Do you think rap music affects our youth in a negative way? Why or why not?

Question

I'm mainly talking about music that glorifies selling drugs, drug use, degradation of women, etc. I've been having this debate with a few people and they are soooo dead set on music NOT influencing young kids. I disagree big time. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one.

TimC-What's the problem?

Zeebya-Kudos for your son having a responsible outlook on life. Wish more were like him.

Alion-Does your nephew come from the inner city? If he doesn't, it would be easier for him not to be able to personally relate.

Answer 1

Yes!!!!

While some songs are expressions of the mess that happens in the Ghetto and are bare bone facts of life and beliefs...some glorify and even justify the horribleness of that base existence AND then try to say that if you do not believe this nonsense you are not BLACK, a MAN, a STRONG PERSON which is total BS!!!!

Then you have BET which propagates the belief that in order to be a real black person you must be a bling obsessed whore mongerer with "baby mamas" instead of wives and families.

but the real problem are the PARENTS who believe this crap or who aren't around enough to show kids an alternative. AND lets not forget our so called leaders (or the ones the media likes to turn to) like Jesse and Al who do not go into the ghetto and make programs for young mothers, ex cons, demand better schools in low income areas.

Its all too much to simply say its rap...but yeah, its part of the problem.

Answer 2

Well it depends on what kind of rap, because that are some rappers such as Lupe Faisaco or Common who focus on positive things or issues in the world around us. I doubt you'll see tons of bling, half naked dancers, (maybe for Common) or the demeaning of women in their videos.

But some rappers like 50 cent and all the other ones I do agree they have a negative effect on my peers. I have to see this B.S. everyday I go to school. They see the rapper wear their pants hanging off their butt, they do the same. They see the rapper calling a women a *****, they do the same. They have no sense of direction and mimic everything they see on TV. All of a sudden everyone wants to be a gangsta and join gangs and tag buses and billboards and start fights over nonsense.

I'm not saying that rap started all this negativity, because when rap first came out it was just a creative explosion. But as usually a few money hungry people had to exploit it and make it into something so negative. Rap used to be about their struggles in life and transformed into to smacking my hoe, drinking Henesesy, and smoking blunts. Most music videos do nothing but rot our brains anyway.

Answer 3

My son is a rapper, but his style and lyrics lean to a positive message. However, there are a great deal of rap lyrics out there that are, in fact, a dangerous influence on young people. Music can be used as a form of light hypnosis (ask any advertising or motivational expert) and when the music contains hateful or inflammatory words, young people often take that to heart without even knowing why. I live in an area that is primarily Los Angeles gangs, and I see the influence of the rap music (and the resulting social fear displayed by most of the youth as arrogance and bravado) every day.
Also, one of the above answers says the music has no effect, just the lyrics. WRONG.
Part of the effectiveness IS the music, the beat structure that is used can actually open up neural pathways within the brain as a form of hypnosis and suggestion, depending upon the beat. This has been used in shamanism for thousands of years (such as Indian drums) as a form of "sonic driving." Look up sonic driving; you may be surprised.

Answer 4

Yes and no, and no matter how strong youths think they are thy can still be influenced. It depends on the rap... I heard one that I thought was phenomenal It was about the good things that happened in this guys life and how thankful he was for his blessings... that would be a positive influence (that guy won a best something or other on one of the major award shows) but then you've got the rap about junk like I killed so and so and this is how ... vulgarity and it seems they think what is wrong is all right and vice versa If my nieces or nephews said that stuff they'd be given hot sauce a spanking and groundation.

Nevertheless to each their own,
but is it really worth the chance?

Answer 5

Yes, to an extent. It reinforces wrong thinking- that drugs, violence, immoral sex is exciting and therefore good. Plus, where is the sanity in the way rap stars dress? Is it really necessary to wear clothing that is so ill-fitting and alternately wear jewelry that is so expensive it could be sold to feed a third-world orphanage for months? Most rap music is NOT positive and does not encourage love for neighbor, love for God, or even love for oneself that leads to healthy self-respect. Self-respect should come from what good a person is doing, not from how flashy a grill a person has. The beats are cool, sure, but what feelings are promoted by rap music? Certainly not peaceable feelings! Meanwhile, parents have to be role models, so bad behavior cannot be blamed only on music!

Answer 6

While hiphop has contributed to the development of modern soul, pop, dance and reggae and should be appreciated as an art form, hardcore rap is based on certain stereotypes of Black men, gays and sexuality. It glorifies the hardcore gangsta lifestyle and reflects real tragedy on the streets. I don't think it is a good influence on young people, but I think media attitudes towards Black men are a large part of the problem as well. The whole 'thug glama' thing is off.

A person in their early twenties can put on an old Tupac or Ice Cube album and know it is not reality, but it is different for teenagers.

Answer 7

I love music and my boyfriend and both brothers rap and have mixed tapes... but i feel that yes in some ways it does effect the youth. Not necessarily in a negative way but just period. Young people listen to the music and are influenced by it, just as watching super hero's on television, they see them do, or hear them say, certain things, and to them its whats "IN" or "COOL" and they want to do the things they hear or see. I think the problem is, a lot of rap isn't for young kids, are even younger teens for that matter. And when it gets to the kids, people want to blame it on the rap, well it's not the rapper's fault. hints the PARENT ADVISORY sticker that is placed on the albums... EXPLICATE CONTENT... people need to stop blaming others and just pay attention to surroundings!

Answer 8

yes it does in a serious negative way. the music that mainly gets played on the radio is all crap. All the good rap music with meaning is shunned and called wack. Every race has a group of people that make them all look bad and the rappers make us all look ignorant. We are now at the point where we have white, asian and latino kids calling each other ****** and they think its a good thing to pimp hoes and degrade women.

Answer 9

well, in my opinion most rap today sucks, there are a few exceptions though. it's all about the content.

alot of the rap from the 80's wasnt that bad, but its been blended with all sorts of ridiculous crap these days.

Why do you think weird al's video white and nerdy was such a hit? If you havent seen it yet, make sure you watch the rap version first then weird al's so you understand what he's makin fun of.


ps
rock and roll (especially van halen) is pretty much the best

Answer 10

Well it depends upon the lyrics and the rapper.
if the lyrics say stuff like "I want to rape my wife, i kill her and chop her up" and junk like that....the it is obviusly very influencial. But if it had something positive it would not be soo influencial.

On the other hand, youth today are like sponges. What the media puts forth is what they think is right. What they see around them is what they think is right and therefore do. Peerpresure takes a very big affect in this.

Also the media is also at fault in this. Rappers are, i am sorry to say, are portrayed as black guys who do drugs and like sex and wear baggy clothes and carry guns. They are also portrayed as gangsters. The rappers themselves are forced to fit in this mold placed or forced upon them.

Rappers back in the day had more positive stuff to rap about...when racism was more blatant they rapped about that...that blatant racism is why rap started. It was used as a vent from the struggle. But now that racism has become undercover (it has not disappeared, but is now undercover) there is nothing to rap about that would relate to the general listeners of rap (black people).

Hope this was useful