It takes a lot of nerve for a black man who promoted so much violence, ruthlessness and misogyny in his "music" to point out that Oakland is rougher than it used to be. And it's the height of hypocrisy for him to talk about offering any "uplift" now. All the Snoops and Too Shorts should be ashamed for what they encouraged in the younger generation of black men. Now that they're too old and tired to exploit notions of hypermasculinity for their own personal gain, they want to pretend to be some kinds of elder statesman with a responsibility to give back. I wish they could "take back" all the poison they fed to impressionable black youth. And the best monsters like them can offer as a redress is a recording studio? Oh, yeah--THAT'LL help in competing for jobs with young people who actually take academics seriously. Ms. Woodall, why are you such an apologist for this anti-black achievement attitude? How can you praise someone as foul as Too Short?