Fat Joe's full of shit.
Niggas didn't fuck with MDMA until rappers started talking about "molly".
Niggas ain't know what the fuck Cristal was until Biggie and Jay got put on by A.W.O.L. and started shoutin' it out.
Niggas outside of Tha D didn't know shit about Coogi until it was in some rhymes.
Niggas wasn't tryin to be "Trap stars" like that until Jeezy, TI and 'nem.
But...
We were all about unity when Self Destruction and Same Gang dropped.
We were gaining knowledge of self when cats like KRS, Paris, PRT, and PE were in rotation on the radio
When hip hop gave us lessons through KRS, X Clan, Isis, Queen Mother Rage, we learned, we picked up books and read about our lost history.
When Ras Kass hit us off with "Nature of the Beast", we picked up even more books to learn their history as well.
The youth is collectively inspired by hip hop. When hip hop speaks of excellence, we excel. When hip hop goes to the gutter, we follow them there as well. And cats like Fat Joe that's been around for 25+ years knows this, he's seen how we follow hip hop's phases of popularity in our everyday lives so he's being completely disingenuous when he says "it's just entertainment". He knows full well it's far more than that.