Do you think hip hop is harmful to society?

Question

I believe that alot of violence and poverty is based on the influence of hip hop. Any true lyricist will tell you hip hop is a culture and a culture is something you live. By no means will I blame for murders but music tends to make an impression on the weak minded. Whatever style these spit about and wear in these videos, a majority of my peers will go out and by the second they get some money in their pocket. Do you honestly think the music is only effecting our fashion choices? Those who are intellectually inept may not be able to rationalize, therefore making ignorant decisions based on the lifestyles of songs like "ILL Still Kill" and "One Mic". Plus the movie all hip hoppers seem to love is Scarface, which depicts the life of a cocaine boss leaving this world with guns blazing in both hands, like a G should.

Do you agree or disagree? Dont give me a biased answer based on your love for hip hop because if you read my name, I love hip hop as much as the other man.

And please do not answer with, “You are just inviting hip hop bashers.”. I don’t care. They answer the question and can easily be ignored. I wanna know what you all truly think on this matter.

Lastly, I wanna leave you with this quote by Game:

“Been banging since ma lil' *****, rob, got killed for his Barkley's
That's ten years
I told Pooh in '95
I'll kill you if you try me for my air-max 95's”

Answer away.

I know violence has been taking place. Has the music added to it is the question.

HNIC: What you mean close thread?

ANT: Do I smell sarcasm?

Answer 1

Is hip hop harmful to society? No... not really

Are the weak-minded? yes

And with this in mind i would probably redefine what hip hop is. 'True lyricists' ( as you would say) probably don't need gimmicks to sell their music, AND they wouldn't be worried as much about their money as some mainstream monney-makers-booty-sharkers are.

I think some artists would keep doing what they do without the money. Others wouldn't. Which of these groups is weak minded? After answering that, consider the followers who ACTUALLY take some of their values from music from music just about ANYTHING they hear. These people are weakminded anyway...

And it really wouldn't matter how much if hip hop existed or not, so long as there is any negative message in music for the weakminded to swallow whole, society would be doomed.

So to say that hip hop has a negative influence on society (excluding scanty fashion trends, perhaps) doesn't necassarily add up. rather, I think that violent hip hop is probably a reflection/result of violence in society, not exactly the other way around. We all know that 50 cent, 2pac, and Biggie didn't grow up in Beverly Hills. And when you write poetry, it usually comes best when speaking from your own experience, i supppose.


Still, don't get me wrong: Mysogyny and the PROMOTION of violence are unnaceptable. However, hip hop was not the first music to introduce these elements, and isn't the only one that still has them.

Answer 2

I'm not being biased when i say this, but i think we fail as a society not as separate cultures. Yeah hip hop will influence you to a certain extent but you'd have to be a pretty f*cked up person to listen to something and act on it, if it isn't something you hear in a song, it'll probably be something you see on the streets that'll drive to commit a crime. We as a society don't look to help those people, we look to blame certain influences. That's just sweeping it under the rug.

And I see your game quote..but consider this:

'They say music can alter moods and talk to you
But can it load a gun for you and c*ck it too?'

It doesn't. You as an individual make a choice to pull a trigger or carry a knife with the intention of using it. As a society we have to look at WHY people do that, not blame it on something and hope it'll go away. If you live a happy life, have all the things you want, then hearing a song about killing someone isn't going to affect you right? And you have all the things you want either because you as an individual made a conscious decision to succeed. Or because your social condition veered you towards it. Individuality is a double edged sword.

Answer 3

I LOVE HIP-HOP!! And it's NOT HARMFUL TOWARDS ANY CULTURE! Only weak minded people who stand for nothing will fall for anything they see on t.v. or read in the magazines. That's why when something in someone's life doesn't go very well at all, they turn and say it's the music artist fault when really it's there own. The music artist didn't put a gun to their heads and say do this so your life can come out crappy. I think IGNORANT parents and individuals who cannot take responsibility for their or their children's actions are looking for a "scape goat". Since they're not smart enough or too fragile to get a handle on their own problems, they look towards Rap, the BLACK COMMUNITY, and anything African American related to put the blame on. Who the heck said that 'ANYTHING RELATED TO THE BLACK CULTURE WAS A BAD THING"?

Answer 4

I've never really understood people's obsession with lyrics. The lyrics are only an instrument for the music. If people like the hip-hop musical genre, there is nothing wrong with it. The trouble is that lyricists/songwriters are misusing the popularity of that musical style to publish their personal thoughts and ideas.

You could have the same lyrics written to Operatic music or Soul or R&B or Latino, and people who could get influenced easily would still get influenced.

So my answer would be, as a genre, hip-hop is not the trouble. The lyrics need to be cleaned up, which is where the music companies need to step in.

Answer 5

I do agree that hip hop and rap CAN influence violence. But that does not mean it has to. I am a very avid listener of hip hop and rap and I do not take those songs literally. I am not going to go out and "bang" someone up. It's just a song to me. But we have our youth that are easily influenced, especially by popular music. And at the moment, a lot of hip hop and rap music is what's popular with the youth. Our youth are very impressionable. While I am sure they really do know that what is being said in the song shouldn't be taken literally, if they think it is cool to think or be that way, then what do you think will happen. Very good question, btw.

Answer 6

I dont think violence and poverty are based on the influence of hip hop. I mean it doesn't help the matter but take away the music and the same kind of people will still being doing the samething. I mean I dont think Ted Bundy sat around listening to hip hop all day.

Answer 7

well like you said music tends to make an impression on the weak minded theirs a reason why CD's have the explicit lyrics sticker. and i know that its not just some young teens that can easily be manipulated by anything adults could too. but the point of the music is to express yourself not to promote violence. some people actually hear gunshots at night some people do deal coke so that they wont go to sleep hungry.i think that when someone raps about there environment and life they think "ok this is my story,this is what i've been through" not "the whole world should do what i have done to be cool and famous like me" so to answer your question i think it hasnt it just that some people are confused in this world

Answer 8

"music tends to make an impression on the weak minded." I agree with that, if people are that impressionable, the music will have some sort of impression on the person. Impressionable people exist, therefore; I think you're correct. Society is filled with the weak minded. The same can be said about other forms of entertainment.

Answer 9

I think there is a huge double standard in Hip Hop and in the "neighborhood".I can't count how many songs end in some s**t like"And I'll kill any mfer that comes near me....PEACE!"No matter what, people of any culture,will alway try to pass the blame.The kid caught stealing will blame it on the rapper,the rapper will say "I grew up watching kids steal".And I'm sorry if I offend you but Hip Hop is DEAD!And if it ain't...it's seriously sleeping.

Answer 10

I believe that music can't create society, it can only reflect it. I suppose though, it could be argued that even though the music has reflected society, it's become a vicious cycle of them feeding off of each other (if that makes any sense).
Society is in such a bad state today that it's hard to pinpoint any one cause. I'd certainly blame our greedy, get rich quick and fcuk everyone else culture before I'd blame music for it though. And although certain elements of hip hop condone that, it was rich white America that invented it.
This is a good question, glad you asked it.