Hip-hop music often gets a bad rap. The songs are not always about girls, guns and gangsters - there's also conscious rap, which focuses on creating awareness and imparting knowledge. Conscious rappers traditionally decry violence, discrimination, and other societal ailments. Ludacris, Melle Mel and Common talks about why conscious rap is so important.
Rapper Ludacris has often been targeted for his lyrics and sexually explicit music videos. However the Atlanta native also has a humanitarian side to him.
"I have my own foundation, The Ludacris Foundation, where we give back, of course to underprivileged families. We have been doing this almost ten years now. We're coming up on our ten year anniversary."
Indeed, he's quick to point out that he also address social issues in his songs.
"I feel like the platform that I am at of course in my music, you have songs where you talk about realistic situations that are going on in life, but you also you talk about things like the song 'Runaway Love' that I have. It was bringing attention to a problem that not as many people know about . There is like a million kids that run away from home. So I feel like hip hop is definitely a form where you have an ear, you have people listening, you use that to your advantage."
