Rap and Hip-hop’s Negative Impact on Society
Secular rap as a whole has a negative impact on society, particularly on our youth, through its explicit content. It sends a powerful message of hate and violence that is devouring the minds of our youth playing a major role in such problems as rape, racism, teen pregnancy, suicide, homicide and even gang violence.
Throughout the years rap, particularly secular rap, has had a huge impact on our society. Not only are millions of CD’s produced every year but popular rap songs receive heavy rotation on multiple hip/hop radio stations. It seems that society, rather, today’s youth, is engulfed in the hip/hop culture.
According to Patrice B. Jones, the author of an article written in 2005 on secular rap, the affects of secular rap on society and our youth could be detrimental. He states that African Americans are “portrayed unfairly and unattractively” by Secular rap. Secular rap is simply harmful and is polluting society.
Secular rap music portrays African Americans in a negative light through its lyrics. Many secular rap lyrics consist of horrid tales of violence, such black on black violence, alcohol abuse, and drug related crimes. Secular rap basically adds on to an already existing stereotype that all black males are violent and dangerous.
This in turn makes life even harder for young African-Americans because now they are looked upon as being a “potential threat” to a person’s life or should I say I person’s well being. This only increases the amount of racism against African-Americans and rightfully so because people believe what they hear and may begin to develop of fear of those spoken of in rap lyrics.
Though there is obvious damage being done, these rap artist refuse to put themselves in the shoes of a young black male who is trying to succeed in a “White Man’s World.” The way some of the rap songs portray African-Americans puts them in an even deeper hole because they have to prove that they are different from the roughhousing gang bangers depicted in secular rap.
As secular rap has progressed and evolved, it has begun to lean more and more towards sexually explicit lyrics which in turn has damaged the image of women. Unlike the “old days” or the so called “early stages” of secular rap, today’s rap music portrays women in a negative light through sexually inappropriate remarks.
Popular rap artist such as E-40, 50 Cent, Ludacris, and Young Buck are well known for their sexual lyrics. The popular song “Money Maker” by Ludacris not only destroys the image of women, but it also encourages them to prostitute themselves, “Shake, shake, shake your money maker like, you were shakin it for some paper.”
Critics of my position really seem to not see the whole picture; they do not fully understand how women are being dehumanized by these lyrics and in turn are now being looked upon as sexual objects to our youth. In my opinion this not only puts women in a losing situation (same as African-Americans who have to prove they are different from the stereotype) but it also puts many women in danger of sexual crimes such as rape.
What a person listens to can have a dramatic impact on the emotions and actions of that person. Being a male, I fully understand the influence that sexually related lyrics have a person. It causes their minds to wonder and to think inappropriate things about women. Soon they began to view women not as humans who have feeling, but as sex objects which they must have.
Along with its controversial lyrics on sex and races, secular rap also promotes gang violence and at times even glorifies it. Many of today’s popular rap artist such as Snoop Dogg(Crip), The Game(Blood) and Lil Scrappy(Blood) promote their life of crime through their music. A good example of the promotion of gang violence would be a song released in 2002 by 2pac Shakur entitled “Ghetto Star.” Though I myself am a fan of 2pac because of some of the good things he stood for, he was also very gang related.
The first verse of the song basically demonstrates how violent secular rap is now a days, “I hit the weed and hope to god I can fly high, witness my enemies die when I ride by, they shouldn’t have tried me, send they bodies to their parents up north, with they faces they wrists and they nuts cut off.”
Secular rap is not only sending a message of violence to our youth and society as a whole, but it is also glorifying these acts of violence (Ghetto Star). This, in turn, leads directly to an immense problem our world is facing today. People die daily in the streets of New York, Compton, Long Beach, Houston and just about every other urban city across the United States.
According to areaconnect.com , in LA and NY alone, a little more then 1000 people were murder in 2005. The crime rates continue to rise almost every year, and you have to wonder if secular rap is influencing this in any way.
