Hip-hop continues to be criticized -- by politicians, talk show hosts, women's rights groups and now, even over-the-hill rock stars.

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards says the one genre of music he can do without, or cannot stand rather, is hip-hop. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Richards said that the genre leaves him stone cold.

"Hip-hop leaves me cold," he told the mag. "But there are some people out there who think it's the meaning of life," he said, puzzled by the fact that people actual like hip-hop.

"I don't wanna be yelled at; I wanna be sung to. I never really understood why someone would want to have some gangster from L.A. poking his fingers in your face," Richards continued. "As I say, it don't grab me. I mean the rhythms are boring; they're all done on computers."

In the aftermath of the Imus controversy it seems everyone has an opinion about hip-hop, its lyrics and its artists. Even music mogul Master P is weighing in on the fight against what many call "offensive" lyrics within the genre, announcing that he has cleaned up lyrics with the launch of a new label called Take A Stand Records, which he hopes will start a trend in hip-hop music.

In response to all the questions concerning hip-hop as of late, two of hip-hop's most popular poster children of explicit music -- in 50 Cent and T.I. -- recently responded to the attack on hip-hop's effect on society, calling hip-hop a scapegoat for something simple as bad parenting.

"I'm a father of five. And my kids watch BET. They watch all kinds of videos, they watch movies, they listen to music, they like 50 and Lil Wayne, whomever you can mention. But when my children look at these videos or listen to this music, I don't care how impressionable it is. They know they aren't going to have to deal with 50. They're going to have to deal with daddy. And that's the way it starts," said T.I. during a recent press conference. "We look to rappers, athletes and stars to raise our children instead of ourselves -- to blame hip-hop when they should be looking in the mirror and blaming themselves."

The rapper further explained that the music from rappers such as himself, 50 Cent and others are the harsh realities of their upbringings and as long as these realities exist in America, T.I. feels that rappers should have the right to talk about it.

"The things I say come from the life that I used to live and this is a harsh reality," explained T.I. "Most of you all don't know what that life is like. I know the B-word, the H-word and the N-word are the words under attack right now. And I don't know if you know it or not, people, but there are bitches, n****s and hos who live in America. And as long as that fact exists, I think rappers deserve the right to talk about it."

When Master P's recent announcement to clean up his lyrics arose, 50 Cent responded bluntly, "Well Master P doesn't sell CDs anymore. You can tell him I said it."

Like T.I., 50 agreed that people need to be exposed to the realities of rapper's lives through music, just like an artist would with a painting. "Music is a mirror, and hip hop is a reflection of the environment that we grew up in. It's the harsh realities that end up in the music. If I ask you to paint a picture of the American flag and not use the color red, you’re gonna have a difficult time. To capture what we try to capture in the art form, I'm sure some conservative Americans can’t [identify] with it because of their lifestyle and the way they’ve actually been brought up, and they haven’t been exposed to those realities."