Black Stereotypes In Rap Music

As African Americans we have such a rich diverse culture filled with different cuisines, languages and traditions. We definitely should be proud of the many accomplishments that we have made as a people. But in terms of black history it dates back to some of the most inhumane and repulsive actions that African Americans were subjected to. Aside from the racism and segregation that occurred to black people we were also seen as a joke in TV/movie culture back in the day that perpetuated many stereotypes. In the article “Black Stereotypes as Reflected in popular culture” by J. Stanley Lemons he talks about these clichés that were portrayed but most importantly the action of blackface. For me blackface was the most detrimental and had the most

Music and society have always been closely related. For years now music has been apart of people’s everyday lives all around the world. Having so many different genres out there, it makes it easy to be appealing to so many different ethnic backgrounds. However, one type of genre in particular has seemed to grab the attention of a younger generation. Rap music has undoubtedly had its utmost impact on African American youth, since many of the performers themselves are African American. An overtly masculine culture dominates rap music and creates gender stereotypes that become abundantly popular to the youthful audience. Three constant themes that are found within the rap culture are encouragement of violence, the misogynistic representation of women, an extreme hatred of homophobia. Each theme plays a detrimental role in the process of defining black masculinity as well as shaping the values, morals, and beliefs that its younger audience adopts after tuning into this “gangster lifestyle”.

The violence described by rap lyrics is the exception, and not the rule when it comes to the real life urban neighborhoods that rap songs often depict. This is further evidence that “Our Buddy”is a stereotype in rap lyrics. This stereotype, that violent rap lyrics promote, can influence some people, white and black alike, to accept violence and to behave in a violent manner. Still, some will argue that people will not allow the violent stereotypes in rap lyrics to influence them and that they know the difference between fantasy and reality. I think that rap fans find great pleasure in believing the authenticity of their favorite rapper which adds on to the issue at

Many believe that rap music has taken a complete 180 in the industry and has turned their lyrics of inspiration and positivity, to drugs and gang violence. Although several signs can point to this statement being true, rap music does not encourage teens to act violently. In fact, many artists/rappers spread positive messages across, giving solutions, and inspiration to the audience.

To gaze into the lyrics of both Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur is like living in the ghettos of New York City where violence never stops. Both of these artists grew up seeing and living a life filled with violence. Gunshots and drive-byes, death and murder were a daily occurrence. Although the lyrics of both artists are simply telling their life stories and how hard it was to grow up in their “hoods” they contain vulgar, hateful, and sexual verses that send the wrong message to their listeners. Whether these listeners are teens or adults, white or black, they are continually sending notions of hatred and fear through their lyrics and actions. Ultimately,

Within History, Rap has been considered the “CNN for black people”; what started as a way to express struggles in the ghettos of New York has transformed into one of the most popular genres of music in America. The popularity of rap has allowed many to have their voices heard, created new fashion trends, and even developed popular modern slang used by people throughout the world. The commercialization of rap has resulted in a significant following of the culture in America but also a large number of people who oppose the music. The culture of rap music has a substantial impact on popular culture in America, and by using an open mind and looking past the violence and language, people can better understand the meaning behind rap and the perception that follows it in America today.

Gangsta rap is a form of music that is enjoyed by everyone and there should be no stereotypes attached to it. It has been debated if Gangsta Rap harms Black Americans; it is a heavily criticized art form since its inception. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines “Gangsta rap: a form of hip-hop music that became the genre’s dominant style in the 1990s, a reflection and product of the often violent lifestyle of American inner cities afflicted with poverty and the dangers of drug use and drug dealing. The romanticization of the outlaw at the center of much of gangsta rap appealed to rebellious suburbanites as well as to those who had firsthand experience of the harsh realities of the ghetto. “

