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The negative effects of rap music on society
The negative effects of rap music on society
How rap music affects society
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By the 1980’s, people in America witnessed a massive drug epidemic. The introduction of crack, also known as cocaine, exploded during this time and became a critical issue for the youth. Drug use, abuse and misuse became the problem of the decade as the war on drugs escalated, increasing in nonblack and black communities. Many people blame rap and hip hop music for this epidemic due to rapper’s songs and music videos were highlighting and encouraging the use of drugs. The movies, Straight Outta Compton and New Jack City both demonstrate and bring awareness to the struggles and the reality of drug wars as well as police brutality and unfairness against the black community.
There are other ways that violence can be broadcast. Entertainment such as video games, music, videos, graphic novels and movies, all have an impact on the increasing violence in our generation. Video games can be played by everyone, especially adolescent from the age of 12-17. They can “play video games- on a computer, on consoles such as the Wii, PlayStation and Xbox, or on portable devices such as Gameboys, smartphones and tablets (APA).” Also from video games, music, videos, graphic novel and movies also contain sexual contents, alcoholism or drug addiction, guns, domestic violence, and etc.
Violence is easily seen in today's culture through criminal actions in the media. Surprisingly, "on average, American youth view more than 1,000 murders, rapes, and assaults each year" (Rockefeller 2). This shocking fact demonstrates just how prevalent violence is in the young minds of Americans. As a result of these viewings, young adults are sure to have psychological effects. Studies have proven that "children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation" (Tompkins 1).
“Beyond Beats and Rhymes” Summary This movie was a broad discussion about hip-hop music (or more specifically gangster rap) and what kind of social issues the music not only showcases but seems to promote. The producer of this film, Byron Hunt, interviewed people involved in all aspects of the hip-hop industry, including famous rappers, to try to get to the bottom of this. Some of the most prominent issues discussed in the film were the over-sexualization of women, gun violence, and anti- homophobic attitudes. Hunt would ask those involved in the industry about why they think these themes are so prevalent.
Nelson George supports his statement of “Gangsta rap is a direct by-product of the crack explosion” (paragraph 32) with providing the timeline of the two. Crack was introduced in the ‘70s, and its popularity exploded in the early ‘80s, becoming immensely accessible for users of different economic and social positions. Its by-product, gangsta rap, made its debut in the ‘80s, and first featured references of crack usage in 1983 and 1985. The explosion of gangsta rap did not occur until the end of the ‘80s- years after its antecedent. Without the detrimental effects of crack abuse such as addiction, incarceration, prostitution, and obsession of power, rappers could not fully implement a bond with their audience and appeal to the emotions of the
Hip Hop is seen as something inspiring, but most people see it as a way to speak out the truth about a problem. As in “Hip Hop planet” being able say the truth can sometimes worsen any situation because sometimes what we say can promote violence and whatever happens after is not in our control. The essay is about how hip hop has changed into speaking out the issues that need to be taken care of in order to maintain a proper society. McBride talked about how rappers use violent lyrics to degrade women and gays and because of this it shows how the music has evolved into something entirely different that no one would have ever expected to have changed. In James McBride's essay “Hip Hop Planet,” he argues that hip hop has a negative influence on American Culture despite people thinking of it as inspirational and how people live through different experiences in life despite of your race.
Hip-hop culture has been the topic of various academic, social, and political discourses. Rap music, in particular, has made its way to mainstream media which is evident in the numerous films and movies that centers on what was once a part of an underground culture. Scholars explain that the popularity of hip-hop in both music and films are partly due to its potential to disseminate information, address an issue, and promote social change. Tinson and McBride (2013), for example, note that hip-hop is a “…form of critical education at the intersection of, and inseparable from political engagement” (1). Scholars further note that hip-hop’s current state “…requires frequent accounting of its engagement with the social, political, and cultural climate
Rap is an American music style that happened in the 1970’s, and over the year the style of rap changes. Music has the power to shape change people’s mind. Over time music has changed and it still does every day. Throughout history it has been strongly noticed that this favored type entertainment has changed with the passing times. The development of music is freedom of showing emotions.
Most people believe that “lyrics should appeal to us, not degrade us” (Glidden3). There is controversy surrounding “some artists accused of rapping sexually inflammatory lyrics” (Encyclopedia4). The actions of a few is causing people to put a bad label on rap in a whole. This bias opinion is becoming the cause of listeners to believe that rap lyrics “are setting a bad example for kids and teens” (Glidden2). I can understand where this may lead to critics to misapply such distaste to the rap form, but “there are rap artists who don’t use offensive language or portray women in a negative light” (Glidden1).
Hip hop critics believe that hip hop is a violent subculture and supports crime and violence, but research has shown that there is no direct correlation between the two. One hip-hop artist that goes against this stereotype is Kanye Omari West. Mr. West lyrics allows the listener to understand that you don’t have to rap about having money and cars to get someone’s attention. In Kanye West’s Homecoming, he said, “Reach for the stars, so if you fall you land on the clouds.” This is an influential quote that encourages the listener to reach for their goals, but if you happen to fail on the way it’ll be ok because you have a comfort system to be there for you.
Nowadays, everyone wears the identity with pride. The genre was a testament to triumphing over hardships, to having enough confidence in oneself not to let the world drag you down, and to rising above the struggle, even when things seem hopeless. Violence in rap did not begin as an affective agent that threatened to harm America 's youth; rather, it was the outcry of an already-existing problem from youth whose world views have been shaped by the inequalities and prejudice they have experienced. The relentless wave of heroic new rappers arriving on the scene formed the golden age of hip hop in the 1980s, a newfound voice which rose from the impoverished ghettos during the 1980s and inspiring a generation of black youth to fight the police brutality they faced on a daily basis.
Although gangster rap is catchy and popular, it is hurting our children and communities, kids are becoming more violent because of it, and promotes bad messages and behavior. We need to change the accessibility kids have to this music to protect them from becoming violent, and doing dangerous things like drugs and fighting. Rap music is hurting our children by glorifying bad behavior that they rap about. Drugs, fighting, and guns are a very common topic in the rap game. When kids listen to these songs, talking about killing one another or fighting each other, they get ideas that these are socially acceptable things.
Music has been around for a very long time. There are several different genre’s including; hip-hop, country, and jazz, rap, metro, and etc. Teens look up to those who they listen to, but many teens are interested in vulgar music. Rap influences young teens to drugs and violence. Thinking that it’s cool and that’s the way people are supposed to structure their lives to be.
Over the years rap culture has changed from being motivational to a negative industry. The more time teens spend watching videos put them further at risk as they are more likely to engage in careless or in some cases illegal activities. Once known as a inspirational outlet and a way for people to express their everyday struggles rap has since become extremely controversial and deceptive to the youth. One of the biggest negative effects rap music has is the promotion of drug sells and usage.
Music and the certain type of genre can change their mood, but it will not change someone’s behavior and the way they will act towards others. “Those youth who are weak in intelligence, according to Barich, are more likely to take the words of heavy metal music seriously in justifying their delinquent behavior” (Brandl 112). It seems as for those who take the lyrics and its literal meaning behind them and dealing with a life situation that can relate to those words can trigger something in someone, but those with more self-control. Someone with depression will listen to a sad song, and if they constantly did this for numerous of days or weeks, it can likely make it worse on them. This does not mean it causes them to commit any crimes, as the statement made is that it lowers them mentality rather than showing how they act towards
