Gender Issues In Rap Music

In her essay “hip hop’s betrayal of black women,” Jennifer McLune implies that “(h)ip-hop owes its success to the ideology of women-hating” (193). She does not agree with Kevin Powell’s article that hip-hop does not mean to “offend” black women, but instead artists are only letting out their temper throughout their music. McLune feels infuriated that many artists in hip hop (including black men) rap about their community and downgrade their own women. In the hip-hop genre, sexism is mainly used, not only by black men but also by many other race hip-hop artists. Artists assume that women-hating in their rap songs will be accepted by women, but do not realize that it is affecting all women. Some lyrics focus on success and making money. Nevertheless,

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.

Rap music has been controversial and in the forefront of the american media now and in the 90’s. Without the frame of its social context and history rap music can not be understood. Numerous media groups, politicians, and general society are quick to place blame on rap for the growing trend in youth violence. “Keep in mind when brothas start flexing the verbal skillz, it always reflects what's going on politically, socially, and economically”-- Musician Davey D. In the 1990’s music defined the era of rap music socially ,politically, and historically.

Rap music receives a variety of brutal critic from critics attacking the lyric that rappers use. 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). People are being so quick to jump to harsh opinions and are not even attempting to understand the ways of rap. They only listen to one song and assume that this is how all rappers are. This quick assumption is unfair to the rap genre as a whole, because rap does not deserve

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

Hip-hop culture has been identified by the lifestyles of many. Hip-hop encouraged violence throughout society. Hip-hop songs promote violent behavior and some of them drugs. And They used degrading lyrics towards women.

What seems to us now as excessive violence and misogyny in hip hop stems from a culture that has been consumed in a continuous battle against social and economic oppression since its early days. In the beginnings of hip hop, there was an explosion of defiance against the subjugation these artists had to experience on a daily basis. For many artists, rapping about guns and gang life was a reflection of daily life in the ghettos and inner-city housing projects. Not only did rap provide an outlet to voice the struggles of black youth, it also gave them a sense of pride. Before major hip hop groups such as NWA arrived on the scene, people would refuse to admit they were even from Compton. 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.

As new black artists began creating music leading into the 80s, historical events were beginning to allow artists to use music as a platform to discuss social and political injustice in ways that had never been seen before. One specific gangster rap group, N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes), used this so-called platform to shed light on the injustices of a black man living in the city of Compton in the most raw and purest way possible. (Wahl, 1999)

Because the lyrics of many rap songs tell stories of an artist’s personal experience of their everyday lives growing up, urban youth can relate and connect to the lyrics because they see and experience very similar things. Listening to the artist’s lyrics about their own experiences can teach the listeners to not make stupid mistakes and if they continue to follow the right paths, they can achieve more and be successful like the rappers. Hip-Hop literacies can be applied in and outside of the classroom. Students can identify themselves through Hip-Hop culture. In the article, “You Don’t Have to Claim Her”, the author and English teacher Lauren Leigh Kelly, explains that women of all ages can use Hip-Hop to identify themselves despite the genre

Rap music has negative influences on teenagers and youth lives, as they are drawn to the lifestyle of drugs, sex, and violence, which is contained in the music lyrics and videos. Research has supported this, arguing that exposure for a long time to this music is likely to affect the overall mood, behavior, perceptions, and create fantasies among the youths (Miranda and Claes, 2004). This has had significant influences on their behaviors at school and at home. Parents are concerned, since they are unaware of the lyrics, as the teenagers prefer to download the songs and listen the music through the headphones. Research has proven that popular rap music effects explore the student schoolwork, social interactions, moods, and overall behavior. The

The first ‘commercially successful rap song’ (Genius) was Rapper’s Delight by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979. Although Afrika Bambataa and other rappers featured rap in their songs first, Sugarhill Gang was known for composing a song which popularized rap. In 2011, their song was preserved into the National Recording Registry for being ‘culturally, historically, [and] aesthetically significant’. (The National Recording Preservation Board). The song features a simple bassline and hi-hats resulting in a funky beat combined with simple and straightforward lyrics with no vulgarity or derogatory terms. It is important to note this as language used in rap gradually changed to become more explicit from classic to today’s rap.

Music has been an object of miracle, amazement, and even fear since the start of its presence. It has been used as a tool to shape culture and society through history. Music and its people influencing the lives and activities of society. Is this a good thing? Most would say yes. Can it be manipulated to carry a harmful result? A lot, considered such varieties as rap, would say yes. Rappers communicate through the specialty of music. Rap artists use their music to express their perspectives, opinions and feelings in their songs. From their lyrics, you will have the visualization of what they are trying to deliver, and how do they feel and see towards the society. The artists should be happy because they can compose any types of music to express themselves. However do these rappers truly need to use disrespectful and profane words? Do they need to publicize swearing words to youths? Do they have to speak explicitly about drugs? Rap music has created a disagreement in many ways, especially among parents and teenagers. First debate is lady and how they are degraded/ humiliated in the lyrics. Another reason that rap music causes problems today is by the way they take drugs and alcohol, to be something they are most certainly not. They talk about murder, rape, assault as if they were okay. Almost everybody and everything that has to do with rap music is associated with drugs and alcohol. The impact of rap music has numerous negative impacts in our culture and society today. This

Most people have a negative view about rap music because a lot of rap music is about drugs, sex, alcohol, so on and so on. However, that is just parts of rap music there is a positive side to rap music. It is a misconception that rap music is totally negative, there are some artists that write lyrics with uplifting message to encourage their listeners. There are more and more Christian rap artist the focus on rapping positive message, and they keep their lyrics clean. The positive side of rap music has been underestimated, and rap music can actually benefit teenagers and even benefit the whole society. Rap music gives people a chance to freely express their feelings and express whatever they cannot express through behavior. Allen (2014) states that rap can actually help teenager understand more about language and how to use it so that it is the most effective. Rap lyrics word of choice and sentence structure is very poetic; also rappers will use techniques such as metaphor, simile and rhyming. Some rap lyrics are very subjective so it can help teenagers that listen to it build their critical thinking skills, it gives them a chance to think about whether or not they agree with what the lyric

If a person were to conduct a survey on which genre of music people consider the most indecent, most would choose rap music. It’s quite obvious that the majority of people have a negative view on rap music; people believe that it is meaningless, misogynistic, extremely violent, and detrimental to the progression of African American life. These ideas are understandable, but they are oftentimes incorrect. There are countless songs made by rap artists that are sexist, violent, and meaningless, but that shouldn’t lead someone to generalize the whole genre as being that way. There are numerous rap songs and albums that go completely against what the majority of people think of the genre. The Hip hop industry consists of mostly African American musicians. Since blacks are often alienated in society, their music seems to be too. People often give rappers negative labels such as “gangster” or “thug”, which are discriminatory words that people have often used to describe African Americans in the media. There is an everlasting double standard in music. as people bash rap music for being sexist and violent, other genres of music such as country or alternative have the same themes, but they’re vulgar lyrics go

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.