One of the most disturbing aspects of secular rap, is their violent words directed towards cops and other authority figures. Rappers today continuously attack police officers verbally even using profanity to describe them. Back in the early days of rap, N.W.A made the phrase “F*** the police” famous and it just has continued to grow even more violent.
According to Raplyricssearch.com , in a song by Kool G, he describes a train robbery in which he shoots and kills four cops; and in a song made by makaveli entitled open fire, he goes into great detail about an event(made up) in which he escapes from the cops leaving multiple officers dead. These words of hate directed towards cops are poisonous to society because of the affects they have on the youth. Today’s generation is strongly influenced by the hip-hop culture, made evident through the millions of CD’s produced every year, so the views of these rappers can easily influence their listeners to see things in the same light. This is one of the reasons why the youth today are so out of control.
They lack respect for any real authority figure and most secular rap simply reinforces this thinking. Without question the impact of secular rap has led to many slain cops. According to axt.com, the controversial song “Cop Killer” by Ice-T, has been “implicated in at least two shootings.” One of the deadest ones happened in 1992.
According to axt.com , “While on patrol in July 1992, two Las Vegas police officers were ambushed and shot by four juvenile delinquents who boasted that Ice-T’s Cop Killer gave them a sense of duty and purpose, to get even with “a f-king pig”. The juveniles continued to sing its lyrics when apprehended.”
Secular rap’s promotion of cop killings is very a very disturbing problem that should in no ways be over- looked. Secular rap didn’t always used to be so bad, but throughout time it seems to have strayed from the path. Back in the 1980s, hip-hop/rap was born. Artists such as Run DMC, LL Cool J, Sugarhill Gang, and GangStarr all were very popular. They were, as many would call, the pioneers of rap.
Unlike today’s music, vulgar language was rarely used, instead, they spoke about more social issues and changes that could be made to make society better. Even rappers of the early 1990s such as 2pac Shakur were making positive impacts on society through their lyrics. 2pac Shakur touched many peoples lives through songs such as “Keep your head up,” “trapped,” and “Hold on be Strong” encouraging the black community (as well as everyone else) to continue to fight and to be strong even when tragedy occurs.
Hip-Hop didn’t always used to be negative and vulgar, no; it started off as a good thing, a positive thing. As a result, crimes were somewhat down and society seemed to be growing. Then came rappers such as N.W.A and Ice-T, who promoted the use of violence when confronted by police men and gang violence. Also with this came many other rappers such as Biggie and Nas. Violence grew as the 2pac vs. Biggie feud emerged which led to both of them being murdered. To show how negative of an affect these two feuding rappers had on society during this time period, you need not look any further then their deaths.
After 2pac Shakur of Deathrow records (ties with the Bloods) was apparently killed by a Crip, the following week gang violence between the Bloods and the Crips in Compton California was intense. Several people were slain in retaliation which ultimately led to the death of Biggie. Their feud had a negative impact on society, proving that we are indeed affected by what we listen to.
Today, the music has gotten even worse and this seems to be one of the reasons society, in general, is failing. What if the positive tactics of the early days of rap were used in today’s music? Would it change things? There is no doubt that it would send a more positive message to the youth which in turn would change the way we as a society think.
Many rap artists out there today are convicted felons and thugs but are often viewed as role models by our society and our youth. Not only is this true with a few artist, but it is true of multiple artist such as 2pac(convicted of rape), Snoop Dogg(was on trial for murder), DMX (Charged with possession of guns), Jay-z (Charged with possession of guns), Young Buck(Charged with assault) and Shyne (Convicted of attempted murder).
These are popular rap stars seen as heroes and role models by our youth because many of them can relate to the lyrics and trials they have gone through. These rappers then turn around and use their past to promote themselves and their so called “realness.”
It seems that the more crimes a rapper commits, the more he is held up as a true thug which allows him to sell even more CDs(because he has proven his hardness to the streets). But just think of the message this is sending to our society. Not only does it promote vanity, but it sends the message that if you commit illegal crimes, then that proves you are a thug and that you are “hard” just like the rappers.