In rap music it’s not hard to find the violent lyrics with most of the music speaks about gang violence, shootings, drugs, and more. An example of a song that influences violence is J. Coles song “A Tale of 2 Cities” with lyrics like “Picked up the paper and they say my nigga Eddie caught a body, I'm convinced anybody is a killer, all you gotta do is push 'em to the limps” in this part of the song Cole speaks about how his friend, who isn’t really a person who would commit a crime, murdered somebody; Cole isn’t surprised because he believes everybody is a killer if you push them to their limits. Another example in the song is “They robbin' niggas on the daily can you blame a nigga that ain't never had things? Guess not last night they pulled up on my nigga at the light like ugh, nice watch, run it” the first part of these lyrics Cole justifies the crime of robbing because they have nothing. In the second part Cole states that somebody came up to his friend and robbed him of his watch, on this part the sound of a gun being cocked in the background is heard and is continued with the chorus saying “hands in the air now” (Genius). These lyrics not only promote violence but justify why it was okay to do such crimes. The reasoning behind why artists talk about violence is that it’s a way of telling their story. Namir, a rapper in New York says “People have to realize that rappers are just like any other artist or musician. What makes an artist an artist is his artistic portrayal of his life and how he expresses his life through whatever art form that he does” (PBS). With people growing up in terrible environments and music being a way for them to cope the reasoning for the violent lyrics is the artist trying tell their

Hip hop is something that has been around since the 21st century. When it comes to the hip hop community, there are so many stereotypes that the media portrays. This essay will show that the stereotype of violent, crimes African American in rap music can become self-prognostication for the hip hop community. This is a behavior that has been corresponding in the rap music and has become accepted as a social norm by the African American community.

In today’s society African Americans are expected to listen to “Hip-hop” when honestly not all of us do. I personally don’t listen to rap much at all. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate it but it’s not in my top 25 favorite songs category. I listen to hardcore stuff weather that would be metal or electronic music like dubstep. It bothers me when people are shocked that I listen to that kind of music when music is meant for everyone not for just

The lyrics that are in rap songs are not only listened to by African Americans but by many other cultures, cultures who know nothing about them. Different cultures listen to rap music to get to know a culture and all the violence and explicit lyrics within rap creates stereotypes. To other cultures they see African Americans as violent pimps, which is not the case at all. Not to mention African American women in rap videos, even the men in the same culture consider them to be b***** not sisters.

Why is the public critical towards music lyrics that have offensive and violent? This question came about from me reading Carrie Fried study on “Bad Rap for Rap: Bias Reaction to Rap Lyrics”. Since this paper took place 19 years ago I wanted to know if people still felt the same. Also, I wanted to know if young adult that are in college have the same feelings that the individuals had in her paper. The dependent variable in the research I am forgoing is used in past study such as in Amy Binder’s discourse of media and she discusses how the music genre was talked about in negative frameworks that

There are so many influences in today’s society. Not only are our family members and peers, but the things that are a part of our daily routines in this case listening to music. Specifically, the rap and hip-hop genre has some of the most explicit lyrics. A lot of artist that categorize there self in this genre have come from poverty and/or middle-class backgrounds. Most of the artists in this genre are also African-Americans. Since way back African-Americans who are not typically following societies norms are classified as thugs and bad influences. It doesn’t make matters better when one actually listens to the lyrics of some of these songs. Most rap artists are summarizing the conditions and experiences they went through while growing up. This is why music is so relatable, because we all have our own story.

Boom, boom! Boom, boom! The kind of bass that drains batteries and the kind of lyrics that unload clips, these are the sounds that rap music produces. I chose this topic because I am extremely interested in rap music and I want to explore the violent aspect of the industry. I have never had a chance to look at the violent side of it and I plan to find answers to questions I have in my search. Tupac Shakur is one of my favorite artists and when he was shot and killed I really started to take notice of the violence. People were getting killed because of an image that was being set. What I really want to know, however, is why rappers feel compelled to graphically describe the violence.

     Most rap songs that contain violence reflects incidents that occur in today’s society such as the Rodney King incident. “Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society.” Rap and hip-hop artists write songs that promote the killing of enemies as well as targeting institutions such as the church, government, and justice system (Ro 145) Most artists relive their own painful experiences over and over again though their music, delaying their own society’s process of recovery . for example, in 1989