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From the 2pacs of the world to the Ludacris’s, rap has rapidly transitioned into the music industry in the past twenty-five years to become a global art form for many around the globe. However, much like every other form of music, rap has listeners who don’t approve of it, therefore accusing the genre of causing violent-oriented influence on the youth. This is where Eminem would be introduced to the topic; Eminem is one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, Selling more than 80 million albums and over 120 million singles worldwide. Being as well renowned as he is, he works as a clear-cut example of many other artists who are accused of being an influence for violence for the youth. Music much like everything else could be altered towards the bad however, it depends on what you take from it; even the youth should have a certain sense of differentiation, which in this case is being able to take the positive from rap. Eminem could be considered a symbol for many artists, because rap contains a very large teenager fan base. Eminem being as famous as he is, uses a format many rappers if not most use, which is profanity. Profanity is one of the main reasons rap could be seen as a ‘vulgur’ form of music. Now these uses of profanity could be harmful if people got used to swearing, but the real ignorance lies in ignoring the message of the music because of a certain swear word used. Eminem for example is constantly seen singing about his personnel life whether it be his domestic problems with his wife and kids or problems with other rappers. Now again for many it could be just another rapper ‘babbling’ about his life in the ‘ghetto’... ... middle of paper ... ...re, that differentiation is the real difference and violence isn’t something merely triggered by hip-hop. Refrences Beresin, E. V. (1999). Media violence and youth. Academic Psychiatry, 23(2), 111. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.aus.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/196504193?accountid=16946 Ross,M (2012). This Eminem May Melt Your Ears. In A. Abusalim Where I stand: The center and the periphery (1st ed, pp.253-254) Pearson: London Bump, P. (2014, January 7). As Hip-Hop Became More Popular, Crime Dropped. Thanks, Hip-Hop!. The Wire. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/01/how-hip-hop-music-ended-violent-crime-united-states-sort/356783/ ROBERT HILBURN. (1989). RAP: Striking tales of black frustration and pride shake the pop mainstream. Los Angeles, Calif: Times Mirror Company.
Salaam, Mtume ya. “The Aesthetics of Rap” African American Review, Vol. 29, No. 2, Special Issues on The Music (Summer, 1995), pp. 303-315
Since the 1970s, our society has been negatively influenced by rap. If you were to stroll by the streets more than half the teenagers in sight are likely to be hearing this music. However, allowing teens with developing brains is extremely dangerous. This is because rap can affect a child’s cognitive development. Not only does rap contain derogatory terms and explicit content, it also exposes kids to things like dropping out of school, incarceration, homophobia and prostitution. It can be very offending to women, as well. After all, it materializes women. Our next generation is being affected by this; do we really want our country to become even more violent?
Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the dilapidated South Bronx, New York in the early 1970’s. The area’s mostly African American and Puerto Rican residents originated this uniquely American musical genre and culture that over the past four decades has developed into a global sensation impacting the formation of youth culture around the world. The South Bronx was a whirlpool of political, social, and economic upheaval in the years leading up to the inception of Hip-Hop. The early part of the 1970’s found many African American and Hispanic communities desperately seeking relief from the poverty, drug, and crime epidemics engulfing the gang dominated neighborhoods. Hip-Hop proved to be successful as both a creative outlet for expressing the struggles of life amidst the prevailing crime and violence as well as an enjoyable and cheap form of recreation.
Rap music from the 1990’s to the year 2000 is known in hip hop as “the golden era”. This era is all about individuality and innovation of creating music in one of the newest musical art forms. Rap music started out as the expression of young black youths in the inner city of New York. Rap music is rhymed storytelling accompanied by highly rhythmic, electronically based music. It began in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx in New York City as a part of hip hop, composed of graffiti, breakdancing, and rap music. From the outset, rap music has articulated the pleasures and problems of black urban life in contemporary America. Rappers speak with the voice of personal experience, taking on the identity of the observer or narrator. Rap music has lost a lot of it purity and essence due to the multimillion dollar business. Rap music is always critizied because of it’s violent and sexual nature but its just reporting what is views in this cold world.(Rose, 1994)
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
In the last twenty years, a new form of music widely referred to as rap has gained national attention as it popularity surged with young adults and racial minorities. Through the development of rap since its inception, the perception of rap have gradually changed to a form of negativity as lyrics within rap glorifies negative aspects of society. Specifically, the sub-genre of gangsta rap was developed by rappers such as Notorious B.I.G and Ice Cube where it quickly gained influence as one of the main concepts associated with rap. Given its strong popularity with the younger population, many critics have argued that rap will influence the audience towards negative effects as it incorporates violent, sexual, and extravagant concepts in its lyrics.
