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Is Hip Hop Good Or Bad

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Irrespective of race, hip hop/rap music is the most popular genre among teens and young adults, including many Millennials and Gen Xers. I don’t often listen to music, but when I do listen, my taste in music ranges from classical music to jazz to Gregorian chant to -- brace yourself -- hip hop (did I make you wince?) While working out or doing the dishes, I plug in my earbuds and listen to Korean hip-hop/pop such as MFBTY, G-Dragon and the like, which for years, catapulted by YouTube, have been wildly popular throughout the world. Part of the reason why hip-hop gets a bad press is due to its projected image. Gangster persona has become an emblem of hip-hop industry, dissuading talented artists from producing wholesome music, as that …show more content…

But, insufficient investment in impoverished communities is yet another formidable social barrier. Sometime last year, I read an article, featured in a Korean news website, that hailed the economic pact established between the City of Baltimore and one of the cities in South Korea during Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and his Korean American wife Yumi’s visit to Korea. Hogan’s commitment to bilateral prosperity, however, at least on the domestic front, seemed to have stalled, when, months later, his administration became mired in legal woes facing allegations that the governor’s decision to cancel the proposed rail line and shift hundreds of millions of dollars that had been slated for the rail line into highway projects around the state had a disparate impact on African-American Baltimoreans, further contending that whites will receive most of the benefits of the new road spending, while African-Americans living in Baltimore will face longer transit rides as a result of the rail project’s cancellation. No matter what the legal outcome may be (it’s still pending), the fact is, America’s recent history is replete with such scandalous incidents. In light of this, it’s worth repeating: rap music/hip-hop, warts and all, is not the primary culprit for unemployment and poverty, which in turn spawns violence. (Sabastien …show more content…

Paul, having figuratively died and rose again with Christ, demonstrates a profound change in his outlook. Armed with a transformed mindset, the once vitriolic man who had been possessed by the demonic “Us vs. Them” mentality, goes on to champion unity and equality -- “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal” (Gal. 3:28; The Message). He then implores fellow Christians to defy conformity, exhorting them to be transformed by gauging their values against the credo that holds ultimate significance -- the will of God, which Micah defines as acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God (Rom 12:2; Micah 6:8). Enamored with the rich and famous and wishing to propagate the narrative that certifies the American Dream, we readily accept Forbes’ unproven claim that of the nation’s riches 400, 70 percent “made their fortunes entirely from scratch,” despite the fact that based on investigation of Forbes’ misleading claim, “most of our super rich were born on third base and think they hit a triple.” We, as a society, are quick to give the benefit of the doubt to the rich; it’s a pity the same cannot be said about the

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