Show Asher Roth the Money

Just some thoughts on this Asher Roth quote:

"You guys are always going off about how much money you have. Do you realize what's going on in this world right now?' All these black rappers? African rappers? Talking about how much money they have. Do you realize what's going on in Africa right now? It's just like, you guys are disgusting. Talking about billions and billions of dollars you have. And spending it frivolously, when you know, the Motherland is suffering beyond belief right now."

Which, the more I read it, the more bizarre it becomes.
I always think twice about writing about Hip-Hop, coming late to the game and being a white suburban guy from the UK. I feel much more in my comfort zone writing about Indie Rock, you know what I mean. But it strikes me that Asher Roth should think twice before speaking about Hip-Hop, given this and the unfortunate Don Imus referencing Tweet.
You'd think I'd be more down with Asher Roth's subject matter and reference points than other rappers', but frankly I'm not. I like his album, or at least half of it, but I'll tell you what I like about Hip-Hop in one word - Swagger. I love that shit. And isn't what all that money talk's about, Swagger? It's about boasting, it's about being more successful than the next man, and in modern society isn't money the marker of success, and for kids from the street, it's a powerful thing (I assume, not being a kid from the streets).
So it seems like Asher Roth just misses the point entirely. And I mean it's not even like he spends his entire album talking about political shit, one token politics song, which isn't even very insightful and then what, "Lark in my Go Kart"? "I Love College"? Whatever? Don't you need money to go to college?
It seems like a certain middle class smugness about money - "it's nice to have money, but let's not talk about it, that's so vulgar" - combined with a certain middle class smug liberalism - where one token gesture to "those over there", allows one to say "yes, I really care about their suffering" and then continue as normal, just like one token political song allows Asher Roth to feel superior and yet safely continue rapping about smoking and drinking and shit, while slagging off others for "spending money frivolously". The middle classes have always hated that. Isn't a good reference point to the difference between the Hip-Hop attitude to money (or a certain brand of Hip-Hop anyway) and the middle class attitude the scene from Scarface where they're talking in the car and the other guy says, "I say be happy with what you got," and Tony Montana replies, "You be happy, I want what's coming to me, the world and everything in it."
The song "His Dream", on Asher Roth's album takes on a new light after all this. I always thought it was a bit patronising anyway (like why should having kids mean that someone's dream should end (by being displaced as dreams for the kid), can't the two go hand in hand? It's like Asher saying, "Dad, you've wasted your life". His dad must feel really great...) Anyway I forgave that as a certain egotism of youth. But the lyrics about the dad giving up stuff for his kids "poetry", now sounds like Asher looking down on Hip-Hop, in a certain middle-class status thing way - they rap - I write poetry.
The question is, how can he be so self-absorbed to think that rapping about smoking weed is somehow better than rapping about money? And I say that as someone who enjoys raps about both, hell, I even enjoy raps about college sometimes...