The article is very manipulative. It insinuates that rap's poor sales and the Don Imus spat share a correlation, which simply isn't true. Rap sales have been on the decline for some time; last year only two rap albums went platinum. The music's failure has nothing to do with the content and everything to do with the quality: people realize that these albums feature one big single mixed with a bunch of filler, and with Itunes they can now download the single and ditch the rest of the album. Yet at the same time, some huge rap albums are coming out later this year and should sell very well - 50 Cent, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne all drop albums later this year.
Rap is not going to change as long as people continue to demand that content. You won't see the misogyny disappear until women stop dancing to songs that call them sluts/hoes/bitches. When Oprah had her little town meeting episode on rap, Common (who was featured on the panel) said that during commercial breaks she'd dance to the very music she was attacking. It's hilarious. People need to take responsibility: if you don't like the music, stop demanding it. Luckily for label CEOs, that will never happen.
The article also mentioned Russel Simmons' recent calls for hip hop to change. Russel Simmons built Def Jam, profited off explicit content that was violent/sexist/etc, sold the company for more than $100 million, and NOW has "seen the light." In other words, he had no problem with the music while he was profiting off it. He's a hypocrite of the highest degree yet no one is willing to call him out.