This is a very dangerous way of thinking because it not only puts the person in danger, but it also puts many other innocent people in danger of being murdered, beaten down, robbed, or even rapped. Any music that sends this kind of message should not be allowed, even if it is an expression of “free speech.” Secular rap that speaks of violence and hate should in no ways be protected by the constitution because of the fact that it is hate speech directed towards specific people.
Instead of teaching our youth how to grow and overcome, the majority of secular rap artist are out to destroy the minds of our youth an order to gain riches.
According to raplyricssearch.com, popular rap artist Shyne once said “I rap for the money, im not trying to be a role model.” More proof of this is seen in the 2pac vs. Biggie feud which I briefly spoke of earlier. Though there really was a problem between the two rappers, it was blown way out of proportion by producer Suge Knight who also had a feud but with Biggie’s producer Puff Daddy. He encouraged 2pac to continually attack Biggie in his songs. 2pac seemed to be unaware of the fact that he was actually being used by Suge to promote something even better, a westcoast vs. eastcoast war.
This led to millions of albums beings sold because people began to feed into the hype and joined in on the war. Their carelessness led to multiple people being killed including 2pac and Biggie. They clearly did not care about the message they were sending to the world and to the youth but rather how much money they could make, even at the expense of others.
Secular rappers produce the vulgar and sexually explicit lyrics that they do because they know that today’s youth are curious and that they are trying to quench their sinful desires. According to Ohha.com , not only in a song made by makaveli, but also in a song made by 50 cent, they both claim that they have “sold their souls to the devil in order to gain riches.” Contrary to popular belief, many secular rap artists know exactly what they are doing and they are well aware of the consequences that await them.
According to ohha.com, in the song “Gotta stay Fly” by The Three 6 Mafia, it has been proven that during the chorus of the song, some woman are singing “Satan we love you” in the background. Many of them have “sold their souls” to the devil by feeding society what it craves, sinful vain things. Instead of feeding them knowledge or even feeding them spiritually, they give them venom (sin leads to death).
Though secular rappers are quickly destroying our society, all is not lost, there are rappers out there who do feed society knowledge and even feed them spiritually. Christian rappers such as Japhia Life, T-bone, Lecrae, Sevin, and Da Truth are spreading a different message to our youth. Not just a message of faith, but also a positive message similar to some of the old school rap artist, that we must never give up and that we can improve ourselves as well as our society in which we live.
Sadly, many of them are being hindered by the stereotypes placed on rappers because of secular rap artists’ actions. Many believe that all rappers are the same, so a lot of positive rap artist (including Christian rappers) are pushed aside and lumped in the same group as secular rappers.
But instead of the negative, vulgar, hateful, and sexual messages being sent by secular rappers, Christian rappers are trying to send a message of hope, salvation, and peace that will improve our society as a whole, building up the youth.
Secular rap as a whole has a negative impact on society, particularly on our youth, through its explicit content. It sends a powerful message of hate and violence that is devouring the minds of our youth playing a part various problems such as rape, racism, teen pregnancy, suicide, homicide, and even gang violence. Rappers know exactly what they are doing and simply do not care because they are making more money then they ever had by feeding our society garbage.
This is an issue that need not be overlooked, instead, it needs to be reexamined over and over again to hold these rappers accountable for the damage they are doing on all who listen to them.
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User Comments
Scaramanga
On October 27, 2007 at 3:19 am
Man, this is right on so many levels, I hate the fact that everyone degrades everyone but White Males. This is a step towards freedom. I salute you.
Lawl
On October 31, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Go die please. Hiphop > your whole life, nerd.
2karaway
On January 10, 2008 at 12:00 am
A step toward freedom? sure buddy whatever.
