Music : The Negative Consequences Of Contemporary Music

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.

In the article Rap and Moral Character by Susan Dwyer, the subject of concern is the consequences of listening to rap music and the effect it has on moral character. The author argues that rap music contribute to the corruption of moral character, it is misogynistic, promotes violence and street crime. In this paper I will examine the author’s claims, use of key concepts, and her reasoning. By doing so, I will be able to demonstrate that Dwyer’s thesis is unjust and unsupported. In what follows, I will analyze the claims to show that the author’s arguments are irrelevant and lack sufficient evidence to support her thesis. Secondly, I will examine the author’s reasoning to point out fallacious reasoning and lastly I will evaluate her use of

Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.

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.

According to researchers Christenson and Roberts, “American adolescents spend…between four and five hours a day listening to music…[which is] at least as much time as they spend watching standard television fare and more than they spend with their friends outside of school” (8). Music media influences the lives of adolescents in a number of ways. It “…alters and intensifies their moods, furnishes much of their slang [and] provides models for how they act…” (Christenson and Roberts 8). Music plays an important role in the lives of adolescents. They spend as much time, if not more, listening to music as they spend watching television, and therefore, music deserves additional scholarly attention.

Rap music has the power to influence people in ways such as dictating fashion or wardrobe choices, promote rebellious ways, and can even affect the morals you live by. The youth in America is highly influenced by famous rap and hip hop artist due to the many relatable stories they tell in their music. Many times the stories are speaking of hardships in life and crimes committed. Their lyrics are significantly influential enough to have caused people to commit crimes such as robbery, violence, and even murder.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines music as, “art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in most Western music, harmony”. Music was considered beautiful at one time. Musical artist in this day and age put their drive to succeed well before their personal morals. The explicit language warnings on music covers are not enough. The foul language used in music is not the only thing that is influencing the younger generation. Pop, country, R&B, and rap music is having a big impact on influencing the American youth. Most of these music lyrics are just flat out detrimental to all involved.

The impact music has on the life of people is very powerful. It can easily revamp the way people act and take control of people’s emotions. Rap music is a very common and popular type of music within the world today. Rap music has existed since the mid 1970s, nowadays it is practically everywhere. It is easily a central focus of many young people’s lives. Rap music was essentially intended to create a voicing of one’s frustrations and disappointment with society, it has recently taken a turn and is creating a negative impact on the youth. It is the root that influences and encourages degrading women, violence, and is filled with sexual content.

Thesis: Music such as Rap and Rock-n-Roll have a negative impact in the youth in our society, the music promotes violence, sexism, and vulgar language.

Reevaluating Rap Rap music has been a large staple of pop culture for the last few decades. With rappers like Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Snoop Dog, and many more icons, the rap music industry has reached a large audience. This style of music is notorious for using explicit language, drugs, alcohol, and portraying women as objects. With many studies done on how music affects someone's mood and the way they act, it would be accepted as fact that rap music will make people's actions bad. This is not the case, just because a person listens to rap music doesn't mean that they are more likely to do drugs or drink.

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.

Rap music has been around for around 40 years but became nationally popular in the 1990’s. As the music became more popular within the public, the lyrics of these songs became notorious for being vulgar, derogatory, and a bad influence on the listeners. The new sound consisted of heavier beats and a more intense sound than songs of earlier decades. These heavier beats and lyrics about alcohol, sex, drugs, violence and crime all were thought to be the cause of adolescent misconduct. Almost all of the music portrayed a lifestyle that was not wanted among most of the population, but definitely influenced

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.

Music is an integral part of youth culture. Ever since the introduction of music videos in 1981 on MTV, music and music videos have gone hand-in-hand (McIntosh & Pavlik, 2004, p. 94). The effects of music (particularly hip-hop) on youth have been subject of research and controversy. There has been an increasing concern that hip-hop culture has become profoundly influential on young people’s views of sexuality.

Music has more of an influence on the people in the twenty-first century than it ever has before. Teens, especially, are surrounded by some sort of it in everything they are around or do. Many disagree on how music impacts one’s mental state and behavior; however, all agree that the impact depends on how the listener feels before and how they allow it to influence them.