Why Is Rap Music The Same?

Music and society have always been closely related. For years now music has been apart of people’s everyday lives all around the world. Having so many different genres out there, it makes it easy to be appealing to so many different ethnic backgrounds. However, one type of genre in particular has seemed to grab the attention of a younger generation. Rap music has undoubtedly had its utmost impact on African American youth, since many of the performers themselves are African American. An overtly masculine culture dominates rap music and creates gender stereotypes that become abundantly popular to the youthful audience. Three constant themes that are found within the rap culture are encouragement of violence, the misogynistic representation of women, an extreme hatred of homophobia. Each theme plays a detrimental role in the process of defining black masculinity as well as shaping the values, morals, and beliefs that its younger audience adopts after tuning into this “gangster lifestyle”.

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.

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.

Rap is a popular type of music in today's society, but it didn't just come to be. In the 1970's rap emerged from other types of music to become what it is today. Rap is influenced and inspired by other types of music. Its influences are closely related to each other. Rap music has derived from various types of music. In a world in which people are constantly confronted with violent acts such as rape, assault, murder, school shootings and other violence's, society is eager and anxious to find and remove all causes of these cultural ills. All the blame can not be put on one particular thing but a heavier degree of blame can be put on one thing. Some of the violent acts listed above are expressed through music. Gangster rap, which followed

In the article Bars and Blood author TJ Henry claims that multiple sources say “violent environments inspire lyrical content which provides a way to cope.” Rob Johnson, co founder of the Oakland based organization Beats, Rhymes, and Life, which is one of the first hip-hop therapy programs, believed in order to provide therapy to the struggling black community, they needed to build a healing and educational service, which came in the form of hip-hop. This evidence suggests that hip-hop and rap is considered, even by programs, to be a therapeutic refuge for struggling teens. The article also states that “Hip-hop, while being used as an outlet for expression and catharsis, is also being used as a tool for social change.” Martha Diaz, the director of hip-hop education center says that her program is already doing work in classrooms, prison camps, and summer camps, attempting to create a leadership to replace the baby boomers. This proposes that hip-hop is being used all over to change mindsets of teens, and to support social change. In the article Is it as Bad as Some People Think, rap is stereotyped to be a bad influence on young and to be offensive, but the author claims that “rap music is greatly misunderstood.” The article says “media stories identify rap music as a catalyst in problems such as teen pregnancy-” “but the truth of the matter is that there is rap music that is positive and can serve the purpose of improving social consciousness.” This evidence strongly suggests that despite the fact rap is looked down on by many, it has a positive effect on people, and is generally written for a good purpose. Also in the article Controversial Rapper Lyrics Prompt Experts to Say Not All Rap is Offensive, Reverend Julian DeShaziar (also a hip-hop artist) claims “there are many artists who don’t give in to music industry's demands and remain true to themselves and their music. But that choice

Doug E. Fresh, a popular beat-boxer in rap music today, has been quoted saying, “Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change.” Although this is the original intention of hip-hop music, public opinion currently holds the opposite view. Since the 1970’s musical artists have changed the face of hip-hop and rap and worldwide, people – mostly teens—have been striving to emulate certain artists and their lyrics, which has created negative stereotypes for hip-hop music and also for those who choose to listen to it. With vulgar lyrics referencing drugs, alcohol, sex, and aggression, it’s no wonder these stereotypes exist. However, is music really the direct cause of how teens act,

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.

The majority of todays youth listen to a form of music known as rap/hip-hop, rap being the style in which the artists uses his words while hip-hop refers more to the beats which is then often accompanied by a rap from a rapper, they go hand in hand with each other to make this genre. When you hear today’s music in this genre you hear artists talking about materialistic things they value such as; cars, money, drugs, women, and often-about crimes they have committed. They do still talk about the struggle of coming from the ghetto or hood (poverty stricken areas) and of gang violence but it’s not quite what it use to be. When looking at when rap and hip-hop first came around in the seventies you can see a very different meaning being convoyed through the music, there seems to be more of a focus of the struggle of being poor, gang life and overcoming racism and helping out the youth who live the lives these rappers use to live. While talking about how things need to be changed so that the youth doesn’t have to commit crimes or make decisions based on trying to make it out of the hood and to stop struggling. There has clearly been a evolution in lyric and what the rappers want to be heard from their music, but it wasn’t sudden we must take a look at the decades compared to the style of rap at that time to understand the change.

