How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans (Text Response)

The article “How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its Way and Betrayed Its Fans” is a believable argument.  First off the author of the article is a credible writer for this type of piece.  The article was written by Brent Staples who is an editorial writer that specializes in politics and culture.  He has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Chicago and has widely published essays. 

The audience of this article is people who like to listen to Hip-Hop music and like the industry.  The tone throughout the article is educational.  The author does not use slang words.  He uses proper grammar and evidence to support his main points.  The vibe of the paper has a negative attitude towards the issue.  He keeps the audience drawn into the paper by using rhetorical questions and interesting examples of such issues that continue to happen.  He has a clear thesis statement and uses many claims and evidence to back it up. 

The author proves his point of view by using claims of facts throughout the article.  He uses events that had happened and includes the dates of the year.  The author includes famous rappers names that the audience would be able to identify.  Also, he uses claims of value to judge how the industry will end up.  He predicts the future of other rap stars and how the downward spiral will continue.  He uses inferences to draw a prediction of his conclusion at the end of the article.