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Street Code In Rap Music

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After reading the article, Gangstas, Thugs, and Hustlas: Identity and the Code of the Street in Rap Music, C. Kubrin studies 403 songs of rap albums that portrays violence in the lyrics. The lyrics serve different functions that establish social identity, reputation and exerting social control. I will discuss why a street code exists, the violent behavior that rap music contains, and how rap music creates a social identity and exerts social control.
Kubrin states that there is recent sociological research on identity, culture, and violence in inner city communities and how it describes a black youth culture or street code that influences adolescent behavior, particularly violent behavior (pg. 360). A street code is created by the individuals that live in the subculture of violence to provide protection or stability from the difficulties they face.
According to the article the street code is a product of neighborhood process and neglects additional sources such as popular culture which reflects, supports, and advocates street code norms (pg. 361). Street code is argued to being the provider of the rules governing the interpersonal behaviors individuals choose to participant in. Which is creating the connection or relationship between the street code, rape music and social identity. …show more content…

363). Those who act on violent behaviors achieve power or hierarchy from those who live in the street code life style. When “gangsta rap” music expresses violent depiction of urban ghetto life in America, it literally gives listeners the idea of those violent behaviors that will lead them to power that they seek (Kubrin, pg. 360). According to the article, subculture shapes the residents’ behavior when speaking of violence that encourages the code to be viewed as a source of motivation and sanctions that lead to violent behaviors (Kubrin, pg.

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