Comparing Music Genres With Drug Abuse Essay

For thousands of years, music has been a form of self-expression that has united groups of people through its historical and traditional meaning. In the 1980’s, a new, more diverse genre took over the music industry by storm., Hip-Hop/Rap. This contemporary genre has raised much controversy over the years from parents, educators, and conservatives. These groups worry that Rap music glorifies negative lifestyle choices such as drugs, violence, sex and gangs; and those lyrics’ influence on youth. Since music is more apart of youth’s life than ever, these concerns are questioning the limitations on Rap’s explicit content. However, Rap serves as a positive outlet for self-expression without limits, allowing artists to freely communicate their journeys and struggles. In addition, Rap sheds light on current political/social issues in a relatable, digestible way; allowing youth to be more conscious and involved in society & its struggles; resulting in improved race relations and narrowing the gap between the rich and poor.

Is all rap music promoting and glorifying crime and degrading women? This is a question that is asked often and the general consensus is that, yes, it does. Is there any evidence however to back up these claims and are the rappers intending their music to be seen in a negative aggressive way. I don’t necessarily think that rap music does anything but give the musician an outlet for their talent and use topics like women and crime in their songs for commercialization and to create an image that rappers need in order to succeed in that genre. We will come to an overall conclusion at the end of this essay after we source different arguments on the topic.

Throughout the evolution of popular music in American culture, many factors have been instrumental in the inspiration musical artists. The wide range of sources reflects the variety and creativity of music in the modern day that musicians claim as their muses, ranging from religious beliefs to love interests. However, the primary driving force behind the creative minds in music in the United States has undeniably been the drug subculture that was the largest at the given time period. Without the use of recreational drugs by artists, popular music would have taken an entirely different and unimaginable evolutionary path, resulting in a completely different musical world. Music is what is taken from drug culture to be incorporated and sold

Thesis:Rap music does not promote violent actions by teens because rap music is a very diverse genre, it is mainly for entertainment purposes only, and part of the music is involved in anti-violence efforts.

Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis

The corruptness of music today seems to be linked to the crude language and aggression found particularly in hip-hop and rap music. Some rap artists use vulgar language in their lyrics that are easily adoptable by teens (Holden). Not only have certain lyrics influenced the way teens speak but also their actions. An article on Headliners.org stated that “lyrics in the music are too violent and are to blame for many problems.” The problems range anywhere from suicide and aggression towards women to underage drinking and drug use. Lyrics are not only to blame, but also what people see in artists’ music videos can affect what they do (Doaks). The urge to emulate these rap musicians has escalated quickly causing a spike in rebellious tendencies among teens.

Music is subjective which means people will often voice their opinions on it, and undoubtedly one of the most controversial genres that has sparked a barrage of disapproval is rap. It is believed and further encouraged by the media that rap music promotes a bad lifestyle. With corruption being apparent around the world it is easy for the media to put the blame on a genre of music that is filled with explicit lyrics about violence, drugs, and rebellious subject matters. However, further investigation will reveal that because of its accurate depiction of reality, and wide variety of categories, rap music does not encourage an unhealthy lifestyle.

Some study on substance abuse representation has been shown on the depiction of alcohol within the media outside of the marketing and advertising scope like music and videos (Baillie, 1996). Music and videos are increasing glamorize drugs and alcohol use in their content. These songs and videos are readily available to adolescents without parental guidance. Examples of two song Liquor and Drunk Texting by Chris Brown. Songs such as “Liquor” show Mr. Brown in a bar and female slips something into his drink, where he goes on to have a wild night under the influence and experiences with a female. His other song “Drunk Texting” featuring songstress Jhene Aiko show Mr. Brown and his ex under the influence after a fail relationship showing how

