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Teen impact from rap music
Teen impact from rap music
The negative effects of rap music on society
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In 1981 MTV "Music Television" was introduced on cable television and revolutionized rock marketing. Just as FM radio had superseded the hit-oriented AM format, music videos, produced as mini-movie advertisements for songs, became essential to a performer's popularity. Early in the decade, the British group the Police was one of the first to combine a progressive sound with polished videos. The expense of producing videos and MTV's virtual monopoly made it difficult for experimental music to compete with the dance-pop sung by American artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, and Madonna, and the British groups Duran Duran and Depeche Mode. Nevertheless, performers such as the Irish group U2 and the American group R.E.M. emerged from their underground roots to enjoy enormous success. Now a few of the new genres of the 80's. In the early 1980s, the "new wave" movement, a sub genre of punk rock that began in the '70s, was generating a more sophisticated pop sound. In Britain, artists including bands such as the Clash, Squeeze, and the Police attained both critical and commercial acceptance. The Pretenders, another British band established in the late 70s, was led by an American-born singer and songwriter, Chrissie Hynde. In the United States, the Los Angeles-based band X navigated the transition from punk to new wave, and the New York-based group Talking Heads with a big assist from MTV, succeeded in fusing art rock with funk and African rhythms. Which leads me to my next new 80's genre. In 1979, the album Rapper's Delight by the American group the Sugar Hill Gang moved rap music (a rhyming, rapidly spoken word form of black dance music)from the clubs of New York City to the national scene. Rap was assimilated into popular culture through such mainstream artists as the performer M.C. Hammer, the group Run-D.M.C, and rapper-actor Will Smith , the "Fresh Prince" of the duo D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. One of the first controversial rap hits was the hip-hop song "The Message" by the rap group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Despite its contreveries, rap was terrible to young white males and was imitated by many white American groups, including Blondie and the Beastie Boys; it was combined with hard rock in the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other groups. By the late 1980s, rap had replaced rock as the most popular music of social commentary (not something all of us would agree with).
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent (Hugo, 2007).”Whether you grew up in the Roaring 20’s or in the Disco 70’s, music was a strong source of fun and entertainment. It is an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. If you ever heard the phrase “Do the Hustle” you would most likely be referring to the disco era of the 1970’s compared to the “jazz age” of the 1920’s. Both eras with their common and uncommon comparisons made a historical and unforgettable impact on today’s music.
Hip-Hop became characterized by an aggressive tone marked by graphic descriptions of the harshness and diversity of inner-city life. Primarily a medium of popular entertainment, hip-hop also conveys the more serious voices of youth in the black community. Though the approaches of rappers became more varied in the latter half of the 1980s, message hip-hop remained a viable form for addressing the problems faced by the black community and means to solve those problems. The voices of "message" hip...
For starters, hip hop originated in the Black ghettos of the United States, specifically in the South Bronx of New York City (“Hip Hop”). Aside from its origins, hip hop is also relevant to Black culture because of the topics mentioned in the music. In Notorious B.I.G.’s “Things Done Changed,” issues in inner-city Black communities are talked about in depth. This song also describes the life in these communities, mentioning problems like drugs, violence, and poverty. Additionally, “Things Done Changed” discusses how children no longer behave like kids, how people are not caring for their children, and how the only way to escape this harsh life is to either sell drugs or have “a wicked jumpshot” (Notorious B.I.G. 48-49). The song “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five also touches on the problems faced in Black ghettos and brings those problems to the forefront. Like in “Things Done Changed,” the issues of violence, drugs, and poverty are also discussed in this hip hop song. In addition to those problems, “The Message” specifically mentions the issue of the poor education people in Black communities receive, such as when the speaker states that he or she received “a bum education” (Grandmaster Flash
Rap started as a social movement during the mid-1970’s, once the 80’s arrived it started expanding dramatically, and became popular among white suburban youth. During the late 1980s and early 1990s rap became overtly political with its messages, which expanded its popularity further. Unfortunately, political rap lost its popularity in the mid-1990s; regardless of this artists and their voices have been marginalized because of corporate control. Although there does not seem to be a direct connection between rap music and its whitening, the author claims that it is not coincidental. Despite the political messages within the genre, rap has been viewed through a racist
In the 1950’s country rock and rock in general was a new style of music that was unheard of, with artist like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lewis. In the 1970’s the Eagles country rock sound became very popular and when country rock faded in the mid 1970’s, bands like R.E.M. and Los Lobos became popular in the 1980’s because of their songs sounded similar to the country rock songs in the 1950’s and 1970’s. In the 1980’s and 1990’s country rock audiences were any race that enjoyed a country and rock sound that was popular during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Many different forms of country rock came because of the country rock era, with outlaw country singers like Willie Nelson and alternative country singers like Dave Alvin that is similar to country
...le genres of music have been accused of selling out during the 80's Heavy Metal and Glam Rock were fused by bands such as Motley Crue and Poison to make Glam Metal which hardcore metal fans hated as it was not deemed authentic due to its over the top and feminine feel.
