The Controversy Between Hip Hop And Gansta Rap

These negative connotations isn’t just representative of a small sample of rap. The concept of gangster rap is so prevalent that it has created a culture that openly embraces the violent messages that it portrays in its lyrics. Furthermore, these statistics show the problem of acceptance whereas such a large amount of the population have already accepted the messages in these lyrics to be socially acceptable. As opposed to being appalled, these songs are being promoted as economic successes. In response, artists are following this trend to make their lyrics more controversial and with more negative ideas in order to fully grasp the market. Especially in the current society, the recent conflicts between minority groups and authorities have caused a return to gangsta rap as people look to identify with their current feelings. Given the fact that Billboard 100 have recently released an article stating how “listeners have become increasingly obsessed with gangsta rap”, it signifies a drastic change within our society as gangsta rap has once again become a rallying cry towards violence against the authorities. In this case, the negative effects of gangsta rap is shown where it represents the fact that it will and has a significant impact that turns the youth towards violent

In any group, people either listen to hip hop, and enjoy it for what it is, or people do not and assume negative connotations about it because of the stigma associated with it. This is due to the media’s influence on music as well as the influence of politics on music. It is important to mention that there has also been a divide drawn between different types of hip hop due to these influences. These two types have been labeled as “conscious rap” and “gangster rap”. Conscious rap is said to be more socially conscious and to have addressed issues present today, whereas gangster rap is said to contain themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the "gangsta" lifestyle. For this paper, I will not differentiate between the two because while one type of music may be more influential than another, it would not be fair to assume this based on popular opinions. This influence means that it will hard to gauge the actual influence of hip hop on the academics of a student because there is a bias one way or another when answering the

Is all rap music promoting and glorifying crime and degrading women? This is a question that is asked often and the general consensus is that, yes, it does. Is there any evidence however to back up these claims and are the rappers intending their music to be seen in a negative aggressive way. I don’t necessarily think that rap music does anything but give the musician an outlet for their talent and use topics like women and crime in their songs for commercialization and to create an image that rappers need in order to succeed in that genre. We will come to an overall conclusion at the end of this essay after we source different arguments on the topic.

The study of hip hop music has been cited well throughout its growth over time. The purpose of this paper is intended to discuss hip hop culture and address cultural stereotypes associated with rap and hip-hop music, but also how its original lyrical intentions were forms of expression and art. It will begin by guiding the reader through how it originated, its influence with the African-Americans with its subculture and popularity in urban areas, its styles of evolving, the introduction of hip hop and rap to the public, the depiction it gave off with its criticisms from outsiders. An evaluation of hip hop artists songs by Sugar Hill and the Gang, Run DMC, Queen Latifah, and N.W.A. Including lyrics from the songs “Rappers Delight”, “King of Rock”, “Latifah’s Law”, and “Niggaz4Life”. In the conclusion it exposes how hip hop music is clearly for black Americans to express themselves freely and in fact did not cause violence.

From the early 1980’s into the early 1990’s, hip-hop was an integral tool in the dissemination of young people’s voices against mainstream politics. These times were tense and rather controversial. It began with Reagan’s call for the reemergence of state rights; this call was a form of political messaging which utilized coded language targeting different groups with dual messages also known as dog whistling. It allowed individual states total power and control in instituting their own policies including segregation. On top of the aforementioned and in light of the increased state regulation, intense and increased police brutality became an unfortunate reflection of the times. As a result, many people, especially those of color, lost trust in

This paper will show that the stereotype of the violent, criminal African-American portrayed in rap music lyrics can become a self-fulfilling prophecy for African-Americans. Repeated and long-term exposure to this stereotypical behavior in rap music lyrics can lead to increased aggression and this stereotype becoming accepted as a social norm by African-Americans. I intend to support my argument with examples and analysis of the violent African-American stereotype, and by explaining how the stereotype can become accepted as a social norm.

