The Influence Of Popular Music On Teenagers

In today’s society, music controls the way we live our lives. The influence that music has on society has broadened throughout the years and with social media being one of the world’s top priority, the fan base and spectrum for music in general has expanded significantly. Music is used to express feelings, moods, circumstances, experiences, knowledge, and so much more. With this being the case, the lyrics of any song can be interpreted differently by each and every listener. Many song lyrics give positive messages, promoting well-being, whiles others give negative messages, promoting violence, criminal behaviors, sexual contents, and disrespect towards others. With this being said, music reflects what the public demands, and in many cases the negative messages are often times what sells more than those music giving positive messages.

Parents were and still are on the fence of their kids listening to rap music. The explicit types of rap music are poisoning the minds of young teens and can even encourage them to act in the a violent manner or rebel. Although, that is for explicit lyrics, not all rap has explicit lyrics. Altogether, rap music does not encourage teen violence in any way and many individual artists even teach their audience how to act positively. Teenagers seem to click easier to song lyrics, whether it's country, rap, rock, or pop. It can affect teenagers in a positive and negative way, but violence being said in the lyrics does not cause an indication of aggression for the listener. The lyrics may describe their situation perfectly, what they go through and how they feel. That’s why we always have those catchy radio tunes stuck in our heads. Alison Churchill, a fan of rapper Eminem from Newsday feed shares her input on what it can do to younger peers. “But she thinks the song could have a positive impact, ‘if it can hit a nerve with a teenager and prompt them to go talk to someone about it.’ Because, Churchill says, ‘The more we talk about a subject, the easier it is to fix.’” If teens don't usually have anyone to talk to, it can cause an empty feeling of loneliness that can turn into urges of depression, anxiety, mental health issues. When rap music hits home for the younger generation it's telling them to open up to somebody and share what you have to say. Talking about something that is bothersome can be a great solution for those who need or want it.

Hip Hop changes lives, but not the way you are told to believe. The media false advertises that music is the main stimulus for bad decision making and ultimately for violence. Teens are influenced by many different factors with each factor dictating a percentage of their decision making. Majority of the time these factors are unavoidable. Factors such as environment, family, and music are key to the teens decision making. Hip-hop is believed to have a huge negative impact on teens decision-making and we are to blame for this false allegation.

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.

For many years, the youth have been known for singing along to their favorite song and taking that song as whole and using it as their motto for life. It may seem that sometimes these kids do not know what is being said in the music but this shows that they do know what the lyrics are saying. According to Franklin B. Krohn and Frances L. Suazo in their article “Contemporary Urban Music: Controversial Messages in Hip-Hop and Rap Lyrics,” many teenagers and minority groups view rappers as their spokesmen because of their ability to speak in street language and bluntly express their frustration (Krohn, 1995). Unfortunately, hip hop lyrics usually tend to talk about drugs, sex and violence leading kids to think that everything they hear is okay and that is how they have to live their life. Yet, there are artists out there who take their lyricist skills to give positive lyrics and messages in their music, but these songs are not often played in the mainstream.

Music has an important role in children and adolescent’s life. Mainstream music is heard almost everywhere whether it’s on a laptop, phone, radio, cd, etc. The accessibility allows anyone to hear it at any place and situation, alone or with friends. The lyrics can have a big impact on everyone’s life’s differently. Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to misogyny, drugs and violence particularly in certain genres, like rap. I used to love to listen to rap all the time, never paying attention to what the rapper was saying. According to the dictionary rap means “Words (that) are recited rapidly and rhythmically over a prerecorded, typically electronic instrumental backing” I used to listen to rap because

Music is not just music, or just a source of entertainment; rather music is “a major force and presence in contemporary American adolescence” (Christenson and Roberts 11). Besides the belief that music is just music, another popular belief is that, “Nobody pays attention to lyrics” (Christenson and Roberts 7). This assumption is not completely true or false. Lyrics are often learned accidentally during the listening experience, but almost every adolescent has a favorite song that he or she can recite word for word. Therefore, whether the learning of the lyrics is intentional or not, adolescents do learn

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.

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.

In her essay, Eberstadt reveals the influence of lyrics on teenagers and their relationship with their parents. She took as example famous American rapper Eminem and his music, and she describes the negative attitude of parents to contemporary music. When comparing the impact of music’s lyric on

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 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.

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,

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.