Hip-hop began in the undergrounds in Bronx New York in the early 1970s and has gradually grown to become mainstream music. According to Lori Selke a professional writer for Global post, “hip-hop is the term that refers to more than just a musical genre; it includes culture, dance, art, and even fashion” (Selke). Since it originated in the 1970’s, hip-hop has had profound influence on society, and has grown into the lives of listeners worldwide; hip-hop’s influential power is astonishing. Within the last decade, hip-hop artist like Jay-Z, Nas, and Young Jeezy helped to increase voting in the 2008 presidential campaign by informing a hip hop audience consisting of a majority of African Americans on soon to be 44th President of the United States, by using their voice and lyrics as their tool to encouraging people to stand up for a change by voting. According to Emmett Price in his book Hip Hop Culture (2006), “in the early years prior to the rise of recorded rap music via Sugar Hill Gang’s controversial “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) hip-hop was a growing culture driven by self-determination, a love for life, and a desire to have fun [through entertaining fans and expressing themself].” (Price) Although artists today accomplish the same things, the focus of the lyrics has changed consisting of “extolling violence, drug and alcohol use, and detailing sexual exploits” (Selke). If one were to observe the most popular music from artist in the 80’s until now, they would notice a definitive change in its overall message. If hip-hop continues on its current route it will become a musical genre known solely for its references to sex, drugs, and violence.
The most popular new music to emerge from the ‘80’s was rap music. It first developed in the mid ‘70’s in New York City, and soon in other urban areas, primarily amongst African-American teen-agers. It became very popular with the urban public that it soon began to spread throughout the United States and much of the world. It replaced rock music as the creative force in music of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. However, as popular as it was then and it is now, the lyrics of many rap songs have caused controversy. Many believe and have charged that these lyrics promote racism and violence and show contempt for women.
Rap music became popularized in Atlanta and the rest of the South in the early to mid-1980s. The first rap to come out of the city of Atlanta was uptempo party music with heavy bass and very obvious Florida influence. Hits like “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by Tag Team, and “Jump” by Kriss Kross defined the pre-Outkast era of Atlanta hip-hop. While these songs were immensely popular (“Whoomp!” is ranked by Billboard as one of the greatest songs of all time (“Greatest of All Time”) while “Jump” was one of the top 3 selling songs of 1992 (“Week Ending May”), groups from the city, for the most part, were commonly seen as “novelty” and “kiddie crews” (“Kriss Kross: Da Bomb”). While the emergence of relatively simple but enjoyable music was going on in Atlanta, rap as a whole began to truly explode. The newest major music genre entered its golden era; “Ready to Die” by Biggie Smalls, “Illmatic” by Nas, and “Me Against The World” by 2Pac were all albums that were rated “five mics” by The Source (“5 Mics?”) The “five mic” rating from The Source indicated an exceptional and rare hip-hop album. In this time of growth in hip-hop culture Atlanta, and the South as a whole was in large part left out. People were enthralled by cross country feuds between rap superstars; but just when it seemed like there was no space at the time for rap from anywhere but New York or California, the duo of Andre “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, better known as Outkast single-handedly redefined rap music. Andre 3000 played an instrumental role in defining not just rap, but music as a whole in the 1990s and 2000s. His presence transitioned Southern rap from being viewed as nothing more than exciting, throw away party music to music that could be timeless an...
Hip Hop/Rap music is a new kind of music that appeared during the 1980s . It portrays life on the streets.There are some connections between rap music and jazz music, they come from the Last Poets, which is a group of ex-convicts, one of them released an album backed by the funk Kool and the Gang, this made it become very influential in the early New York rappers.Rap also combines the elements of African American musical traditions such as blues, jazz and soul with dance-hall reggae, dub and Caribbean calypso. It made rap into the most influential and complex form of
Rap started in the mid-1970s in the South Bronx area of New York City. The birth of rap is, in many ways, like the birth of rock and roll. Both originated in the African American community and both were first recorded by small, independent record labels and marketed towards, mostly to a black audience. And in both cases, the new style soon attracted white musicians that began performing it. For rock and roll it was a white American from Mississippi, Elvis Presley. For rap it was a young white group from New York, the Beastie Boys. Their release “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” (1986) was one of the first two rap records to reach the Billboard top-ten. Another early rap song to reach the top ten, “Walk This Way” (1986), was a collaboration of Run-DMC and Aerosmith. Soon after 1986, the use of samples was influenced in the music of both black and white performers, changing past thoughts of what make up a “valid” song.
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.
Rap is becoming more popular than ever, soon most of the world will have some type of knowledge of rap music. Rachel Sullivan from the University of Connecticut stated “White respondents in this survey had difficulty naming three rap artists, which indicated that they did not have a high level of commitment to the music.” This statement was produced in 2003, also seemed to be very one dimensional. Recently, rap music has been surging through the masses no matter the race. Furthermore, rap is becoming very prevalent especially in the youth of this era. Many trends, commercials, social media, etc. are revolving around rap music.
Music is an outlet to all aspects of life and culture is a significant way of forming people and the way they live. Although not always seen directly culture has an overbearing influence on the music that is produced and made popular. The political Climate of the early seventies was full of fire with issues such as Vietnam and constant protest throughout the county. Later in the 70’s the end of the Vietnamese conflict brought the rise of the Watergate scandal and Iran Contra. These issues swept headlines and ingrained people’s thoughts. Social issues also played a big role in the developing culture of the seventies. Protests and constant outbreaks about gay rights and women’s rights seemed to overtake the country in storm. Later in the Decade the social climate changed to a celebration of the Past and a can-do attitude. Political and Social climates had an overbearing influence on the attitude that was being developed throughout the seventies. This climate was also transparent in the music world of this decade. In the early 70’s music lyrics were being created that were representative of the popular method of protest and social change. Music is a common way of expression and during this time artist and groups took the most of their popular music by expressing viewpoints on present issues. In the mid to late seventies the birth of new styles that broke from the old seemed to dominate the music industry. These new types of music ranged from disco to television pop. The music of the decade represented the culture and was greatly influenced by events and beliefs of the 70’s. At this time in American history, music and life became closely nit. In the late 1970’s, national issues settl...
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .