A few years ago I heard a young mother blasting her car radio outside my window. The “music” being played was an obscene rap by some foul-mouthed punk.

The woman’s young daughter sat in her car-seat in the back of the car, listening.

I went out to the car and pointed to the child in the back seat and scolded the mother, “Shame on you!”

Rap music is, in a word, terrible. All of it? Well, no; I've heard some kids who have their heads screwed on straight, but almost all of it is junk. The commercial "gangsta'" stuff by TuPac, Eminem and Jay-Z - yep, all of it - is God-awful.

Here's one of the problems I have with this trash. You see it reviewed in mainstream magazines and praised as a valid form of musical expression. Kanye West was recently on the cover of Time magazine and he was touted as a breath of fresh air on the rap scene. He is not! His lyrics contain all the usual obscenities and racist, sexist rants as his cohorts - he just dresses a bit more traditionally and speaks more clearly.

Another problem: if you listen to any of these punks on the mass media, they no longer "bleep" the obscenities, they just skip over them. That way, a parent listening in the other room thinks all is well and their child is safe. The kids, of course, go out and buy the explicit versions and play the filth on their iPods. Parents are none the wiser.

My goal in "Unwrapping the Rappers" is to make parents and grandparents aware of the seductive, but rotten, message being preached to their kids. I want parents and grandparents to see the vile nature of this stuff and act responsibly. I want parents and grandparents to keep their precious charges' spirits healthy and pure - not be dragged into the mud by these money-grubbing tramps.

If you actually know what the kids are listening to and still do nothing, that is your choice; but it is a terrible choice for your children and a tragic choice for our nation.

Enough! Take responsibility for your kids' well-being and "Keep the music, but throw away the rappers."

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