Do you think that hip hop language is ruining western culture?

Question

i mean words like dog, *****, yo man, ***,pussy etc have been brought to daily use by hip hop music.

the words that i had written have been *** by the yahoo team, so u can understand.

i didn't quite get what you said betitodetroit.
could you translate it to english?

Answer 1

No, I don't think so. Slang has been around for years and will continue to be. I just think since it's (hip hop or better yet, this commercial rap) worldwide now, people are starting to hear it more often. U gotta remember that hip hop is a way of life also. Hip hop for some is the truth and the reality of what they live on a day to day basis. But of course u do have your fakers.

If anything we should be asking if the negativity in the language and the images, not the harmless words like dog, yo, be easy, etc., is affecting our youth in a negative way. And yes I do believe so, but one have to realize that it is up to the parents to monitor what their children are watching and listening to. Although parents cannot be omnipresent, they can help to guide their children in the right direction......it's when they don't, T.V. and music can be a great influence.

And BTW, although Rap/Hip Hop has it's own language, doesn't mean that Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos don't know how to speak "proper" English, we do! U can't judge someone that u don't know. For me it's like an on and off switch, I know I can't go into an interview sayin' "What up! Let's get this interview crackin'!" Come-on now get real. That goes for anyone that speaks another "language".

Good Point sugrnspyce!

Answer 2

I definitely agree with a few of you. I hate this misassociation of hip hop with what people see on TV and hear on the radio today.. what most people today see is the product of commercialization--it has been so warped by the media and corporations that it's not really hip hop anymore, and I'm tired of it getting a bad name.
In a more direct answer to your question, I don't see what's so wrong with saying "What's up, man?" to someone. I mean, I wouldn't type that into an English paper, but in an informal setting, it's perfectly fine. Languages mold and change over time. 30 years ago, you couldn't say "crap" on the radio, and now that word isn't even really considered bad anymore. The French have a slang called verlan where they invert words. It's part of being a living language. It doesn't ruin anything.
As to the negative images, the violence, the drugs, etc., of course that's not going to have a good impact on youth, but I don't think that it comes specifically from hip hop--look at other genres of music, look at movies, look at all the media/advertising out there, and I think that good parenting and a good education should be able to counter that. Growing up, I had close friends who got into all that, but because of my upbringing, I just wasn't interested. A good education will also allow people to still be able to use traditional English when neccesary in formal settings, but as I said, in informal settings, it really doesn't matter. You might want to check out some linguistics websites... they study all that stuff.

Answer 3

I agree 100% with "shiraz_princess" and "KryCAli." It's like you're assuming that people in the hip hop community are the only ones in our culture to use slang and/or profanity. We all know that isn't true. There's foul language everywhere - on TV, in movies, in music (and I mean many other genres besides hip hop/rap), on the street, etc. People always blame the "destruction of today's youth" or the "downfall of society" on the new technology or the new fad of the time. Not long ago, rock & roll was supposedly the "bane of our existence" and now one of the new scapegoats is hip hop/rap music. I don't know about anyone else here, but I've been listening to hip hop/rap music since I was a kid, and I turned out just fine (high school and college graduate, married, no kids out of wedlock and no rap sheet). I also understand that there's a certain way you talk around your friends and a certain way you talk in more professional settings. Anyone with any common sense realizes the importance of distinguishing the two.

So no, hip hop language is not ruining western culture. The downfall of western culture is poor parenting and lack of personal responsibility, plain and simple.

p.s. - Thanks "KryCAli." :) And very good points, "Bgirl K8."

Answer 4

The people being hurt the most by 'urban' language is sadly the people who are the worst off (hispanics and blacks) No matter what hip-hop may say and show, to get ahead in this world with a few notable exceptions, you need to have proper speech.
No one is saying your grammar and diction have to be perfect, but you have to sound like the majority. Turn on the television to the evening news and listen to how the newscasters talk. Are any of them saying, "Yo homes. I gots me dis ho who always be trippin'?" Or even, not to seem racist, do you hear them going, "Now ya'll c'mon back 'ere fer sem grits 'n' gravy?"
For the twenty black people that are going to make it in hip-hop saying, "Yo, dawg, biyotch" and the like, there are the other several million that are going to find that a lot of job avenues close up when you show up at an interview with baggy pants saying, "Yo dawg! 'S up? Let me axe you sumpin'."

There has to be an understanding that music is not a direct reflection of culture. For the most part (aside from some materialism :-)) the 'urban' culture in hip-hop bears little to no resemblence to the reality of culture that most people are facing.

It may not be 'ruining' western culture, but it is disadvantaging those youths that see it as anything more than fantasy entertainment.

Answer 5

Hip Hop language has nothing to do with the fact that most of the questions on this site are written in dreadful English. People do not know grammar at all. Language changes and evolves but not everyone is a rapper. If you go to your job as a nurse and talk hip hop you are not going to have your job for long.

My daughter is 15 and she never says "yo" "mofo" or any of that other bootylicious language.

Answer 6

How many times in the past has Pop culture and New music been blamed for ruining: culture, the next generation, the moral fibre of our country. It's time to focus on personal responsibility, social responsibility and parental responsibility instead of looking for prominent scapegoats.

Answer 7

Well Mabye some of them but the Hip-Hop I listen to is like well not the cause of these influences I think it's Eminem,Internet,and TV!

Answer 8

most definately..
alot of the words we used to say when we were young adults stayed within our circle...we never dreamed of saying "hey man" or anything like that to a parent or a would be employer.
todays teens don't realize there is a difference between the fantasy world that music lets you experience and reality where you have to be a normal human being

Answer 9

Considering the fact that this "language" refers to woman as bi***es and ho's [a lazy way to pronounce who*e] and woman put up with that garbage, then YES it's ruining culture.

Woman everywhere, ESPECIALLY younger African-American need to stand up and say STOP and quit taking that stuff.

Answer 10

No, it is just one of the faddish subcultures that will come and go.

A few years ago, there was valley girls....gag me with a spoon! Mercifully you no longer here that...then there was the word groovy of the 60's...a word that should only be used when referring to roads, LPs and in certain songs....Feeling Groovy.