Haha what a dreamer. freak.
cheryl
On January 24, 2008 at 1:48 am
I thank you for the words you have written. I believe more and more satan is using hip hop now to steal our sons and daughters away. He was the angel of music before he was cast out of heaven! Ask God for guidance in all things including what kind of music to fill your head with.
viki137
On February 22, 2008 at 8:50 am
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow
josh
On February 26, 2008 at 7:36 pm
You and anybody who thinks this paper has any substance are complete idiots. You are what is wrong with this country.
unknown
On March 3, 2008 at 1:13 am
This is a real good essay right here. It really portrays how UGLY the rappers are, and the people who are trying to be “cool” imitates them. Very sad for our society. Need an education for some people who hates the author of this, please pick up some knowledge to your rap music CDs. LOL
It's all in the Statistics... Look them up!
On March 5, 2008 at 12:04 am
The longest war America has ever fought is the Dirty War, and it is not over. It has lasted 30 years so far and claimed more than 25 million victims. It has cost almost as many lives as the Vietnam War. It determined the result of last year’s congressional election.
Yet the American news media do not want to talk about the Dirty War, which remains between the lines and unreported. In fact, to even suggest that the war exists is to be discredited. So let’s start suggesting, immediately.
No matter how crime figures are massaged by those who want to acknowledge or dispute the existence of a Dirty War, there is nothing ambiguous about what the official statistics portray: for the past 30 years a large segment of black America has waged a war of violent retribution against white America.
And the problem is getting worse, not better. In the past 20 years, violent crime has increased more than four times faster then the population. Young blacks (under 18) are more violent than previous generations and are 12 times more likely to be arrested for murder than young whites.
Nearly all the following figures, which speak for themselves, have not been reported in America:
* According to the latest US Department of Justice survey of crime victims, more than 6.6 million violent crimes (murder, rape, assault and robbery) are committed in the US each year, of which about 20 per cent, or 1.3 million, are inter-racial crimes.
* Most victims of race crime – about 90 per cent – are white, according to the survey “Highlights from 20 Years of Surveying Crime Victims,” published in 1993.
* Almost 1 million white Americans were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by black Americans in 1992, compared with about 132,000 blacks who were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by whites, according to the same survey.
* Blacks thus committed 7.5 times more violent inter-racial crimes than whites even though the black population is only one-seventh the size of the white population. When these figures are adjusted on a per capita basis, they reveal an extraordinary disparity: blacks are committing more than 50 times the number of violent crimes of whites.
* According to the latest annual report on murder by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most inter-racial murders involve black assailants and white victims, with blacks murdering whites at 18 times the rate that whites murder blacks.
These breathtaking disparities began to emerge in the mid-1960s, when there was a sharp increase in black crime against whites, an upsurge which, not coincidentally, corresponds exactly with the beginning the modern civil rights movement.
Over time, the cumulative effect has been staggering. Justice Department and FBI statistics indicate that between 1964 and 1994 more than 25 million violent inter-racial crimes were committed, overwhelmingly involving black offenders and white victims, and more than 45,000 people were killed in inter-racial murders. By comparison 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam, and 34,000 were killed in the Korean war.
When non-violent crimes (burglary, larceny, car theft and personal theft) are included, the cumulative totals become prodigious. The Bureau of Justice Statistics says 27 million non-violent crimes were committed in the US in 1992, and the survey found that 31 per cent of the robberies involved black offenders and white victims (while only 2 per cent in the reverse).
When all the crime figures are calculated, it appears that black Americans have committed at least 170 million crimes against white Americans in the past 30 years. It is the great defining disaster of American life and American ideals since World War II.
All these are facts, yet by simply writing this story, by assembling the facts in this way, I would be deemed a racist by the American news media. It prefers to maintain a paternalistic* double-standard in its coverage of black America, a lower standard.
Lil Wayne Wifey
On April 13, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I love hip hop music and the rappers who sing it but I have enough sense to see when it’s time to draw the line. Joshua Smith is right, rap and hip hop does have a negative affect on society and if you’re too dumb to see that then why don’t you just go out there and become part of the statistics so you could just prove us right.
