Rap Music

Rap Music

If everything in society could be perfect, people would live with the right state of mind and know right from wrong. They would be able to take in everything they learn and hear and be able to dispose of anything destructive from their minds. That would be the ideal society, but it just doesn't exist. People, especially adolescents hear things. They really absorb the knowledge they gain and take it as acceptable. Rap sends out negative messages that may threaten the future of America. "There is absolutely no doubt that rap music spurs violence" (Richardson).

Not all rap music can present positive images to society. Listeners to political rap that pay close attention to lyrics can gain something, close attention to gangster rap may not be beneficial. Rap music, especially gangster rap, seems to be African American dominate. Through "Sound-Scan statistics", it's shown that white, predominantly suburban male teens purchase a great deal of gangster rap. Gangster rap originates from the West Coast and started in the late eighties. Ice-T and N.W.A were artists that started this soon to be dominate music. Gangster Rap uses a great deal of profanity to illustrate the life of poor, broken communities.

Rap music isn't the only type of music that has promoted violence, but it is the one that has the most negative feedback. From the 50's rock to present day rap concerts, there have been brawls, shootings and other criminal activities. Violence will exist no matter where you go. The problem is that, unlike the 50's rock, rap is greatly associated with violence. Even one of the first big rap tours, Run-DMC's "Raising Hell" tour, had to deal with unruly fans. Time Magazine described an incident that occurred on Run-DMC's Long Beach, California tour top where "more than 300 members of black and Hispanic street gangs swarmed through the crowed, attacking everyone around them"(Richardson).

Gangster rappers don't choose to express themselves in the best way. They know what they are trying got say and do it the way they feel will be most effective, but rap today is out of control. It is having a negative impact on society. Rap started as a peaceful way of expression. Rap music still result in violence, but that was just problems within people themselves. From the late 1980's when rap emerged, to today rap has changed for the worse. There are still rap artists that preach peaceful expressions. If you turn on a radio, you are most likely to hear gangster rap. It has become very popular and is constantly on the top of the charts. It is very popular amongst people. The majority of gangs you see today listen to rap music which shows you where rap is attracted to, low suburban areas. Adolescents exposed to this are exposed to violence, guns, drugs, alcohol and females see women on TV and think this is the way to dress