Agreed. This is a complex situation with more than one factor involved.
People want to call you paranoid or a conspiracy theorist when you talk about this shit, but I don't believe for a second that the music I love so much doesn't support that whole structure. The laws and economic realities have more to do with. It's a multi-pronged attack. Those who think the government isn't waging war against the minorities and lower classes need to look at the numbers.
I'ma still bump Mob Figaz, Messy Marv, Too Short, etc.. all day... but to think that this shit doesn't have an impact on the minds of kids is bullshit. I'm glad Short, E-40, J. Stalin etc are putting subliminal positive messages in their music. I'd like to see more artists do this, and use their influence as a tool to the extend they can without losing their fanbase.
I saw Chuck D speak one time and he pointed out that there aren't any TV shows aimed at collegiate blacks (now you got The Game, and maybe more but this was a few years ago). Also, the numbers of hip hop artists on TV don't reflect the actual racial demographics of those doing it. Our media companies are projecting one particular version of "blackness" which reinforces prison culture and makes these private prisons money while they send our jobs overseas.