It is all decisions that the listener makes themselves. Acts of violence and other questionable behaviors are all a part of the culture of “gangster rap”, a subgenre of hip hop that is more vulgar and violent than its predecessor. These songs were made to express the frustration and life of what it was like to live in troubled areas with high racial tensions. Granted the lyrics were very controversial, the majority of it was hypothetical.
Just like rap, all music genres possess questionable and controversial artists and songs. There are plenty of rock, pop and country songs that have sparked controversy in the past, and if it truly was that big of a problem then it makes it no different than rap’s “bad side”. The fact of the matter is is that it is just a song and that there is no proof that it made or forced the people to make the decisions that they did. It all comes down to a matter of whether or not someone is mentally sound enough to listen to such music and whether or not they are able to control