It's always a fine line to walk when defending the art-form you love and pointing out the ills and negative, self-defeating issues that hold us back but it's cool to see people actually doing something about it. Hip-Hop definitely is NOT a religion in any fashion because it has no independent concept of God outside of the traditional world faiths. Most hip-hoppers are Christian and Muslim and are just as devout to their faith as anyone else. As for the negativity, the culture is split in two just like everything else in the world including ourselves- thus I take to the symbol of yin/yang. The concept of the devil is ever present on the corporate side of things because God is not the focus. Money is. But on the flipside, on the underground, the focus has always been on God and the deeper sciences, but sadly enough, you have to dig a little deeper and travel a little further for positive representation of the light of truth. But hey..that's life. The root of the Hip-Hop culture is not of the Devil but of God because it's sole purpose is to liberate/restore balance and order to an oppressed,depressed,suppressed and repressed people. The positive representatives are few in comparison to the garbage being fed24/7 through the media but we are here. Peace.