Who thinks hip hop influences the young minds?

Question

i saw a tape of the oprah show where they had common and russel simmons. a lot of people feel that hip hop degrades women and most of it is just vulgar and it has a big impact on children's lives. however i feel differently. i mean there are a lot raps out there that do degrade women and all they talk about is sex. but if you're gonna blame the artists then you might as well blame the parents too. they have a way bigger part in this than anybody. if you let your child listen to this, you're just as part of the problem as anybody else. and if you don't like the message the music is bringing, DON'T LISTEN TO IT, plain and simple. it's not like the musicians are gonna stop making their songs just because you feel it's innappropiate. it's a shame that singing and rapping about sex and violence always sells but if that's what people like, it's gonna continue to be in music. but i have to say that hip hop or rap has never influenced me. i know my right from wrong.

Answer 1

I think a young mind can be influenced by EVERYTHING. Influence is not neccessarily bad. Cartoons can influence a young mind. Think of all the crap that young kids see. It isn't just fun and games...Elmer was hunting, shooting at the rabbits and ducks!

Music videos, regardless of genre, can influence. TV is a major influence. Our Hollywood favorites, killing, boozing, drugging, and sleeping their way through our entire week!

There are a lot of rap songs that: don't degrade women, that encourage education, cite the value of abstinence, protected sex, and committment.

You should have asked, "Why don't MORE parents excercise control AND INFLUENCE over what their children engage in?"

See the difference? Your initial ? was way too general and relieved the caretakers of responsibility. If more people said NO to the crap, the crap wouldn't have an audience!

Answer 2

This is a very good subject you bring up, and I almost completely agree with you. I watched that Oprah episode and I have to say, I both agree and disagree with both parties. I feel that it's not fair to put it all on the parents though, parent have a tough job raising their kids the right way... I mean think about, hip-hop is heard at school, at parties, many radio stations, at the mall, movie soundtracks, etc... it's the type of music that can really attract listeners because is hip and cool, I listen to it mostly for the hot beats, I laugh at most of the lyrics (in some of the songs) because I feel it comes mostly out of ignorance, but to a young kid growing up in the hood (for many reasons) hip hop is almost like the gospel. I completely understand where hip hop is coming from but I also understand that rappers have a responsibility to their community, you can't justify a lot of what they say in their songs. I can appreciate a rapper that sings about the struggle of growing up in the ghetto and perhaps rap about their experiences with drugs and violence, and doing it in a raw and aggresive manner, but I have a problem when you see rappers glamourize the lifestyle, because believe it or not a lot of kids look up to this artists, they love hip hop, I've seen kids sing every lyric to some of the dirtiest songs. Those lyrics can be very powerful to a young child who doesnt know any better, maybe is because they can relate to the lifestyle, maybe is because they come from a broken home, maybe their parent died from an overdose, maybe because they were molested at an early age, there are many reasons. The lyrics in a lot of rap music can make a child feel that it's ok to act stupid. My mom used to hate it when I listened to rap music, but guess what? I listened to it anyway.... People like us werent influenced that hard by hip hop, but others are. Peace.

Answer 3

That's the same argument that's been going on for generations. They said the same thing in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and now. They always blamed the music and culture of that generation for the youth rebelliousness, but young people rebel against the norms of society, they always have. Now you complain about baggy pants, back then it was pants too tight. Drugs and sex too early? That problem has been around forever also. What can be done, basically, they have to grow out of it, and they will, along the way, make sure they know reality from fantasy.

Answer 4

Sounds like your mind is made up. Maybe that's why few people are answering this question?

Mostly, I agree with you. The ethical integrity of an individual is what guides that person's behavior, not any content of any art or entertainment. I could listen to gangsta rap and it wouldn't inspire me to dust some cops off or go dealin' wit' hos and bitches. I'd be offended, but I wouldn't be inspired.

And yes, there's lots of rap that's incredibly positive--or at least inoffensive--in its presentation and ethics, and always has been (Arrested Development, De la Soul, Fresh Prince, PM Dawn, Maxi Jazz, Rakim).

But then again--people who are prone to violence and antisocial behavior are also going to be the ones most prone to listen all the time to the most offensive stuff. It's obvious that there are a lot more murders annually among gangsta rappers than there ever were among acid-rockers (who tended to die of liver failure instead).

I don't think we fix violence by trying to control the content of records, film, TV. What we need to do is to address the personal and social conditions that turn so many people into violent, hard-eyed creeps who are primarily interested in felonies. Not to ride Virginia Tech like a hobbyhorse, but the one commentator I thought made sense said that it shows that we don't intervene vigorously enough when someone's behavior indicates serious mental issues. Dealing with those issues is the right focus, not restricting words.

Answer 5

You are absolutely right. Most hip-hop music is so overly sexual, violent and so degrading to women. And their videos are making the situation worse. A lot of kids these days listen to this stuff and think that this is the way to live. Yes, where Are all the parents in this??!! I think it's time for them to finally step up and set some boundaries for their children. As we all know...they are the future.

Answer 6

You know what is a better influence on young minds.......GOOD PARENTING! Good teaching. Maybe we should start paying our teachers more so that they can actually care about their jobs instead of just passing kids along so they are someone else worry. Maybe parents should take some responsibility and actually parent their kids instead of hoping someone else will do it for them. My parents taught me right from wrong and that there are consequences if I screw up, I have listened to violent music, played violent video games and watched violent TV/movies and it has not influenced me at all. Everyday I hear parents complaining about all of these because they are too lazy to want to do their responsibility and parent their little monsters. What we need to start doing is taking away kids whose parents arent raising them properly or maybe these people shouldnt have kids if they dont want to raise them properly.

Answer 7

What is so funny is that the people who SPEND THE MOST ON RAP MUSIC AND STUFF LIKE THAT IS WHITE, MIDDLE CLASS KIDS. THAT'S RIGHT, YOUR STOCK BROKER OR YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER IN 5-10 YEARS WILL HAVE LISTENED TO MORE RAP THAN MOST OF THE KIDS. THERE'S NOTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT HIP HOP.

Answer 8

Guns don't kill people rappers do... I've seen it on a documentary on BBC2...