Hip Hop's Negative Influence On Teen Decision-Making

Even though, hip-hop is viewed as primarily of promoting negative message, however, it has reveled the pain behind the lyrics. “Hip hop music, had for over three and half decades, delivered a resounding message of freedom of expression, unity, peace, and protest against social injustices”. (Anderson & Jackson) As hip-hop continues to grow it has continued to remain a strong influential social impact. Hip-hop created a way for many individuals to express themselves on controversial issues seen throughout society.

Many Americans today embrace the culture of hip-hop. Since hip-hop became mainstream its influence has surrounded most Americans. People engage in social issues from the hip-hop culture In his recent work, How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back, John H. McWhorter have offered harsh critiques of hip-hop for delaying and marring the success of black people. McWhorter asserts hip-hop music “celebrates a ghetto life of unending violence and criminality(10).” He believes hip-hop contributes to the stereotype nearly all Americans maintain in regard to black people. Reflecting on harsh song lyrics McWhorter attempts to strengthen his argument. McWhorter acknowledges not all hip-hop promotes violence in people. He concedes “not all hip-hop is belligerent

The music videos that show a disturbing mix of rap and hip hop dance styles and profane language leaves us many people wondering if hip hop is harming our generation. Some things that said through hip hop and rap are a young person’s desire. The hip hop culture is an instant route to take to live the considered “good life” to our young generation. Many of us

Hip-Hop is not what the media portrays it to be. It’s how one carries themselves and expresses themselves. With the many positive aspects of hip hop, the media choses to cornerstone predominantly on the negative, without revealing the positive side of the hip hop culture. “The presentation of hip-hop culture was not based upon an altruistic concern to reveal the environmental, economic, and social challenges of inner city communities, but was connected instead to more basic goal−profits” (Melvin 1). Hip-Hop music is used for so many things than just the negativities that media sets it out to be.

If this is the case why do we need to add more violence to the world let alone youth’s education with the influence of Hip Hop? School hallways are flooded with bullies/bullied and it is possible to say Hip Hop has contributed to it. Let’s be honest many students don’t like school and some students aren’t attentive as they should be. However, when accompanied with the dislike of school and the negative message hip hop sends, youth can feel as if they could be the next “College Drop Out” like Kanye West; who is a famous Rap artist who came from nothing. How can they learn anything if they not there or wasted/high? I never drunk or got high, but at the same time, I recall listen to Three Six Mafia (666 Mafia) when I was around 14 years old and man was I affected. Nothing but hate and slanderous words spewed from my mouth. At one time, I was talking about how I was going to kill someone. I just didn’t care about life. It was if I was having an outer body experience telling myself to stop saying or doing what I was doing but couldn’t. With that said, researchers Assal Habibi and Antonio Damasio attested, “Nevertheless, the following facts are well established: (1) music evokes a broad range of emotions and feelings from joy and peacefulness to sadness and fear; and (2) music-related affects are accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes” (93). Looking back, I now realize this was due to me being bullied, I was hurting and wanted others to hurt

The kids who started it were simply trying to find ways to pass the time; they were trying to have fun. But they grew up under the politics of abandonment and because of this, their pastimes contained the seeds for a kind of mass cultural renewal…hip hoppers literally mapped onto the consciousness of the world a place and an identity for themselves as the originators of an exciting new art form they created value out of races and places that had seemed to offer only devastation.” (BBC) This is why when whites entered the rap scene, there was and still is backlash from the black community. Hip-hop is the essence of the ghetto, and the majority of whites do not know the lifestyle that fueled the music.

In addition to increasing awareness of issues that are going on in America, Hip Hop gives youth a needed outlet from their lives and an outlet for self-expression. Many hip hop artists rap and talk Their poverty and daily struggles they experienced while growing up in an inner-city America. Many rappers like Kanye West and Logic now use their platform to talk about rising to the top and the obstacles they overcame. Those messages implanted in the music give hope to younger kids going through the same situation. For example, when an artists talks and raps about their distressed childhood with drug-addicted and abusive parents. A kid going through the same situation and get through it easier and see that if this person made it out so can I. When

