While riding the stationary bike yesterday I watched the most interesting documentary that I've seen in a while. It was part of PBS' Independent Lens series titled "HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes." The filmmaker Byron Hurt examines the issues of violence, misogyny, and homophobia in hip-hop and rap music. The musicians themselves tended to make the excuse that they were only responding to market demands, giving the people what they want...or at least giving the record executives what they will pay for. Its sort of a chicken or egg question since we know that marketing tends to shape public demand as much as public demand drives what content companies market.