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Rap influence on youth
How does rap music influence the youth today
Negative effects of rap music today
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Music has many different meanings and forms such as rock and roll, pop, R&B, rap and so many more. It can affect people in many ways such as a way for them to escape their harsh realities, having a positive impact on their behavior or used as a simple form of expressing one’s feelings. For many years, people describe rap music as “whack” or “devil music,” but those are all lies. Rap music has been a controversial topic for a long time on whether it should go or stay. There are rap songs whose lyrics openly promotes gang violence, violence against women, and so many more, but that is not entirely the truth. However, rappers in the rap music industry deal with a lot of stereotypes from society and backlash when there is not any real evidence of such violence. So rap music does not promote …show more content…
Rap music has been known through their lyrics to openly promote violence against women and many other things. An example would be the well-known rapper Lil Wayne song called “Mrs. Officer.” In the song, Lil Wayne is describing a scenario himself having rough sex with a female officer with using different forms of metaphors. This obviously degrades women as just being sex objects or sexual fantasies to men, but not all rap music is meant to be about “rainbows” or “unicorns.” Rap music is not the only industry that degrades women through their lyrics. Music like rock and roll or pop music have also been known for displaying women as being sexual beings through lyrics. Songs like these give the misconception that this all rap music is about and all it would ever be, but that is incorrect. Rap music also displays positive images through their lyrics and not just the bad. It goes to show that rap music is not as people portray it as being and just a
“She ain’t nuttin but a hoochie mama…Smackin’ on your lips, put your hands on your hips…She ain’t nuttin but a hoochie mama…Oh I love those big brown eyes and the way you shake your thighs, acting like you’re so damn cute...” Rap music with lyrics like this play on the radio and in home stereos every day. Rap music pounds messages of sex and violence into the minds of young adults leaving behind their sexist and repetitive influential messages. Music has a very powerful influence on our emotions, moods, and behavior. Rap music influences teenagers negatively by increasing violent attitudes and promoting sexual aggression against women.
This article is titled “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” and is written by E. Faye Williams. Williams is a chairwoman of the National Congress of Black Women (NCBW). The national congress of black women is a non-profit organization dedicated to the educational, political, economic, and cultural development of African American women and their families. Williams’s article “Rap music is harmful to African American communities” makes her qualified and a credible source to be writing on this question: If rap music and other media is harming the African American community? In her article, she states her side of the argument of how rap music and media are indeed harming the African American community, using the context, and reasoning,
It seems that our American culture has always had a problem with misogyny in the rap music industry. But is our culture, introducing a new level of misogyny? Where rappers objectify and reduce women in a more unsettling and brutal way. Are rappers taking the once positive music pass the limit? Recently, in the past few months, rappers have released new singles about raping women and mishandling them. It seems that Rick Ross has created a fairly amount of date rape songs- towards women, (i.e. u.o.e.n.o. gun play, and Sanctified). Although, rap is a way for rappers to express their daily struggles and say whatever they want; (due to the first amendment, which is having the freedom of speech,) it still does not give rappers the authority to take advantage of this amendment and humiliate women in their songs (and/or) lyrics.
Many rappers write songs about gang violence and struggling in areas of poverty. In some cases this is a way for the artist to vent or use music as a way to express their own emotions and experiences. Rap has also been known to be a method of preaching and educating youth. Music is a powerful tool and those who use it in a positive way can affect people in a positive way.
Music can be reflection of our life experience. Each genre of music invokes different emotions and reactions in it's listeners. Rap has become a very popular genre in today's society. Is today “Gangster rap” and rappers exploiting society, introducing drugs and instigating violence? In the mid-1980s Gangster rap came to be portray images of violence, guns, gangs, drugs, and sexism. By the 1990s rap music became a major part of the industry and topped the charts. As people begin to operate different things; different music was engendered and that contributed to the variety of music that we have today. This is one of the many things that makes America different but is astringently under looked by everyone. There are many types of different raps
Within the booming business that has become the rap world, certain musical themes and issues are more prevalent than most. In addition to such topics as drugs, alcohol and police brutality, a dominant theme within rap music is the denigration and derision of women. Indeed, as the above lyrics to Akinyele's song “Put It in your Mouth” illustrate, many male rappers use violent and misogynistic lyrics to create an image of women that is both degrading and disgusting. The graphic and shocking nature of this particular type of rap causes it to be widely publicized, and thus it serves as a definition of rap for a majority of people today. However, there are a number of female artists within the rap music genre spreading messages of female empowerment and respect, not denigration. These female artists, often ignored due to the hype surrounding their male counterparts, use their lyrics to create raps which focus on life as women; dealing with issues of love, power, and discrimination. The face of women in rap culture is both multi-faceted and contradictory.