Lil Wayne Wifey
On April 13, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I love hip hop music and the rappers who sing it but I have enough sense to see when it’s time to draw the line. Joshua Smith is right, rap and hip hop does have a negative affect on society and if you’re too dumb to see that then why don’t you just go out there and become part of the statistics so you could just prove us right.
mee
On April 22, 2008 at 4:25 pm
rap is good let it be free>>:p
nobody
On April 24, 2008 at 6:09 pm
“Let rap be free”
it is free…
and look what it is doing
and how it is degrading society
lilBeba
On April 25, 2008 at 1:37 pm
hes right hip hop and rap has changed the way young african-american males look at us young ladys due to the way music is talkin inappropriate torwards us. i really think myself that the world today has changed so much.
dumb ole whitey
On June 9, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Yeh, rap and hip hop is very imbarrassing for blacks who do not agree with the hip-hop, rap culture. It exploits Blacks, Women, the Gheto. I always thought that the gheto was something you would like to get out of! Thugs are making money off this crap.
On another note… everytime there is a murder in the black community -nowun nose nuthin. Why is that. I mean, why don’t the witnesses want to come forward for… at least for the sake of justice. Can someone reply and let me know there thoughts on witnesses that refuse to speak??
lindsay
On September 22, 2008 at 7:33 pm
as a 17 year old black girl…i agree with everything you said..now im not going to lie..i do love hip hop music….but you are very right about all the things you said and i’m glad you took the time to educate us as black people…
the truth
On October 13, 2008 at 9:29 pm
here is all im gonna say what about the good rap and hip hop not all of this music is bad in fact some artist speak truth and can help change peoples lives people like lupe fiasco and common or little brother not all rap is bad realize that we chose what we listen to and we also choose how that music affects us i say let em do what they want its freedom of speech we just need to filter out what we dont like and what we know is wrong bad stuff was happening in this world before rap came along what mad whites enslaves people and be prejudice to all none whites what music did that?
the truth
On October 13, 2008 at 9:30 pm
made*
leilany
On October 30, 2008 at 8:27 am
yes rap music does have a influince on people. some songs are clean but not all!
tupac
On November 13, 2008 at 4:57 am
youre as ignorant as the people who take most of the lyrics literally. just… go home ffs. your ignorance infruriates me as a fan of real rap music. listen to brendas got a baby by tupac with an open mind. yes its about teen pregnancy but by no means is he endorsing it.
PooBear
On November 18, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Yea well i’m a 17 year old african american girl….Yea i’m not going to lie, I love hip hop. Yea hip hop degrades women and talk about violence and i understand that the society is becoming fed up with this type of music. But you really shouldn’t get mad at the rappers, get mad at the people who is letting this music get on our t.v’s and radios. I love rap music and i really don’t want it to go away i juss love some music because of it’s beats i barely listen to the lyrics. And when they got these women dancin half naked in videos, i feel it don’t affect me, first of all the people who are complaining about it really don’t have to listen to the music or watch the videos. It doesn’t affect me, if those nasty girls want to dance in videos, let them do what they do.And when some rappers rap about things, they’re not always for real with it, it’s just for entertainment purposes. But hey, some white people listen to this music, so i don’t see the problem with it. Don’t you know that whites are the ones who mostly by rap Cd’s, so what’s the fuss about?
annoyed student
On December 1, 2008 at 11:56 am
to all you people who think this is worthless, actually LISTEN to the lyrics. rap does have a good beat, but the lyrics are desgusting and degrading to all groups.
the author was wrong about something- this music is not degrading to everyone but white men, it degrading to all ethnicities.
