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The world of hip hop usually celebrates the power of guns, money and macho gangsta posing.
So America has been stunned for the past week that rapper Kanye West has been praised for his highly public emotional breakdowns over the death of his mother.
West has wept openly
on stage as he sang a song dedicated to his mother and manager, Donda West, who died after complications apparently arising after plastic surgery.
Rival rappers have flocked to express their sympathy in a rare outpouring of emotion and sympathy in a segment of the music industry where some of its leading stars, such as Tupac Shakur, have been murdered in deadly feuds between musicians.
Hip hop radio stations have also been playing the song Hey Mama, which West dedicated to his mother and which caused him to break down in tears.
"I hope he can work his way through it. It's good to see him actually touring," said 50 Cent, West's main hip hop rival.
"Kanye's relationship with his mum had a lot more depth to it than a lot of people's. He was real close to his mum."
Those kind words were all the more remarkable for coming from 50 Cent - a former crack dealer - as he has recently had a public feud with West.
The two engaged in a war of words two months ago as their rival albums faced off in the charts with 50 Cent threatening to retire if West's album outsold his own.
But 50 Cent's reaction might have something to do with his own mother's sad history. She was an impoverished drug dealer and addict murdered when she was only 23.
The death of Donda West was equally sudden. She died on November 10, a day after having plastic surgery that included a tummy tuck, liposuction and a breast reduction operation.
The operation was performed by Dr Jan Adams, a celebrity plastic surgeon to the stars who wrote a book called Everything A Woman of Colour Should Know About Plastic Surgery.
Adams' record has come under intense media scrutiny. When he performed surgery on Donda West, he was being investigated by the Medical Board of California, which was seeking to suspend or revoke his licence after several arrests linked to alcohol abuse.
He is also the subject of a pair of malpractice lawsuits that add up to almost half a million dollars and is being investigated for unpaid taxes. The initial coroner's review into the death found that Donda had died "as a result of surgery or anaesthesia".
The story has also thrown a spotlight on the perils of plastic surgery. Bill Zwecker, of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote that her death had 'put the fear of God' into numerous Hollywood stars planning cosmetic change.
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