Across the world teens feel like they’re losing their voice. In an Independent article, a magazine I found online, Geraldine says “Rates of depression and anxiety among teenagers have increased by 70 percent in the past 25 years” With such a high percentage teens feel like no one can help them and that they have no one to talk to about their problems so they tend to start breaking away from their families and depend more on music. Hip Hop gives teens a chance to feel like they have someone to talk to or someone who understands what they’re going through because a lot of what the artists rap about are life situations that they’ve gone through throughout their lives. Not everyone will understand the message of Hip Hop. “Over the years the instruments change, but the message is the same… They’re telling us something. Our children can hear it” (Mcbride 11) Rappers all have different skills, but it’s all based on telling a story. As long as Rappers tell a story all they need is the right people to listen to those stories, in this case, teens are the people that really understand the message. Hip Hop does sometimes talk about violence but it’s not always about violence, it’s what people make it seem like and if the older generations don’t listen to rap or Hip Hop then they will associate rap with gangs but what they won’t know is that it’s also about
In Stanley Crouch's view, the only messages that rappers put in the minds of todays' youth is that they need to have sex, kill people, and do drugs all the time.
However, just this year a song by Miley Cyrus sparked a “twerking” outbreak, and there simply is no denying the impact it had on teenagers throughout the entire country. The problem, though, is that hip-hop music promotes things far worse than the provocative dancing that was advocated in Cyrus’s song. Others argue that culture is not actually being affected by the music, and it is actually the opposite. They claim that the lyrics in hip-hop music are poetry of the streets, and it embodies black victimhood in the ghetto. However, if we accept this, we are accepting the fact that the “ghetto life” is so hopeless that an explosion of violence is justified. By encouraging rappers that promote this type of behavior we are deeming the behavior acceptable just because the “ghetto life” is tough. However, rape and murder should never be seen as acceptable, and nor should the advocacy of it
Today our society is bursting at the seams with violence. There is fighting in other countries like Kosovo, shootings in schools, and violence on television. In my opinion, though, nothing has a greater effect on the youth of America than rap music. However, this isn’t a new issue, there has been violence in rap music for years. Such as, gang violence, references to drive-by shootings and homicides in songs. Since this is such a broad topic I will explore the violent side and history of the industry, the lyrics, as well as the artists.
When teens listen to the rap music, they hear the lyrics of gang violence, sex, drugs and parties. Many believe that Gangster rap is being related to youthful crime. With artists like Eminem, singing lyrics like, "But I'm not like you. I didn't...
“Music plays a vital role in a teen’s life,” said Brad H. Reddick, M.D. and Eugene V. Beresin, M.D. (New Research Explores 1). Thomas L. Jipping claims that “… gangsta rap glamorizes violence, rape, and murder, and could be harmful to vulnerable young people” (Haugen 75). A recent studies result that was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, showed that songs that contained violent lyrics increased aggressive thoughts and feelings. “A study performed in 1999 with a sample of 345 mothers from public schools revealed that 47% of the mothers believed that violent messages in rap music contribute to school violence” (Impact of Music 5). A study was done in 1997 by DuRant et al. In this study, it revealed that “the percentage of violence in music videos ranged from 11.5% to 22.4%, with the most violent videos having been presented on MTV. When analyzed according to type of music, rap videos had the highest portrayal of violence (20.4%), closely followed by rock videos (19.8%)” (Impact of Music 5). Western Connecticut State University conducted research and found that people who listened to music with violent lyrics were more likely to be violent. Also, rap music was started in poor urban communities, in which violence might have been controlled poorly. Social and economical factors contribute greatly to the appearance of
“If rap music appears to be excessively violent when compared to country-western or popular rock, it is because rap stems from a culture that has been seeped in the fight against political, social, and economic oppression.” For many artists, rapping about violence, gangs, and drugs is just a way of reflecting on what some of the rappers live through every day. Many rap artists come from housing projects, areas of poverty, and ghettos in which violence is commonplace. Because of this, some people argue that lyrical violence in rap is not harming the youth, but yet it is an outcry of existing problems that many African-Americans living in slums and facing deep economic equalities carried on generation by generation face every
Have you ever watched a rap song’s music video? If yes, what did you notice about it? The amount of drugs, alcohol, and violence in it, or the swearing, stacks of money, and highly expensive items? Rappers mainly associate their music with very negative aspects to life. A great example of this is the excessive talk of alcohol and drug abuse throughout their music. Drugs and alcohol are both substances which humans use in order to become intoxicated. With a boundless use of either substance, it can lead to overdose and even bring irreversible effects onto the user, such as organ damage, and in extreme cases, death. However, in rap music, drugs and alcohol are commended. This gives teenagers the impression that substance abuse is fun and cool. This contributes to the curiosity youth will have about drugs and alcohol, and can influence them to begin experimenting. On top of that, the rap industry likes to incorporate much violence and glamorize gang life in their music. For instance, many rap artists have taken part in the west coast versus east coast rivalry. This rivalry has led to the deaths of several famous rap artists, including Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. The type of behaviour shown inside the rivalry influences teenagers to believe that a violent, gang related lifestyle is okay, when in fact it is