"But corporate America conned young black people and young black hip hop artists into fully integrating criminality and centralizing thuggery into their cultural expressions."

I don't really think that you made this argument in your essay. Are you suggesting that NWA, a group with some amazing talent, didn't have agency in what they were doing? That some white record label guys wrote their rhymes for them, or pushed them into being gangsta? Tupac too? I'd very much like to hear those words come out of the mouth of Dr. Dre or Ice Cube. They were copied because what they were doing was obviously working artistically and commercially.

The Beastie Boys name comes from the DC hardcore punk band Bad Brains by the way, who were black. One of their early singles was Pay to Cum, so they weren't too commercial but they were oh so great.