Does Rap do our society any good?

Question

i've seen society deteriorate along w/ the rise of rap...every song, i mean every song, is about degrading women, doing drugs, and killing others...now how can that bring about any good for our society? even when you think you're listening to a nice love song, if you listen to the words you realize just how low class the lyrics really are. it's not singing, it's certainly not an art, and should be banished from mainstream tv & radio...it's b/c of rap & mtv that my future daughter will be in private school! enjoy your crap songs that encourage you to hurt others and sell drugs for a living...my EDUCATED children will be laughing all the way to the bank when they're out of grad school while your kids will be barefoot, pregnant, and addicted to drugs!

Answer 1

I don't see anything positive about it, no matter how many 'artists' want to portray it as an 'art'. Like you said, it's doing nothing except glorifying gangbanging, drugs, sex, money, and degrading women.
I was horrified when my 8 year old daughter was listening to it on a local radio station and singing along, simply because 'that's what everyone listens to'. Well, I made it perfectly clear that she is NOT going to listen to that garbage and I explained to her what the lyrics were saying and what the guys were talking about and how they feel about women. I let her know THAT'S why she is NOT listening to that kind of music in my house and she is 8 and will listen to 'kid' music that I approve of.
MTV uses to be comprised of VIDEOS of all kinds of music. Now I don't even watch it because they don't even PLAY videos, or when they do, it's ALWAYS rap, anything they have on there is rap, and the groups they talk to are rap groups. MTV Cribs is repulsive, seeing ignorant uneducated drugged out rap singers with absolutely no taste showing their tacky cars and big houses that are basically just overpriced bachelor pads. They almost never have anything decorating them, it always shows the ignorance of the owner that they just spend their money thinking it's what they think makes them 'someone'. I'm sure their neighbors just LOVE having them there. You can take them out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of them.

Answer 2

Look...most all kinds of genre of music that has lyrics...means words are going out there. A song writer has the power of putting out good or putting out bad when he or she writes a song. Sometimes I understand a song can also be about anger or sadness or frustration or even hopelessness....we all have that too - that's fine to write about. But listen to lyrics in pop and rock as well as rap...listen ...and you will hear the much the same across the board...and the idea of rap is NOT bad...it's poetic art (in my opinion)..but encouraging violence and degradation of women (or anyone) is a sad way to 'use' any form of art...or our words in general. Look at the world we live in...we need solutions...not more hate and disrespect.
But I would not say "all rap"...and I would not say ONLY rap is responsible for this. Much ...but not all. It's those lyrics and not the art itself that I find disturbing..but every once in awhile it's good..very good. Don't throw out the baby with bathwater.

Answer 3

You're very wrong my friend. Rap music isn't the cause of these things, it's merely a reflection. Many people - possibly even millions, enjoy listening to rap music all around the world, and it hasn't caused them any harm whatsoever. You remind me of those people from the olden days who would build bonfires and burn Elvis Presley and Beatles records, because they too blamed music for all the wrongs of society. How sad and misguided they were - just as you are now.

Times do change, and music does branch out in different directions, nothing remains the same forever. Just because you have gotten older and do not understand or like it, does not mean it's any less valid or important than the kind of music that you choose to listen to at home. Open your mind, and stop believing everything you read, there are many kinds of rap music out there - good, bad and everything in-between. You should maybe try listening to it properly sometime, you might actually learn something.

By the way, I also went to a private school. :-)

Answer 4

Most of the rap on mtv is bubblegum pop, and it is made to make money. It is hardly a form of art(in my opinion) compared to the old school rappers. 2 pac was a poet. Biggie was a poet. Times always change and music evolves with it. People are free to listen to what they want and make their own life decisions. Music should not be blamed for people's lack of morals or education. There are many problems in the world. not just in rap industry, but in corporate settings, churches, home, everywhere.
Live and let live.

Answer 5

May a 62 year old grandmother blow your mind? I love the rhythm of rap music. Unfortunately, you are right, too many of the recording stars today go for shock value.

It is a shame, because rap could have been an art form. A new way for the young to rebel and list their grievances against society. I can hardly believe that I am old enough to remember when Elvis Presley was on the Ed Sullivan show and they weren't allowed to show him below his waist, because his hip swivelling was considered immoral.

As long as there is society, there will be youth who are looking for ways to rebel against the norm. Unfortunately, our norm has slipped to the point where there is not much more bottom to aim for. If we ignore it...it will go away. The best lawyers, judges, doctors, businessmen and scholars of today, were the pot smoking hippies of my youth.

Almost everyone grows up.

Answer 6

Well said, Natty_Lea!