dan
On December 8, 2008 at 3:01 am
your right dude rap is off the wall at times i may hear the n-word but I dont use it or go killing people or selling drugs thats not me but I like the lyrics and the beats so thats what I focus on look at ozzie ozborne He ate a living bird cuz he was so coked up man u guys must be nerds who think rap is bad major D-bags u guys r must be rich never been poor or felt the pain they relay in song yea it’s wrng but when I’m dwn and not feeling it rap pumps me up and it motivates and the beat kinda wakes me up so I use it for that and entertainment not guidence thats all i have guys peace love and edu
Kevin Seeds
On December 8, 2008 at 1:10 pm
our kids don’t need this let’s boycott,rap music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lkz
On December 12, 2008 at 8:17 pm
te foyar en boca ,
hombre
Edu Black man
On February 21, 2009 at 11:46 am
rap and hiphop just suck period…I say let them people be free till they shoot abnd kill themselves…after which all the people who are smart enough to not do so will live the rest of their lives in peace…at least of this crap anyway.
someone smart
On February 22, 2009 at 10:47 am
Rap is simply Reatards Attempting Poetry…XD
Anonymous
On February 23, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Hip Hop music is taking over the Globe like it or not because hip hop is on of the few musics along with Techno that can mix any genre together. if you dont like hip hop, it is most likely because you only listen to the crap on the radio and are totally oblivious of the massive movement of underground hip hip artists that are emerging across the planet rapping and singing about intelligent meaningful matters. dont be a sheep with the music you dig! find the true artist that havent been spoiled by money and fame
hip hop fever
On April 30, 2009 at 2:22 pm
dogg blacks are the ones who are hatin on blacks…this dude is talkin about how these rappers should see it from a young blacks perspective but the rappers that are saying this stuff are black…some of this aricle is true but most is just bs this man is saying how he hates it and its degrading but then he says he is a fan of 2pac..like dude cmon get ur stuff straight..
hiphoplive
On May 13, 2009 at 11:05 am
wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwww soldiers kill innocent people but no one is criticizing them man hope off the rappers rap about there life its nothing like your bubble gum pop ish so go die
GoodmusicGoodlovin
On May 26, 2009 at 2:37 am
HIP HOP DID NOT BEGIN LIKE THIS. It started as a form of poetry…flowing in a rap song was an opportunity for people to speak. LIsten to the hip hop songs of hip hop legends and its pioneers…for example, KRS ONE has recieved awards through his STOP THE VIOLENCE movement and the music he produced for the movement. Lyrics to genuine hip hop songs such as those of Lauryn Hill, KRS One, etc. The lyrics are beautiful, promoting beautiful ideas in a poetically pleasing manner…it’s a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, our society portrays hip hop to be something of much less history and meaning. the misrepresentation of hip hop and its culture through media has driven many to misunderstand the depth of hip hop and its culture.
hiuiebflauiWBEUIB
On June 14, 2009 at 7:57 pm
U GUYS ALL FAIL THX
thatgirlwasright.
On June 29, 2009 at 5:30 pm
the ghetto is just not in black communities, they are every where and apart of every race/ ethnicity (in repsonse to what someone wrote.)
Tyler K.
On July 8, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Rap is what is wrong with America. It’s a disgrace to everything it comes across. Rap is so idiotic, I dont know a single adult that likes rap. Rap makes it hard for REAL musicians with REAL talent to be seen and heard. I hope rap goes away FOREVER one day real soon. If you like rap, you must be on crack or something.
Tyler K.
On July 12, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I’m here to rant on rap, once again. I just thought I’d make it clear that rap is bullcrap. Why do people listen to it?! Its the stupidest crap I’ve ever heard. There is no talent at all, anyone could write a rap song. All you have to do is say, “Im gonna pimp slap that b*tch, then f*ck dat h*e, den im gonna beat da sh*t out of dem n***as”, see how talentless that is? I hope rap disappears.
T.C
On October 21, 2009 at 9:51 am
rap is poetry..hip hop is the ‘get rich or die tryin’ crap. Once you can see the difference you’ll then understand why i not only love rap music but i think it’s the best music genre but hey thats just my opinion….If rap is dead then the U.C.S.S.K is the relapse of hiphop
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