Running head: The Influences of Rap and Hip Hop On Todays Youth

The Influences of Rap and Hip Hop Music On Todays Youth Ashley Anguiano, Alejandro Corral, Angel Sanchez University of Texas at El Paso

The Influences of Rap and Hip Hop On Todays Youth

How has Rap/Hip Hop music changed over time? Rap music has survived through the decades as one of Americas leading influences on pop culture, to the funky beats and the well thought out and sometimes not so well thought out lyrics. However, in this community problem report, a group of college students will explain what other influence if any, that the rap music genre may possess over Americas youth and anyone else from generation Y. The history of hip hop/Rap music was founded in African American music. This music was created by a group in the west of Africa called the griots , traveling group of singers and poets who were part of an oral traditional back hundreds of years. This music had more drum beats. Time went by and hip hop started off in the 1960 and 1970 in New York city in brox. This music of rap wasnt rap or hip hop music used to be a different type of music in the past. In 1970 it all started off when they would have block parties with disco music where the African and purto Ricans got together and started this whole new style. According to Sourabh Gupta in the article of History of Rap this music was increasingly popular in New York city and it started growing all over America. That is when all those famous Djs started spreading out in New York city and became big hits in the past playing soul music and fuck and disco music. The fisrt hip hop song was in 1979 by The Sugarhills Gang called Rappers Delight, but it wasnt a big hit so it wasnt released. The first song released was from a group of females a song named Funk You Up then Sugarhill was 2nd released record. Around the early 1980s, when west coast started hip hop music it wasnt really called hip hop anymore, according to (Gupta Sourabh, 1999) this music was called gangsta music, synonym of gangster by a group named NWA. This music was talking about violence, sex

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hardcore profanity and drugs. This group was rival with the East coast rappers like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, but Snoop Dogg beat the West coast with his big hit Doggystyle in the early 90s. According to the article East Coast vs West Coast this era of hip hop music was the most important moment of hip hop because that when hip hop was growing with rappers like Tupac and B.IG. It was war between the records of Death Row and Bad Boys, but all this was getting out of hand with gang fights and wars between each other and got worst that it even brought death because they killed Tupac because he was known as one of the best rappers and is still best known as that. He was known as a poet, and his music was one of the best known, according to (Soerner Maria, 2002). This music had brought wars between gang members. Thats the main reasons this music had to change itself and be no longer gangsta music. Hip hop music in the 2000s continued growing and was recognized as the new school hip hop rappers like lil Wayne, 50 Cent and Drake this new rappers created a new hip hop style it has a lot of different things compared to what the rappers from the west and east coast would rap about in the early 90s. These new rappers started changing their way of rapping with less profanity not to much sexually and violence. It changed a lot to more like dancing music. Hip hop, now in the 21st century, changed a lot back then they had groups called west and east coast now they created the YMCMB & Tayler Gang which is whole lot of different. In the article Hip Hop and Rap music in the 21st century written by (Soernsen Maria, 2002) she states that the music of hip hop actually did change theirs proof by comparing gangsta rap music that they had in the 90s to the music that it is now. This article gives some facts on how it changed.

The Influences of Rap and Hip Hop On Todays Youth

Although hip hop and rap music had developed in so many different ways. Hip hop music will continue to change over time and according to (Soerensen Maria,2002) this music will aways have its Gangsta language. How do different genres of rap and hip-hop effect the youth who listen to it? The debate over rap musics influence in todays youth is still in question, and according to the scholarly journal The Influence of Media Violence of Youth (et. al), there has been many tests and experiments concerning American youth exposure to media violence, the results are very inconsistent. Consistency in how many parents are involved, in how much leadership a parent shows, and a factor that Anderson explains to be the interpretation of what you really are listening to vs. what you think you are listening to. (2013) Rap musics presence has always been questioned and occasionally, censored, but only because people are afraid of the realities that it speaks within the music. In order to understand what that means exactly, Jabari Mahiri (2003) suggests that rap is perceived in such a way that it is used as a scapegoat for something much bigger. Mahiri goes on to give his reader the idea that rap is just a reflection of what is really happening in the real world, and Mahiri writes, and as stated by Chomsky (1995), that people do not want to attack the source of the power, and so they attack the dangerous people. In this ever going debate, there are countless people putting in their own thoughts and even digging deeper as to what rap does that we may not realize. An interesting article Is Rap Actually Music or is it a Bad Influence? hiphopandpolitics (2006) exploits this. The writer of this specific website article describes the common thing that rap shares, and that is half naked women and drugs. The author continues on to talk about how this could possibly affects a girls

