Essay about Rap Music and Teen Violence

The preceding genres of rap music are all closely related, but Hip Hop originated from Jamaican reggae music. There are other cultures who have adopted hip hop influence such as Latinos and Asians. Although rap music has been widely accepted by different cultures all over the world, their have not been many studies dedicated to researching if rap music increases violent behavior through the lyrical content of the songs. Out of all of the genres of rap music, Gangsta Rap has been noted by past researchers to promote violent self identification which in term promotes violence through lyrical content. Gangsta Rap became popular in the 1990s. In a study conducted by Herd (2009) that included 340 gangsta rap songs, it was found that violent references dramatically increased and those references were viewed as positive and linked to wealth, prowess, and glamour. In reference to Kubrin (2005), he found that “The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture categorizes ‘gangsta rap as the most controversial kind of rap genre, because it received global attention for having violent depictions of urban ghetto life’ in America.” (Abrams 2000:198)

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

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.

Who determined content, and how, became the issue as demonstrated by the treatment of the 1992 album "Death Certificate" by the "Gangsta" rapper, Ice Cube. This album was determined to be so profane that Billboard Magazine asked merchandisers to refuse to sell or advertise it. Ice Cube's British label, Island Records, then edited two of the album's tracks before selling it and without obtaining permission from Ice Cube to alter his recording. In one of these edited songs, "No Vaseline", Ice Cube raps about his former N.W.A. bandmates with lyrics such as " Yo Dre… you been a dick, Eazy-E saw your ass and went in it quick. "Tried to dis Ice Cube but it wasn't worth it, cause the broomstick fits your ass so perfect."

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.

In rap music it’s not hard to find the violent lyrics with most of the music speaks about gang violence, shootings, drugs, and more. An example of a song that influences violence is J. Coles song “A Tale of 2 Cities” with lyrics like “Picked up the paper and they say my nigga Eddie caught a body, I'm convinced anybody is a killer, all you gotta do is push 'em to the limps” in this part of the song Cole speaks about how his friend, who isn’t really a person who would commit a crime, murdered somebody; Cole isn’t surprised because he believes everybody is a killer if you push them to their limits. Another example in the song is “They robbin' niggas on the daily can you blame a nigga that ain't never had things? Guess not last night they pulled up on my nigga at the light like ugh, nice watch, run it” the first part of these lyrics Cole justifies the crime of robbing because they have nothing. In the second part Cole states that somebody came up to his friend and robbed him of his watch, on this part the sound of a gun being cocked in the background is heard and is continued with the chorus saying “hands in the air now” (Genius). These lyrics not only promote violence but justify why it was okay to do such crimes. The reasoning behind why artists talk about violence is that it’s a way of telling their story. Namir, a rapper in New York says “People have to realize that rappers are just like any other artist or musician. What makes an artist an artist is his artistic portrayal of his life and how he expresses his life through whatever art form that he does” (PBS). With people growing up in terrible environments and music being a way for them to cope the reasoning for the violent lyrics is the artist trying tell their

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.

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.

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.

The rap genre originated from some of the most underprivileged areas of New York in the 1970’s. What was once DJ’s talking over a beat they were playing to encourage more activity on the dance floor, turned in to a new genre of music called rap. The majority of earlier rap songs were fun inducing tracks, but in the 1980’s, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five introduced social consciousness to the genre. They sparked a long lasting impact on rap as it started to evolve rapidly as time went on. The 90’s was home to “gangsta rap,” followed by a softer side of song writing pioneered by the likes of Outkast and Kanye West in the 2000’s. Today, rap music is very diverse and more accepting of different styles than it was before. However, throughout the entire history of rap music, the one thing that has stayed

In society today, it is highly noticed that the role of rap music messages and video images of violence causes an increase in negative emotions, thoughts and behaviors which could lead to violence amongst youth. Rap music has been at the center of concern in regards to the potential harmful effect of violent media on social behavior amongst youth. This potential behavior could be seen in the music video titled “Kim” by Eminem. In this music video, the storyline, language and sound encourages hostile thoughts and feelings amongst its audience. In the music video, Kim husband catches her cheating on him in their home with another man, while he is away. However, when Marshall gets home and finds out that his wife is cheating on him, he gets upset, angry, and abusive and becomes violent towards his wife Kim. He screams at her saying that, if she moves again, he will “beat the shit out of her” (Line 11). Violence in rap music has increased in response to the complex interplay of changing social conditions such as the elevated levels of youth violence in the changing commercial practices within the music industry. Hence, the media influences violence in four negative ways, which contributes immensely to anger amongst youth which leads to aggressive behavior such as social violence, substance abuse, domestic violence, and negative perceptions of women.

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,

First of all, rap music instigates the youth to be violent. For instance, when children watch WWE show they are going be inclined towards it, and their way of thinking is going to be affected. Further down the line, these children are going to develop a feeling of rage and become very violent. As a result, they will imitate the wrestlers and apply the moves on others, which will cause harm to them and other children. Likewise, it is also true in regard to rap music. When children hear violent words they will emulate what they hear. For instance, according to Kool G. Rap Hey mister, “Last week I beat my bitch up in the street for lyin to me“Can’t wait to see this bitch cause I'mma beat her ass in public “Bitch why you lyin, bitch you’ve been cheatin Now I gotsa to give your motherfuckin ass a beatin“I punched her in the ribcage and kicked her in the stomach”. This rap music illustrates and permits violence. For instance, if a child would hear

Second, violent video game such as Mortal Kombat, Gears of War, Call of Duty, etc. has been penalized for its heavy use of gore, blood, and intense violence; however, there are other things besides video games that involve violence. In my opinion, when one questions the reasons for aggression among teenagers, music comes to mind. Just like some video games, music has been a form of enjoyment among the youth. The popular music that most teenagers listing to is rap music. Rap music has always been looked at as a linked to aggressive behavior among teenagers. Rap/hip-hop is known to be the most influence music genres. Throughout the history of rap music, rap has lost its way when it comes down to providing a message to the world especially among teenagers. Back in the early stages of rap/ hip-hop, most artists provide a message or “knowledge’’ in their lyrics. However, the new age rap music has lost that format and the lack conscious behind their lyrics. Most rappers in today’s rap/ hip-hop talks about guns, drugs, sex. Even though there were rappers back in the day talking about the same thing, there was a balance of conscious rappers and un-conscious rappers. Nowadays they're more un- conscious rappers than conscious rappers and this is a problem. When someone consumes negative themes on an average basic they begin to act it out. Rappers such as Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, etc. have been known to be criticized for their promoting of drug use to the youth. Seeing that

First, the uniqueness behind rap music cannot be found in any other music. Because rap is lyric driven music, the speed and the pronunciation a rapper uses affects the outcome of the sound greatly. Also rap contains a lot of wordplay and figurative language that makes it complex and meaningful. The difficulty behind making a rap adds a competitive nature that most other genres do not