How Does Rap Music Promote Violence

This qualitative study takes a look at the relationship between gangsta rap music and violent behavior because there is little research devoted to this area.

Music Cannot Be Blamed for Crime and Violence Since the beginning of time, music has been the heart and soul for

In the past 2 years alone, more than 3 dozen criminal prosecutions have had rap lyrics be presented by the prosecutor as a vital piece of evidence in the case. [Manly] In many of these cases the prosecutor will use violent lyrics created by the defendant to prove that that person is inherently dangerous and in other cases, will use the lyrics as a direct confession to having committed the crime in question. If you read into these cases you will notice a common theme between them; the defense will claim that the lyrics are freedom of speech and should be considered artistic expression, while the prosecutors will claim that the song is either a criminal threat or has too many similarities to the actual crime that it should be considered a confession. The primary basis for this debate is that hip-hop music is a misunderstood cultural practice because of the racial divide between the defendant and the criminal justice system.

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.

Like many musical genre before rap, some people believe that rap music influenced teenagers in a negative way that could lead to violence. Some criminals have blamed movies, books, and music as inspiration for their crimes. However, one cannot solely rely on these sources as the main reason for any act whether good or bad. “Millions of heavy metal and gangsta rap fans spend hours with their chosen music genres and never threaten others or themselves. Moreover, most researchers concerned with the causes of suicide and violence point to a broad array of risk factors unrelated to popular culture (e.g., depression, access to guns, substance abuse, etc.) that seem to be precursors of such

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

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.

Whether you love it or hate it Rap music has come to be one of the most popular, yet arguable, music genres of the past decades. Today’s rap music has changed enormously since the 1970’s. Rap music was about having fun, being able to express what youth were feeling and a way to keep youth out of trouble. Rap songs usually use explicit and demeaning lyrics, which has huge influence on the youth of today. While rappers say that they’re plainly rapping about reality. They often use violence, the use of drugs and Guns as the main tool to tell the story of their lives and show how hard it is growing up in their neighbourhood. This surely does not set any good examples for the young men and women, listening to this trash and singing along with the

A second reason how rap music is the source of violence is that is leads youth to join in gangs and when you’re in a gangs your causing violence by killing innocent people for money and creating shootings in communities. Rap music is the one type of music that talks about life being in a gang and when young people listen to the lyrics from their favorite rapper they might think it well be cool if they do the same thing or maybe how it would feel to being a gang earning money by themselves, getting nice things from being in a gang just like their favorite rapper did. In a song called ‘My Hood” by Gucci Mane, there have been some kids wanting to from hoods because of the things he say. “First you get the money then you get the power,” this is

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.

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.

Take the late Tupac Shakur for example. The deaths of Tupac Shakur and the events surrounding his death had and still have many people believing that rap music and the industry in general played a part. Everyone that was against rap music used his death as an excuse to blame rap for violence. They were saying that his violent lyrics are part of the reason that he was murdered. C. Delores Tucker, a very famous anti-rap music advocator, was quoted as saying "Mr.Shakur always talks about violence and now it has come back to him." What type of thing is that to say about someone who has died? Shakur did talk about violence in a lot of his music but he also has just as many positive lyrics. He has made songs about teen pregnancy, suicide, and one of his all time bests was a song called "Keep Ya Head Up." This is a song dedicated to black women. He tells the black woman that he loves her and begs other men to honor and respect her as a mother, sister,etc... The point of this brief on Tupac is that yes he talked about violence but rap music is not to blame for his death. Shakur grew up in a terrible environment which caused him to have a negative outlook on life. Tupac like many other rappers was educated and wanted to be positive all of the time. He said, "Yes, that's what I want to do. I want to move people. I want to heal them, but I'm still just tryin to silence the

In life, music affects everything many people look at all the different stories of teenagers committing violent acts and have begun to wonder can violent songs make teens violent? With all the violent acts that music glorifies as of recently many psychologists and parents alike have begun to wonder why certain types of music cause their children and teenagers to become so violent. Because of the questions that violent songs raise and why teenagers have started to gravitate towards violent songs more than ever before. Some factors that could be reasons as to why violent songs have such a powerful effect on teenagers could be that: teenagers learn violence from their surroundings, teenagers can have a history of violence, and violent songs give teens a place to vent their frustrations at,

Rap, heavy metal, and punk are genres of music that typically express society’s dark side, the obsession of guns and violence. I think most rap artists rap about violence and guns to not to promote these things but to bring awareness to their audience about these issues; but this is usually not always the case in the rap world. Of course, this can easily be misinterpreted by people thinking that all rappers approve of violence, weapons, and inappropriate acts. There are also some rappers that do rap about violence because they think it will appeal to a certain audience. For example, the hip-hop group N.W.A brought some controversy on this topic. With song titles such as “F-the police” and “gangsta gangsta” that have the sound of weapon fire

     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