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self esteem, and if that happens, it could cause her to subject herself to the will of a boy only to impress him accordingly to the rap music definition of a beautiful woman. Also the article goes on to speak about disorders that girls can receive like eating disorders and possibly even mental abuse. The articles point about rap is well argued when it throws this subject of submission of a girl to boys into the mix. However, as to any good debate, there are always two sides. This can be made into an example by examining studymode.com (2009). The editor of this site believes that rap music does not have a bad influence on children. The article states that contrary to popular belief, music will not hypnotize the listener into going to the streets to murder someone, take or solicit drugs, fall into prostitution, or even something simple like dressing inappropriately. The article also argues that the causes of all these bad things that seem to be a pattern in the youth is only due to bad parenting. That goes back to scapegoats and the idea that parents of our generation need them to ignore their own bad parenting skills. So now that the reader understands that rap may not be that entirely bad and according to the words of Curtis Aron, the reader is correct, it really is not. Aron states in his positive rap article Rap Music: Is It As Bad As Some People Think? that rap music is just taken the wrong way. He contributes to this false idea that rap is a catalyst to teen pregnancy and violence, but just says that just because a rapper speaks about issues, does not necessarily mean he or she is promoting the issues. (Aron 2010) He also argues that rappers mostly just want to make these problems known, but in order for them to do that, they need to rap about it, and thats how the finger pointing begins. He continues as much to say that there are even songs that promote peace and happiness, which the only intention is to send a positive message. He makes it a point not to

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condemn every single rapper and his or her music because a couple find it amusing to talk about sex and drugs. (2010) The reader has now examined what is bad and good to the people who are against and are for rap music, and to put this all into perspective, there is another argument. Rap is not bad or good, its nothing, and its hardly influential according to some theorists. However, one thing that was stated in the articles covered, is that gangster rap is a source of bad messages, whether its political or social. (Anthony M. Giovachhini) Giovachhini outlines in his article a whole bunch of lyrics from a genre known as gangster rap that comes primarily from artists such as Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Tupac, and Snoop Doggy Dog. In these lyrics, several incredibly offensive and violent words and phrases are tossed around as threats to other rappers, and usually, directed towards police. Although Giovacchini argues that this is the source of all the bad rep that rap gets, he still says the same solution that previous authors and debaters suggest, and thats to inform and educate. However, he does not mean educate the children, he means to educate the adults so they know how to deal with it with their own children. (1999) In a sense, no matter what the argument tends to be, the solution is always the same, and thats good parenting. Are parents around the country-using rap as a scapegoat for their own bad parenting? Some may not like to agree with that, but that does not mean that they are right. To add to this, parents are always looking for a way for our society to raise their children, and a good idea of this is ratings, but ratings are not useful if the community is ignorant to it. What are the ways in which music is regulated and what are the proposed changes to these methods?

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Currently there is not a rating system for music. Many people think that this is due to a familiar sticker on certain albums that state Explicit Content but this sticker is only there to warn parents, guardians, and audiences that no words are bleeped out. There are no committees that discuss the lyrics and decide whether or not it should be produced. All they can do is simply add that sticker to the album to inform the buyer that the music contains inappropriate content for some listeners. Cord and Lehrer (2007) wrote an article titled Politically Determined Entertainment Ratings and How to Avoid Them, which discusses the ideas how certain entertainment industries have less rules and regulations in place for artists, and they state that it is ultimately up to the parents to watch over what their children are into; while it is impossible for parents to watch every movie or play every video game that might interest a child, it is possible for parents to get a good idea of their childrens listening tastes (p. 13). With no rating policies in place many people feel that hip hop and rap artists can get away with almost anything they wish to speak about. Many feel that the sticker is a good idea and it provides parents with the warning of what their children are listening to. If they are uncomfortable with the idea of their child listening to such lyrics, then they should parent them and discuss what is being said. The LA Times displayed an article written by Jeff Leeds, where he argues that the music industry is not at fault for youth violence, but it is the parents fault for not talking with their children on what is being said in the lyrics. Leeds stated (2001) "Your kid brings home a record. It says 'parental advisory.' We're advising the parents it might have lyrics that are explicit. Well, parent them. They should not go after record labels some believe. An article in the LA Times also states that "people in the music community are just not comfortable characterizing lyrics [under a uniform rating system] and never have been and I doubt ever will be because of the interpretive nature of words (Leeds, 2001).

