, break dancing and ‘MC’ing.
However, Hip-Hop is progressive and always changing, it is a diverse phenomenon, constituted by a wide assemblage of audio & visual media. One can argue that Hip Hop is one of the most important cultural moves in the last quarter of the 20th century.
Today, Hip-Hop seems to be more about conspicuous consumption, and the displaying of such. Throughout all Hip Hop videos that we can see today, whether it’s on MTV, C4 or even Juice, there are a few outstanding themes that you just cant miss. These themes are;
Money, bling, girls, and cars. Whether you see these all intertwined or not, these four things are always present within a modern Hip Hop video. You see gorgeous young girls, dressed in hardly anything, dripping in diamonds dancing all over expensive and luxurious cars while the rapper raps in front of this with a pose of his gangster friends surrounding him, also dripping in bling. Some video clips even show rappers rolling in, and throwing their money around. This seems peculiar as it contests traditional meanings that were represented through Hip Hop. Now, it seems as though they have to flaunt every and any success they get. The thing that I find really interesting however is that you never see these four themes represented or being flaunted in many/if any white artist’s video clips.