Rap Music Thesis

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

From the essay "Hip-Hop's Betrayal of Black Women," activist, writer, and librarian Jennifer McLune expresses her disgust on the positions African-American women receive in both songs and music videos from the hip-hop music genre. McLune points out that hip-hop is successful due to a lot of objectifying of women. She even lays out enough examples as to how black women are degraded and explains why the music industry is in desperate need of a change.

In today`s culture, there are stereotypes in every setting, especially music. Stereotypes are ideas or images of something of what it is supposed to be depending the current culture. Music is everywhere and some people believe that the music we listen to, define who we are. This could be true but it is also unfair to assume we know somebody based on the music they are associated with. You can stereotype music based on a song or a whole genre. Stereotypes in every context are bad, but in music you can generalize listeners based on the type of music they listen to which is unfair to the artist and the audience.

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.

Ever since its birth in the 1970s in West Bronx, Hip Hop has been known as “Gangsta” music and most commonly associated with black culture. Since its creation it has become a fast growing genre of music and has growing fame all over the world. The popularity of it has increased to all races, age and gender. However the growing popularity of hip hop has come with several controversies among scholars. Some scholars argue that the growing popularity of the genre is very helpful to low income families who can use this as their outlet into going to Universities, on the other side some believe associating the genre to black culture is bad for the culture as a whole and they should not be associated together.

In the essay Hip-Hop Planet by McBride, a national book award winner, he states that he believed the newer music like rap wasn 't meaningful. McBride talks about how he never understood why rap was so popular, he didn 't see why everyone liked it. In the essay he describes the first time he listened to rap and how he found it absurd. McBride noticed no one really cared where rap come from or how it came to be, people just liked it regardless of who created it.

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.

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,

¨If Hip Hop has the ability to corrupt minds, it also has the ability to uplift them.¨ Hip hop music, also called rap music, is a music genre developed in the United States by African Americans consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. Mainstream hip hop culture is also filled with misogyny and negative images of women. These artists are unaware that sexism has been forced onto them through the brainwashing from the media, which is controlled by a patriarchal society. Conversely, feminism is the belief that both genders should have equal power. Mainstream hip hop culture contradicts feminism because it degrades women, promotes male dominance and hypermasculinity. On the other hand, feminism focuses on equity for both genders.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

One of the biggest negative effects rap music has is the promotion of drug sells and usage. The number of drug references in songs have increased almost 600 percent over recent years. A study showed that 69 percent of rap songs mentioned the use of drugs. It has become a trend in today’s music scene as almost every song makes some type of reference. As an effect of