Even with the seemingly endless list of negative influences, there are countless positive influences deeply rooted in the soul and culture of hip hop. Hip hop is facing the same criticisms that every new type of music has faced in the development of that genre of music. Blues, Jazz, and Rock (in their beginnings) all scared parents and were criticized by the media, but they are now widely accepted and considered “clean” music. New music of any generation is always scary to the non-youth in society because the media only focuses on bad points and downfalls, but always fail to mention the good being done. Breaking down cultural barriers is the most positive influence rap has had on society. It creates/sustains community, is the voice of the people, defines generations, fuels needed protest, and calls attention to injustices. This new style of music allows anybody to control their destiny from the ground up, and has become a new medium for social commentary. Hip hop allows the underprivileged and discriminated to express their feelings, and

Hip hop has influenced a unthinkable amount of things but even more importantly it impacted music itself. In the article of hip hop planet by James Mcbride explains that “it’s structure is unique, complex and at times bewildering”. In many peoples eyes hip hop is seen as rude or obsured but many hip hop artist are trying to tell us something. For instance artist like Tupac are trying to tell us something “You can’t find something to live for you best find something to die for”. As James Mcbride sayed “The drums are pounding out of warning. They are telling us something. Our children can hear it”. Hip hop also included the use of turntables and the invention cool dance moves like break dancing. Hip hop changed the way people looked at music and changed it into a art form.

Doug E. Fresh, a popular beat-boxer in rap music today, has been quoted saying, “Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change.” Although this is the original intention of hip-hop music, public opinion currently holds the opposite view. Since the 1970’s musical artists have changed the face of hip-hop and rap and worldwide, people – mostly teens—have been striving to emulate certain artists and their lyrics, which has created negative stereotypes for hip-hop music and also for those who choose to listen to it. With vulgar lyrics referencing drugs, alcohol, sex, and aggression, it’s no wonder these stereotypes exist. However, is music really the direct cause of how teens act,

Hip-Hop is an extensive and a broad conglomerate of various artistic forms that ultimately originated in the South Bronx and then quickly spread throughout the rest of New York City among African-Americans and other African-American youth mainly from the Caribbean and from Jamaica during the 1970’s. Over the course of decades and recent years, controversy surrounding Hip-Hop and rap music has been the vanguard of the media. From the over hype of the East and West Coast rivalry to the deaths of Tupac, Biggie, and even Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, it seems that political and broadcasting groups have been injudicious to place essentially the blame on rap and Hip-Hop music for a superficial trend in youth violence.

Though rap started out as a force for positive social change, popular subgenres of hip-hop such as "gangsta rap" have since eroded much of the art form's value to society. Impressionable young people are negatively affected by rappers' obsession with guns, drugs, sex, and material possessions. Since record companies do not seem to care about negative content as long as it sells albums, parents should assume a greater role in regulating their children's listening habits. Hip-Hop is the proclamation that young people are independent and intolerant of what they consider to be adult society, which they frequently view as hypocritical.

I found this newspaper article through the Metro State library. I clicked on the online databases and clicked on Proquest Newsstand. I chose this specific database because it generally cover news and newspapers. I typed in the search bar “hip hop's negative influence on youth” and sorted it by relevance. This newspaper was the fourth one, it intrigued me and got me hooked. It speaks about the history of hip-hop and negative image rap and hip hop exploits throughout the music videos. I could not agree more. This newspaper covered exactly what my thesis was trying to prove. Not only did it talk about hip-hop but also discusses the artist. If I was to write a full research paper of this subject, I would reference this newspaper throughout my essay.

Just like my other scholarly reviewed article, I discovered this through Academic Search Premier database. I trust this content for many reason, it is a scholarly reviewed article and also has a two page long reference page. The information was not specific to my topic. It was generally about youth social life and the violence within it but still very useful. Gave me an unbiased opinion of what exactly influence adolescents. Though I am arguing how harmful rap and hip-hop music can be to the youth, as the article states it also can have a positive influence. The research questions provided in this article allowed me to actually think deeper. I would definitely recommend this scholarly reviewed source.

From the beats to the lyrics, the current generation of youth is engrossed in hip-hop culture, tending to idolize the artist behind the songs. Since the 1970s, hip-hop has influenced American culture tremendously. In the past, hip-hop held a central focus around inequality, empowerment and overcoming hardships. Today, hip-hop talks more about sex, money, a male dominant social standing, and drugs. Hip-hop, from then to now, has drifted to the darker side of the social spectrum. The majority of today’s youth were subconsciously thrust into a time when the darkness of hip-hop was nearing its climax. Young African American males