About Rap Music

On facebook, one of my friends wrote about how he had read something about rap music in the newspaper. According to him, the author of the article seemed to blame the rap/R&B genre for urban violence that is plaguing the world today. He went on to disagree with the article, saying that Rap music is not meant to cause violence, crime, or fornication, but to express views of dissatisfaction of society and authority. He thought people didn't understand what rap really was. This was my response to his argument.


I love all music. Rap is catchy to me, and I feel really cool when I actually know the words to a whole rap song :)
But I also would like to say that while the MUSIC and even the LYRICS themselves can and should be appreciated and respected, the IMAGE that comes with rap music is, in my opinion, degrading and disrespectful to higher art. Generally, rap music THESE DAYS glorifies things that I believe the world is better off without. If not through the lyrics, it's through the videos and press releases and things of that nature. True, rap began as an emotional outlet -- a way to express feelings of distress in a cold, creul world. But instead of UPLIFTING and IMPROVING the world they lived in, rap seemed to BRING DOWN THE STANDARD OF RIGHT AND WRONG, and, therefore, INCREASE the amount of urban angst seen in the world today.
While I don't think it is the root cause of urban violence, I do believe that oftentimes small things -- like a lyric or song -- can lead to much bigger things. A person doesn't usually just listen to Snoop Dogg and decide to go shoot someone. Maybe that person began LISTENING to Snoop Dogg, then start DRESSING like Snoop Dogg. His appearance and behaviors could then attract FRIENDS who like Snoop Dogg, and some of those friends might pull him down to a new, violent, terrible world -- a world from which a person cannot leave easily. It's a chain reaction with disastrous consequences. I wish to respond, Janna, to the comment you made about evidence. This is a kind of thing that is much more complicated than just cut-and-paste proof. I don't think any cold-blooded killer would ever come out in public and say, "It was rap that made me do it." It's a mindset. It's psychology. And it's different for each individual. However, like many other social issues, some generalizations can and will be made. Rather than trying to combat INDIVIDUAL instances of violence and crime in urban society, we should try to stop it AS A WHOLE by regulating amounts of sexual and violent content on the TV, radio, and internet. Clothing standards can be raised, as well as language and other behavioral standards. This is not combatting urban culture, this is combatting urban crime, violence, and the general negative urban environment. Rap should not be eliminated, but rather, knowledge should be increased. People should be free to make a statement, but people should also be free to argue statements they know are wrong, and the only way people can do that is if they know what is right.
It seems as if I have digressed a bit, and for that I apologize. I wish to reiterate that I DO enjoy listening to rap music, and I DO NOT think it is the center of all the problems. It's people themselves, who follow blindly the ways of the world without a knowledge of something better, that is the real source of the problem.



I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets COLDER,
Most of us only care about money makin'
SELFISHNESS got us followin' our wrong direction
WRONG INFORMATION ALWAYS SHOWN BY THE MEDIA
NEGATIVE IMAGES is the main criteria
Infecting the YOUNG MINDS faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the CINEMA
Yo', whatever happened to the VALUES OF HUMANITY
Whatever happened to the FAIRNESS IN EQUALITY
Instead of spreading LOVE we're spreading
ANIMOSITYLACK OF UNDERSTANDING, leading lives away from UNITY
-- "where is the love?'' by the Black Eyed Peas(who, by the way, are a group of more famous RAP artists)