Contrary to popular belief, rap/hip hop music is not the one and only cause of the "ruin" of our society. Rap/hip hop music is just the current, easy scapegoat (like rock and roll was years ago), with video games running a close second. And besides that, there are degenerative songs in just about every genre of music, not just rap/hip hop. I can't speak for anybody else here, but I've been listening to rap/hip hop music since I was a kid, and I turned out just fine (high school and college graduate (with honors), married, employed, no kids out of wedlock and no rap sheet). The downfall of society is lack of personal responsibility and poor parenting, plain and simple.

As for your statement that "...every song, is about degrading women, doing drugs, and killing others," your assumption is completely incorrect. That's like saying "All rock is about is biting the heads off small animals and destroying your instruments on stage," or "All jazz is about is guys with bad hair and a baritone sax making corny elevator music." As fans of either of these genres will tell you, that is certainly not the case. What you made was a wide-sweeping generalization (several, actually), and your opinion is obviously very one-sided. It's based on only one dimension of the genre instead of the genre as a whole. Believe it or not, not all rap/hip hop is like what you see on TV or hear on mainstream radio stations. If you were willing to dig a little deeper into the genre, you'd discover that not all rap emphasizes materialism, misogyny or is filled with profanity (i.e. - conscious rap, Christian rap, etc.). As a matter of fact, there are a lot of hip hop artists out there who don't fit the "cookie cutter rapper" mold and talk about subjects other than money, sex, drugs and murder. For example:

- Little Brother
- Mos Def
- Talib Kweli
- Common
- De La Soul
- Dead Prez
- The Roots
- Madlib (and his alter-ego, Quasimoto)
- Five Deez
- Ugly Duckling
- Slum Village...(and plenty more)

Unfortunately, you'll rarely (if ever) find any of them in the mainstream media because for the most part, greedy record companies and good ol' Corporate America saw that the more controversial aspects of the music (violence, misogyny, money, etc., as Natty-Lea said, a reflection of our society) resulted in record sales, so they took it and ran with it, shoving it in our faces and filling our ears with it every chance they get. So what do they do next? They condition the masses and flood the market with whatever "trend du jour" makes them the most money as opposed to actual talent, variety and substance. That's what the real problem is.

So before some of you go judging rap/hip hop, just know that your opinion holds a lot more weight if we know you've actually taken the time to look below the surface (read: beyond the mainstream).

Answer 7

Your opinion is stereotyped and highbrow. I'm sure you are a nice enough person, but do you realize how shallow, thick, and unintelligent you come off as when you deride an entire genre of music with the broadest brush you can find, I sincerely doubt you have ever listened to Lupe Fiasco, Mike Skinner (of the streets), Ill Tactics, etc. Point being when you talk about rap you are only speaking of the 0.001% that reaches radio airplay on glitzy stations which cater to those that have little taste or perception. Dig a little deeper.

Answer 8

Rap is rap! The thing is, rap actually talks about life unlike rock other types of music. Drugs, killing, women, thats what life is like in the hood. I dont see y u have such a big problem with rap. Dont u like girls? And also, rock music is a better influence than rap music about drugs anyways. Ur daughter wont be pregnant or addicted to drugs. It just that u dont like black people. I bet if there were more white rappers, than alot of u wouldnt have that problem.

Answer 9

well if you listen to rap, todays rap, all their doing now is setting trendy new words for all the lame a$$ people who think its cool to say and do what they are doing. Not so much on the drugs, killing and degrading women

Answer 10

i don't think of rap is corrupting our society. i think of this is in basic terms a kind of song, a kind of expression (only like rock and roll) and could be considered as a kind of entertainment in basic terms. i think of this is the fault of the mothers and dads who do not practice their infants approximately what they hear in the songs....they might desire to have a communique with the greater youthful ones and enable them to comprehend that what they hear in those songs isn't the way the international is. those rappers incredibly don't have all that funds and all that rings. All of those scantily clad women folk are actually not their girlfriends. this is not okay to talk like them or to objective and gain that existence kind. this is not good to hold weapons, to sell drugs, to be a pimp, and so on. this is humorous the way you're making a distinction between some rock and roll that has satanic and demonic overtones - not all, yet you paint rap song with a huge brush. not all rap song is anti-white and anti-woman. It easily won't be able to all be anti-white b/c I see scads of white adult males and girls folk listening to rap of their autos on a each and on a daily basis foundation...making a music alongside with the song and apparently enjoying themselves. mothers and dads would desire to step as much as the plate and get lively of their toddler's lives. If the youngsters are actually not mature adequate to comprehend that this is only song, then consistent with hazard the mothers and dads shouldn't enable their infants to hearken to it.