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
Misogyny and degradation of women is present in almost every genre of music, yet the one genre that completely revolves around demeaning women is rap. Over the years rap and rap music videos have continually become more sexual and degrading towards women. Rap has been criticized numerous times for this reason, and that is because rap is one of the most popular genres of music for the younger generations. It is more than a genre of music, it is a complete industry filled with clothing and other merchandise. The reason this constant demeaning of women exists is because rap as a genre that rewards the objectification of women. The excuses used to justify the misogyny in rap are incomplete and lack accurate support. The most effective way for this continuous cycle ends, is if the fight and protest comes from the women themselves. Men are the problem in the objectification of women but in order for it to stop, women need to step up and take control of the situation.
Rap has been around since 1973, when Kool DJ Herc introduced this new mash of jazz, soul, gospel, and reggae. This culture has been focused around African Americans, and since has served as a voice for the underrepresented, that is spreading violence, alcohol, and drugs. In this genre the most popular and successful boast about who has murdered more foes as breezily as other artists sing about love. Rap music tells stories of drugs, violence, and alcohol. The youth of America is constantly exposed to this kind of music, and our teenagers are being desensitized to the effects of these stories.
Hip-hop and rap music are commonly criticized for its anti-feminist lyrics and degrading exploitation of women in music and music videos. (Sharpley-Whiting ) Many feminists have taken action against the music industry, which produces these messages in the music they release. However, in the hip-hop genre there are plenty of successful female rappers promoting feminist views, artist such as Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige have made the choice to condemn the derogatory culture towards women. (Oliver, 382–384)
Have you ever wondered what was making that horrible racket coming from a teen’s car. The odds are that it would be some type of rap song, yet the beat was too loud for you to hear the lyrics. Based off what the mass knows about rap music, you were lucky to not hear the lyrics right, wrong. Rap lyrics have many senses of great poetry and life lessons that should be heard. At least some of rap songs relate to struggles, deaths they have suffered, or even respect of women that many do not believe that rappers would ever do. Rap music is becoming increasingly meaningful for not only adults but for older youth as well to comprehend about respect and an improved understanding of life with struggles and oppressions.
There is a direct relationship between what is portrayed in music and the effect it has on its audience. Generally speaking, in modern music, woman have been placed in a certain mold. The molds portrayed in music have caused women to have negative self-perception. Through the lyrics presented in the songs and the images portrayed in the music videos, certain hip-hop songs may cause women to view themselves in the same light portrayed in the songs. The tone, lyrics, and images presented in the songs effect the intended audiences immensely. Hip hop music that objectifies black women negatively affects their self-perception because they view themselves as commodities.
In today’s culture where rap music has become increasingly popular, many teens aren’t realizing what they are listening to. A lot of teens would argue that the music they listen to has no effect on them, but they are wrong. Rap music, especially, has had a major impact on teenagers in today’s society. The lyrics of many rap songs encourage violent and aggressive thoughts in teenagers.
Not to overlook the disgusting display of misogyny in gangster rap music, saying that rap music in general shaped the belief that it is okay to be violent towards women, ignores the contributions of females in rap. Early female rappers like Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, and Monie Love only uplifted women and gone against the notions that women were just sexual objects. However they were not rappers of the gangster rap genre. Enter Kimberly Jones aka Lil’ Kim, the most notable female gangster rapper in history. She was as vulgar and blunt as they come
It’s big sector in our economy, it’s true to life and teaches us the right to freedom of speech. Rap music is the line that separates us from good and bad. Lyrics of rap music shouldn’t be banned. Rap artists help us know how bad life can be, How rap artists us freedom of speech, and people have a choice to listen to rap music.