That's because it's sanitary enough for a third-grader. With Smith as the Grammy-appointed ambassador of rap, white America can feel proud. Everything else gets stuffed in a closet, so that no one has to deal with the ugly realities of ghetto life that are expressed in real rap music. Grammy voters seem to figure that if they reward rappers who write lyrics about gang-banging, womanizing, or smoking weed that they are somehow accepting the behavior. While some rappers glorify violence, most of it is an expression of what surrounds them.
Rappers are artists who choose to write about the pain and anguish they witness everyday.
If they started rapping Will Smith-style, they would be abandoning their communities, the places that have no political voice. In many ways, rap is the only voice of these communities, but it's one that the Grammy voters don't hear. Many artists say they don't need a Grammy to feel validated, that a true rap artist is better off not getting mainstream attention. But deep inside, they want recognition. The fans do too.