As a casual listener of Hip- Hop since the late ‘90’s, a few things have resonated with me. Way back then, homo sexual artists were either non existent, totally closeted and/or intimidated. Then there appeared staunch anti-gay resolves in many artists’ public personas and lyrics, such as early Eminem, Ja Rule, DMX and Common.   

So even without adjusting for inflation, during the three minutes that your local FM voice-tracked DJ spins Soulja Boy's tall tales of "super soaking" young women, about $368,000 has been spent on a military action which most of the country believes needs to come to a swift and decisive conclusion.