Duckworth's Impact On Society Essay

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, notable rapper and social activist, began his life on the urban streets of Compton, California, a city ridden with crime and gang-related violence. In his teens, Duckworth turned to hip hop to express the difficulty of his impoverished life in Compton. His work promoted social justice, especially for minorities, as seen in his politically-fueled albums DAMN. and To Pimp A Butterfly. His work on the 2017 album DAMN. later won him the Pulitzer Prize for Music, a major milestone for the genre. The career of Duckworth represents how much influence hip hop has on the society of the United States. Hip hop has transformed from its humble beginnings as New York club music into an international art form. The hip hop movement, originally popularized by the

In the present day, hip hop and rap music have a tremendous cultural, political, and social influence on the United States and its people. Hip hop is not a genre of music; hip hop is the culture of rap music. This hip hop culture has swept the United States, primarily in predominantly African American populations. The effect of hip hop has been felt strongly on college campuses. For instance, at North Carolina Central University, the director of the Institute for the Study of Minority Issues Dr. John Thomas Earl Midgette harshly criticized the clothing styles and work ethic that hip hop culture has brought. “You see students walking on campus reciting rap lyrics when they should be reciting something they'll need to know on their next test,” writes Midgette. “These rap artists influence the way they dress. They look like hoochie mamas, not like they're coming to class. (And) young men with pants fashioned below their navel” (Stewart). Midgette expressed how hip hop, or rather rap music, has been a distraction to his students and their work ethic, causing them to skip class. Students also began to replicate the