Rap music offers a detailed array of experience from different walks of life. It can teach kids about many other cultures and people. In turn kids have better understandings of the world around them, they also earn better perspectives on topics that are otherwise presented to them in a one sided way from people like parents, government, and police. Topics like violence, youth crime, parental trouble and relationships otherwise unseen to them are open to them through rap music. Rap music from different perspectives and places opens kids up to different forms of creativity.

A lot of the artists were “accused of such things as assault, drug dealing, illegal weapons possession, money laundering, and murder”. Rap music has caused many uproars in the music industry because of the language and sexual content. A lot of the rap records have the “Parental Advisory Explicit Content” sign because of how much sexual images, profanity, violence and drug use there is. But not all rap songs have sexual content. Some make good and healthy relationships. According to researchers in Florida International University, the more adolescents watch sexual images, it’s more likely for them to engage in sexual activity. But some researchers believed that it’s because of the sexual lyrics that make up the attitudes of us young adults.

What a lot of the younger generation false to understand is the work and time it took the artist to achieve the notoriety and money and to escape the hopelessness of the inner-city. Are kids being pressured by this music because it's "what's in" and in order to be "popular" you have to listen, and act like you " fit in" to this crowed? Is rap music being used as a tool to make kids believe that these things are "acceptable" and that there are no "consequences" for these actions?

Rap music features lyrics filled with slang and often peppered with profanity, which has caused concern among parents, educators and activists alike. Rap videos can also illustrate glamorous and dangerous fantasies. But rap music is a diverse genre, used to express a wide variety of realities and aspirations. Even if your teenager imitates the fashions and language used by rap artists, this may not always indicate a significant change in your teen's values or goals. Rap lyrics are emotionally intense and often spin a rags-to-riches tale.” According to Michael Delpleache of Hip Hop Gives Back, a youth empowerment organization, teens are drawn to the fantasies of wealth, glamour, and sex appeal in rap videos”. For teens in poor communities,

As we understood rap music educates people from several different perspectives and raises raises many social issues. Rap is channel for people to speak freely about their opinion on political or social issues and by doing so, it engages teenagers to be concerned and aware of those issues . Music in general brings people together , but the youth of today can relate to the struggle and difficulties that most rappers or artist talk about and we compare and we learn from its appearances , we create awareness , we build strength , support , comfort.

Rap is a music style that is very popular and widely accepted that can actually be destructive. Rap is a music style originally from South Africa, where for thousands of years, the storyteller of an African village would play an instrument and tell stories. This music was brought to America when the Americans forced the Africans into coming back in American ships with them to America to enslave them. Here these Africans would sing while working. After the Africans had been set free by the 13th Amendment, their music spread amongst the Americans. The Americans have now adopted their style of music and words to the rap, and nevertheless, it is now is a leader in music popularity in the world today. People listen to rap for several reasons, a

Also, the audience’s today are entirely diverse from the audience of the eighties and nineties. Today people want to hear music generated by their favorite artists that they can relate to their everyday lives. The biggest majority of this audience is young teenagers who have been introduced to an entirely new form of music that has one of the broadest selections in the world. The inspiration can be found in the music if you pay close enough attention and have a true feeling of interest in the music. I accept as true, conscious rap music can raise the new generation better than the last generation. I am sure that is controversial in many ways, but I believe conscious rap music does motivate and inspire people to do new things and tap into their potential power. There are many lyrics out there that have been motivation to many people for what it is they do in their daily lives. Everybody has that song they listen to ten times a day because they have such fond memories from the