Time to stop blaming rap/hip for problems in society?

Question

Every now and then I'll post a question on here that has to do with alot of the question being asked, right now im reading these questions that want to blame rap/hip for "problems in our society, and "destruction of our youth"....For those of you saying stuff like that, when do you draw the line? Rap/hip hop is not to blame for people like Seung-Hui Cho (VT massacre) or Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold (columbine) shooting up their schools, i guess you guys also want to blame rap artists for the fact that any idiot can get their hands on a gun right? So many problems in this world yet you just want to come into this section and bash rap/hip hop.....you got the president of the united states sendin our troops to their deaths in the middle east, but thats hip hops fault, priests molesting little boys, oh yea thats hip hops fault too..I read in another answer that rap is mostly about murder and rape; you know who you are, if your reading this i'll give you best answer if you give me a rap song

about rape......People making such statements show their ignorance to the genre, if you took the time to listen to it you would see that alot of rappers talk about life before fame, which was most likely on the streets...unlike alot of you bashing rap, some of these people arent born with a spoon in their mouth, they go through struggles, hardships and they talk about that through their music...The bottom line; the problems we have in our society and with our youth isnt a result of just one genre of music, its a result of a lack of role models within our communites, schools, churches, etc.....Stop blaming rap/hip hop for the problems today.

mculasso: you make some good points, but like i said; where are the role models at home, or school, or in church?



and to the first dude that answered, the question is right at the top

ms.chacha: i'll tell you the same thing, where are the strong role models within the communities leading "our children" in the right direction? where are the fathers at?

dat girl from da D: thanks for gettin that clip from eminem's song, the main point i was gettin to is that there' s positive hip hop out there, and kirah justified that point.

Alex: You dont think the government spreads ignorance?

Answer 1

I gotta give you a star for this one. I just answered a question that I think sparked your question here.... "Is Hip Hop dumbing down our youth?"

What gets played on our radio and video stations is up to the masses. Until people stop listening to the garbage that is put out there, it will remain.

No one knows about MCs like Talib Kweli, Mos Def, the Roots etc... who have social and political views that encourage positivity in the black community and yourth because teengers now only want a catchy hook that doesnt take a whole lot of thought to be able to repeat it over and over again.

I don't listen to the radio anymore because of the GARBAGE that people put up with from their music now.

Some songs to listen to that will change your point of view of Hip Hop.....

Clones - The Roots
Get By - Talib Kweli
What is What - Digable Planets
Moonlit Skies - Aceyalone

I can go on and on with HUNDREDS of songs but I don't think the people who need to pay any attention to this will

Answer 2

There is a lot of stuff to say on the subject. i am a rap fan and i listen to a lot of music. People can't be blaming rap for the problems of the world. but at the same time rappers could be a little more careful with what they say and do. they are role models and so if they talk about guns and drugs and gangs and all the other stuff some people are going to follow. that's not to say that rap creates problems but some weaker minds may get a wrong idea of life. Everything we see in the media influences us. even if we don't feel it or let it affect us there is still that influence that too much of can be bad. I'm not hatin on rapper's because rap is a small fish in the big oceans of the world's problem's but every little thing is important and rapper's could be a little more careful with what they say and do.

Answer 3

Definitely agree with you. Art imitates life more than the other way around.
Yes some of the hip-hop played on the radio/MTV is absolute garbage, but if you are willing to look a little deeper you can find mc's like Talib Kweli, the Roots, J5, Mos Def, Pharoah Monch and so on, who a) have a lot to say, and b) say it very eloquently as well.
By the way, I blame the lawmakers that any idiot can get their hands on a gun. Johnny Cash's subject matter wasn't eaxcatly sweetness and light either, but no-one seems to bat an eyelid because it's country music!

Answer 4

Your last sentence sums it up in full. They started the problems with the removal of regulations on banks and the sub prime housing loans. They supported the bundling of bad securities with good securities by Fannie and Freddie, they blocked attempts by the Republicans to re-institute the regulations on banks and defended Fannie and Freddie while lying about their financial condition. They were in control of the purse strings the last years of the Bush administration and continue in the unbridled spending that they supported the last two years of the Bush presidency. As they continue to ruin the economy and kill business opportunities, the problems will only increase, not go away, so I guess that they will always blame Bush. The statute of limitations will never run out as long as they think that they can get away with blaming someone else for the problems that they caused.

Answer 5

I agree. I'm not a rap fan, but I think that it's ridiculous to blame any genre of music for things like that. Rap does sometimes have violent or demeaning lyrics but you can't say that that's why shootings and rapes etc happened. (You'll notice also heavy metal gets blamed a lot.) You're the kind of person this world needs more of.

Answer 6

I do not think that hip hop forces people to do anything. If someone of any race wants to kill, rape, steal, etc- it is their own decision. I mean that is just obvious b/c hip hop is so popular that if it was the music -more people would be doing terrible things.
BUT I DO THINK that rap degrades women and that is a big problem in our society. Just listen to the words or look at the videos- its terrible.
HIP HOP needs to change!!!!!!

Answer 7

I believe it is NO genre of music that is messing up society I believe the problem with some kids and people today are their parents because no one raises theirselves. Parents need to take control at a very young age with their childrens behavior, some parents thinks it is just a phase when their kids are doing bad things and wait till their in their adolescents and by then it is toooo late you can't tell a teenager nothing because they have their minds made up on what type of person they want to be.

Answer 8

I agree it piss*s me off when ppl blame rap. There is a lot of positve rap like ludacris "run away love", and if there is negitive rap it is usually talkin about the problems in society. It not the rappers fault that society is messed it was that way before rap/hip hop.

Answer 9

It's the partents fault. Heck, the rappers are only trying to make some money by supplying what consumers want. People have every right not to buy albums if they don't like it or if they don't like their kids listening to it.
In my uneducated opinion, it seems like a lot of rap does encourage misogynistic behavior and glorification of money and fancy luxury goods, but who cares. If thats what people want, more power to it. I won't giving them any of my money in the near future though.

Answer 10

I agree! To quote Chris Rock- "Rich, white men make guns and its cool. Rapper says gun and its a congressional hearing". Blaming rap is just another easy way to get people focused on something else, other than the real problem.
I know, parents cannot be blamed for everything their kids do. I also know that if respect is taught in the home, no lyrics in any song are going to suddenly "turn" that kid disrespectful.