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In the debate between Dr. Boyce Watkins and Michael Eric Dyson, Are Hip Hop Artists Destroying the Black Community, Dyson (2012)) feels that artists should take responsibility for their words, but they should not have to hold back from speaking their minds. Hip hop and rap artists tend to speak about political, social, and economical issues and many people do not appreciate some information being shared. He stated that artists also speak about situations that they grew up in or have seen experienced first-hand in poor neighborhoods. Dyson (2012) believes that they are musical artists who discuss great philosophical ideas. Parents should not prevent their children from hearing these artists out, but rather educate them on what is being said. People are always ready to pounce and tear anything apart that they find unsuitable or distasteful. They hardly ever take the time to analyze and hear the message that the artist is trying to send stated Dyson. Dr. Boyce Watkins on the other hand, strongly believes that these rappers have no control. During the public debate, Watkins (2012) said that artists speak whatever they want and do not take any responsibility for influencing todays youth. Dr. Watkins (2012) feels that these artists are preaching the gospel of ignorance and self-destruction and children are absorbing it. Dr. Watkins (2012) also states that artists need to take responsibility and realize that they are causing damage to children and their lyrics are influencing them to do bad things. Watkins (2012) also argues that these artists should not be given any awards. By giving those awards for their music, you are telling children that all those bad things will bring success and you will be congratulated and praised for. Watkins (2012) kept repeating the statement of art imitates life, life imitates art. This statement explains how these rappers talk about all they see or have been through, but do nothing to change it. By doing nothing to change it, children believe that that is all life has to offer and therefore repeat those situations then brag about all the harm they caused

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or just how drunk they got in the club. It is a never ending cycle. Hip hop and rap artists need to have more control on what they are expressing and more restrictions should be in place, Watkins (2012) states as his closing statement. Rap music to some people sends a mixed message, but although interpretation does appear to have a big role, it also comes down to the horrible realities. However, it is clear that it is here to stay, and the research and the debates will continue with it, but also will the understanding of parental responsibilities and other ideal ways to deal with the influence that Americas youth could fall under.

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References Aron, C. (2010, December 27). Rap Music: Is It As Bad As Some People Think? . In Hub Pages. Retrieved November 3, 2013 Cord B., & Lehrer, E. (2007). Politically Determined Entertainment Ratings and How to Avoid Them. Competitive Enterprise Institute, 12. Retrieved from http://cei.org/pdf/6292.pdf Giovacchini, A. M. (1999, June 4). The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap And What Can Be Done About It . In Edge . Retrieved November 3, 2013ferences Is Rap Actually Music or is it a Bad Influence?. (2006, August 23). In Hip Hop and Politics. Retrieved November 3, 2013 Kulture Kritic. (2012, April 12). Dr. Boyce Watkins and Michael Eric Dyson Debate: Are Hip Hop Artists Destroying the Black Community? Message posted to http://www.kulturekritic.com/2012/04/news/dr-boyce-watkins-and-michael-eric-dysondebate-are-hip-hop-artists-destroying-the-black-community/ Mahiri, J. (2003, January 31). Black Youth Violence Has a Bad Rap. In The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Retrieved November 3, 2013 Re et. al. (2003, December). The Influence of Media Violence on Youth. In Sage Journals. Retrieved November 3, 2013, from http://psi.sagepub.com/content/4/3/81.short Rock and Rap Does Not Have a Bad Influence on Teenagers . (2009, January). In Study Mode. Retrieved November 3, 2013