Music: The Causes And Effects Of Rap Music

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.

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 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.

Even though my parents listened to KRS-One and Public Enemy, while my sisters engaged in Kanye West and OutKast, both eras of the hip hop genre purpose were to discuss economic problems and push people toward the right path of life. In Yan Dominic Searcy’s article, he says, “Many rappers grew up amid violence, police harassment, poverty, drugs and promiscuity. Rappers will tell you they rap about what they know. If the community wants to change rap lyrics, the community must change reality.” (Searcy) In this quote, the author is details that the only reason hip hop artist write about things that are real and actually going on in the world, so we should put blame on the community on violence. Searcy goes on to

Misogyny is a prevalent characteristic of rap music. Women are described in a derogatory manner, being called “bitches”, “thots”, “hoes”, or “whores”. Lyrics sexualize the female body and normalize the objectification of women. This can lead to negative stereotypes towards women. Male rappers often emanate hyper masculine demeanors which manifests the idea that they have the ability to disrespect women. Male rappers will attempt to justify their violent or blasphemous behavior towards women by stating that it heightens their manliness. By putting women down, it feeds the male ego and proves to others their legitimacy as an alpha male. The censorship of certain language within rap music does not alter nor improve the ultimate meaning behind many songs

Dyson makes a good point that rap music does not simply reflect on the black community, but on the entire society that has made the black community identify with songs that glorify their everyday injustice, such as police encounters that end in violence, or family broken apart for a drug charge. Therefore, raps role in society is in part to express these injustices that exist everywhere. Dr. Dyson points out the some of the ideas within rap music is not healthy, such as the degradation of women into objects for the men or as he says” the crew” to

Rap music is an expression of one’s feelings thorough poetry and instrumental. Although it has gained many accomplishments throughout society, it is still one of the most criticized genres of music. Rap music dose not promote violence; it only depicts the destruction that is happening all over America. Music should not be criticized based on its style.

And while that is true, the artist’s intent was not to glorify drugs, sex, and violence, but to just write songs about those topics to express what they see and give insight into what a day to day life is like growing up in their communities ("Hip-Hop and Rap Music" para 10). And although many songs were filled with negative sayings, there are many songs that contradict that statement. As previously stated, many rap artists that have written songs with positive messages. For example artists such as Public Enemy seen that they could use their platform to uplift the black community and talk about other important topics. In Public Enemy’s song “Give It Up,” the group stated “I never did represent doing dumb shit, some gangsta lying - I’d rather diss Presidents” (Public Enemy). Public Enemy went on to influence other Hip Hop artists such as X Clan, Prophets of Rage, Paris, Rage Against the Machine, Kendrick Lamar and many more. Students or anyone for that matter can take what they learn from those lyrics and apply them to their own lives. Many teachers and professors are implementing Hip-Hop into their curriculums as a way to get their students engaged in class and get a better understanding of what they are

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 is a powerful force that people make every day. Music expresses what one person is feeling and it can pass on and relate to others. Whether it the beats or the lyrics of music it can make us feel a certain way. Many rappers though out the years use their voice to speak up for the people that believe they do not matter. Music gathers people together because we relate to the lyrics that are being said. We see the world from the artist point of view and relate it to our lives and spread the message to the ones around us. Rappers use music to express everyday events that they have faced in their lives and how they relate to a certain audience.

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

Hip hop is normally handwritten words that usually rhyme. Since many people are educated in writing, this allows anyone to publicly say their opinion about anything. However, this causes many issues. People think this music promotes violence, a negative message, and degraded black stereotypes. Not everyone thinks this is a problem, but more of a solution to help promote their thoughts and opinions about major issues occurring in the world. For example, hip hop artist Drake is known for his music about the heart and love. Another artist by the name of Kendrick Lamar sings more about deep thoughts and the soul. Not only did a great message of a song allow hip hop to spread, but who was rapping the lyrics had a major effect on the hip hop

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

Do you believe rap music is the cause of violence and hostile behavior in teens? Yes, because it persuades them toward a real negative mindset and lifestyle. The influence it posses on teens is extremely huge plus very misleading. Its lyrics paint images of a life filled with drugs along with guns that teens believe in. As a result of rappers being so influential it makes others easily convinced. 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.

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