Chuck D, from the golden age of politicized rap. Photograph: Linda Nylind.
Whether it's yet another list of the top 100 whatevers of all time, an excuse for a corporate entity to draw our attention to their product or service, or a political party standing less than firm in the political winds, some of us seem to fall for the dubious charms of the opinion poll every time.
But the Black Youth Project may be one of those rarities: a poll actually worth taking notice of. Two years in preparation, it is a level-headed, mammoth undertaking, the work of a team led by Dr Cathy Cohen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. Rap websites have been abuzz this week with the report's findings about young America's attitudes towards hip hop music - although the respondents' views haven't come from out of the blue.
Far from being simply disenchanted with the political process, these young Americans feel deliberately ostracised. It seems that 56% of blacks and 44% of whites believe that their government doesn't care about them.
Roughly the same proportions allow their ethical and political viewpoints to affect their consumer choices. And, says the survey, 41% of black respondents felt rap videos should incorporate more political content.
There's no need to hold the front page. But those who argue, as Nas has done, for more responsibility and accountability from hip-hop's prime movers will be heartened. And those who believe that the radical agendas of hip-hop's late 1980s "golden age" may be making a welcome return will see evidence to back up their hopes.
The results also seem to chime with attitudes prevalent in British hip-hop - not among the rap-derived hybrids of The Streets or Just Jack, but in the UK hip-hop heartland, where purveyors of bling and irresponsibility have never been able to stake a credible claim. Rappers like Skinnyman, Blade and Klashnekoff have consistently stressed content (and skills) over lowest-common-denominator entertainment. They may not be pop stars, but their integrity is reflected and repaid by the loyalty of their fans.
After years of stagnation and condescension, it would be a surprise if the rap audience did not hunger for music of substance. This is a generation ready, willing and able to make informed and radical choices about the entertainment it consumes.
We would be right to remain suspicious of yet another survey purporting to reveal the true nature of public opinion, and the music industry will justifiably claim that the only polls that matter are the ones published weekly in Billboard - where politically detached rap has plenty of commercial success.
But a business that ignores such coherent soundings, even if they appear anomalous, does so at its peril.