This music is based on a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is vocalized. Rap music is usually associated with black musicians (Andrews, 2014, p. 23). One of lyric’s topics when artists create is about an expression of societal ills or obscene topics which is scrutinized by police and in courtroom. The rap music is criminalized together with its producers - young black men that results in criminalizing black culture and recast them as criminals. Similarly, a lyric of song is used as evidence in order to prosecute their author (Workneh, 2015) that is seen as the controversial practice comparing to other music genres that are not criminalised. The political commentators on both sides of political spectrum criticize that rap music promotes opposite values of the conventional society such as social decay and disobedience of young people to the authority. The social authorities suggest that themes in hip hop songs promote drugs and violence within hidden context that has an influence on young people and that does affect their moral values. It also can invoke unwished rebellion to the state authority and undermine community cohesion. The police force often claims that the words of gangster rap songs can work as an inspiration to commit crime for people who are in the same or similar position as black people. These subcultures share certain aspects such as

Music is an ever-changing art form that has varied over the many centuries of time. As new eras arise so do the new sounds and types of music that become popular within the public eye. As new music appears, sometimes these new sounds and melodies can bring about controversy. One of the biggest new forms of music to bring about controversy was Hip-Hop/Rap. When the first songs of this new style first appeared in the early 1970’s in New York City it was relatively unknown, but as time progressed, it brought about much controversy and has continued to bring about much attention and criticism throughout the years.

Music is subjective which means people will often voice their opinions on it, and undoubtedly one of the most controversial genres that has sparked a barrage of disapproval is rap. It is believed and further encouraged by the media that rap music promotes a bad lifestyle. With corruption being apparent around the world it is easy for the media to put the blame on a genre of music that is filled with explicit lyrics about violence, drugs, and rebellious subject matters. However, further investigation will reveal that because of its accurate depiction of reality, and wide variety of categories, rap music does not encourage an unhealthy lifestyle.

The premise of the article, “Changing images of violence in rap music lyrics: 1979-1997” is that from 1979-1997, there has been a drastic increase in the level of violence in rap music that is being viewed in a more progressively positive light. As a result, social conditions must change in order to reduce youth violence. The results indicate that there has been a dramatic and sustained increase in the level of violence in rap music. The percentage of songs mentioning violence increased from 27 per cent during 1979-1984

1) While Denise Herd argues in her article, “changing images of violence in Rap music lyrics: 1979-1997,” that the impact of gangsta rap lyrics was extremely harmful that “lyrics celebrated a rape culture,” it is necessary to recognize that lyrics provided the message to the colored people to take a stand against the authority who were against them (396).

Who some call the call the godfather of rap, Eazy E, once said, “Who gave it that title, gangsta rap? It 's reality rap. It 's about what 's really going on.” There has been a great injustice done to the form of expression called rap. In essence rap is just lyrics over a basic beat or rhythm. Many members of society today assume that rap is a dangerous and violent influence, however what they seem to be ignorant of is the fact that rap music is actually beneficial. The majority of the world we live in today has unjustly classified rap as a barbaric form of music, unfit for any decent human to listen to, but the reality of the situation is, that people simply cannot accept the culture known as rap into society. Nowadays, rappers such as Kanye, Soulja Boi, and Wiz Khalifa are receiving much criticism about the way they portray their “hoodlum” lifestyle or the way they “encourage” violence through their music, when in actuality they are venting about the unfair circumstances society has forced them into. Listening to rap music and it’s positive vibes is in fact beneficial based on evidence which shows that consumption of rap music not only assists the listener in several ways, but also aids the rapper.

The article Rap Music and Its Violent Progeny: America’s Culture of Violence in Context, addresses how rap music persuades young individuals toward violence. Jeanita W. Richardson and Kim A. Scott researched to see if rap music stimulates young people to be violent in the society. According to the bureau of justice statistics violent crimes did in fact happen more among teenagers, particularly in African Americans. Conferring to the article rap music was more popular among the African American community in the beginning when rap music first became hip. It was indicated in the article that the ones that related to it was individuals in poverty and African Americans saying they could relate to the music.

The articles will be divided into three sections; first “Hip-Hop: When Blacks Control Their Culture” written 1997, second “How Rap Music has Gone From Condemning Drug Use to Glorifying it” written 2008 and “Rap Music Glamorises Gun Violence” written 2003, third “Gangster Rap and the History of Violence” written 2012 and “The Healing Power of Hip-Hop” written 2014. The first article differs from“Hip-Hop: When Blacks Control Their Culture” section two, regarding the authors’ compassion and understanding. In “Hip-Hop: When Blacks Control Their Culture” the author, Basu, has a positive tone towards hip hop, defends rappers and explains the problem of the white supremacy in rap culture. While in section two, the articles condemn rap culture for

From it's inception, rap indured a lot of hostility from listeners--many, but not all, White--who found the music too harsh, monotonous, and lacking in traditional melodic values. However, millions of others--often, though not always, young African-Americans from underprivileged inner city backgrounds--found and immediate connection with the style. Here was poetry of the