From the lens of feminist theory rap music portray women to be lustful. Rap music suppose to be a positive influence on injustices and social issues, but the strong content, language forces self-objectifying and self-exploitation (Herd; 2015). This music genre also up spring off capitalism and patriarchy which is mediated through racism. Elitism tradition of African American which is also known as “Playing the dozens” (Herd; 2015). Hip-Hop music genre has affected young adults in American society. In Neena Speer’s study hip-hop contains violence and misogyny which are offensive musical lyrics. In this context women and men are controlled by a negative image of themselves. The significance of this this focus on how many of the themes that are included in the song most young black adults claims to be apart of who they are (Speer;2014). Greenberg, Baron-Cohen, Stillwell, Kosinski and Rentfrow show how preference of musical genre is related to cognitive. The main focus of the study was to get participants to report their reactions to different musical genres (Speer; 2014). In the article “Constructing Racial Rhetoric: Media depiction of harm in Heavy Metal and Rap Music” music genre was judged on a level that the writer picked and choose what material to put into the media. Music that was considered to be rap or heavy metal was projected out to the

Murder is the most extreme form that violence manifests as and it is brought up in rap music more than any other genre because of rap music’s connection with gang violence. In a study done by Gwen Hunnicutt and Kristy Humble Andrews, lyrics in rap songs from the years 1989 to 1991 were analyzed. They found that in the first three year interval “29% of the 75 most popular rap songs…contained homicide-related lyrics”. This trend increased by the last three year interval to 37% of the top 75 songs (Hunnicutt and Andrews 619). Another theme that is prevalent in rap music is the expectation of a violent death and the normalization of it in daily life. It was found that in conjunction with this expectation of a violent death was the expectation of an early death (Hunnicutt and Andrews 624). Normalizing homicide in music, as with rape, creates a desensitized society to this violence. This could also effect why there has been and increase in violence in other forms of media like television and movies to try and create the same shock factor that could have been produced in the past. Music is a form of mass media that is almost always in contact with society and this constant exposure accelerates the normalization of these acts making them less impactful when seen visually in other forms of media. When homicide is mentioned in rap music it is usually attached

Artists have mentioned, paid homage to, and warned against the pitfalls of drugs, from lean, to Xanax, to cocaine, to marijuana, to molly and yet a clean culture still hasn’t become popular to the hip hop audience. From warning against abuse to promotion of the abusive lifestyle the message of hip hop has changed the most through the decades. A new accountability must be installed into artist who promote use because they are the ones that influence more people to use and abuse thus causing further overdose crisis. Until this happens, the issue will remain silenced and so will the victims, whether that be the artist themselves or the listener, who are insecure about getting help, losing popularity, or their

Research at Florida International University and Western Connecticut State University have both proven that people who listen to music with violent, profane, and/or sexualized lyrics are more likely engaged to adapting these aspects to their behavior and are also more likely to endorse it in their peers. This demonstrates the effect hip hops songs has on its audience, making it important to control the liberty of the right to listen to these type of songs. And if not, to control the kind of songs that are publicly played.

Rap increase the use of drugs. Majority of people probably do not realize that rappers sing about drugs because they sing so

Dr Warburton also points out that the continued rise in popularity of rap, hip hop and heavy metal music is of concern as the lyrics often glorify aggression (especially against women), violent sexual acts (rather than sentiments about someone you care about), anti social themes, murder and thoughts of suicide. In 2005 90% of the most popular rap songs spoke about alcohol and drug use, content has progressed to a disturbing level since then with lyrics now describing rape and

The first thing I found in my research is that songs glamorize the lifestyle of drinking and doing drugs. The song called Tik Tok by Ke$ha said, " Ain't got no care in the world, but got plenty of beer" which means that if you drink alcohol, you will have no problems. Also, many rap songs talk about going to the club and then "getting laid" with the aid of alcohol. With alcohol effecting one's brain, an unplanned pregnancy might occur. Also, many songs mention alcohol or drugs like "Shots" by LMFAO, A-team and "Drunk", by Ed Sheeran, "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx, and "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock. These songs reference or glamorize the use of alcohol and drugs.