Honestly nah it ain't a thang to me because like I said I put everything I did as a youth behind me. Personally my belief is where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be too. (Jesus) And if my heart was still in the streets I would be involved in shit I would regret right now.
But my theory on thug is that you right it is being marketed and sold. Remember that song Gangsta Lovin Alicia Keys and Eve? What the fuck do alicia keys and eve know about bangin? lmao. And you see R&B singers C walkin, you see white kids C walkin, b walkin too now, shit is beyond a joke now. But what it comes down to is this: those from the hood will have to eventually turn their back on MTV, BET, etc., and make the stand that their culture will not be bought or sold. As long as rap artists keep makin platinum, this will never happen.
As long as money is the primary goal of young artists from the street, this will never happen. That's why now you got kids all over sportin pink cause that one MTV group did it. Shit just keeps goin downhill. And people who don't have the right to call themselves a thug will continue to say it, because MTV and BET gives a window into the community that these squares would otherwise not have. So the shit will continue, unfortunately, and I don't see an end to it.