Is rap corrupting today's youth? I am not sure that there is any scientific proof to support such a notion. However, looking at society today I would say that this is in fact true. If one listens to music on radio stations such as cube 93.3 the lyrics don't really make you think "classy." A lot of the lyrics insinuate that girls are sex objects. Males are supposed to be able to get a girl, have a wild night (I think you know what I am talking about) and then dump her for their new conquest. Now, I am not saying that the songs aren’t guilty of portraying girls in a bad light too. Rap type tunes refer to girls as wanting to be promiscuous and not desiring to be treated with respect of any form. All in all, it is all about body parts and how to take advantage of the opposite sex. I am not saying that some rap music doesn't have a good beat, but I think it encourages youth of today to have little respect for one another. Males don't aspire to be gentlemen to the opposite sex and girls don't think that they can get a guy while staying classy.
On a more personal note, I have a cousin that is ten years old who has been listening to rap her whole life. Do you know what job she wants to have in the future? She wants to be a stripper. Where do you think that she got such an idea? From watching rap music videos and replicating how the girls dance and act. I asked her is she thought that dancing in such a manor was degrading to women. She didn't think so because she could have the opportunity to stick out her butt and that is what she said guys like.
In the majority of rap songs, there is no uplifting message. True, it isn't always terrible. However, I would like to see music go back to having some class. Where the singers can actually sing and they can actually play real instruments. I know that a lot of adults would agree with me, because they hear the music that teens today listen to. Most likely they refer to it as "crap." I am not going to label it as "crap," but there are so many different options out there. So many that aren't completely inappropriate. I challenge you to broaden your musical palette. Maybe you’ll see a difference….
There's such a thing as real rap... and then there's what we see as the majority of 'rap'. The genre specification doesn't so much cover content as musical arrangement.
I'd say that, yes, it is a fucked up thing to listen to what passes as music on most of these stations. Most listen to it because they 'like the beat'. But I've never been able to sacrifice enough to ignore lyrics. To me lyrics are an integral part of non-instrumental music. Sounds dumb, doesn't it? But think. If you like the beat, listen to instrumental. If you want a song with lyrics, don't accept shit like is being played.
Rap used to be uplifting. It started with a definite need. It started as a way to motivate, educate, and express. It has since forked. True rap still exists.
Ehh, it's not worth the fight.
girls are objects what are you talking about.... rap music hasn't effected me at all.
lol
but seriously.
you're right, rap music along with video games, movies, and television are slowly corrupting us. but waht can we do about it? become a hermit or something?
+mspin
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/weezyf
Are you talking about rap as a genre of music, or rap as filtered through a single radio station? You talk about the "majority of rap songs," but have you actually listened to the majority of them? There are millions. How can you claim that MOST of them do not have an uplifting message (as if most music of any genre has an uplifting message)? What is marketed as popular music is based on money, not content. Thousands and thousands of quality, enriching hip-hop artists are producing music everyday that never makes it to mainstream media because it doesn't sell a dime. I recommend exposing yourself to a wider sample of hip-hop music before further commenting on this topic.
I think only us Western Washingtonians have heard of kube 93.3.
And they're annoying, anyway... they play the same songs over and over.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Rap videos are churning out a legion of 18 year old girls who think that dancing is about clapping her ass and dry humping the pole.....
and then they wonder why the 30 year old hags like me are making four times the amount of money to sip champagne and conversate with old men who love Van Halen and ACDC.
Avalon
http://blog.myspace.com/azavalon
One day in my English class we looked at the lyrics for several rap songs and compared them to what we were reading in class. One song addressed rappers whom the artist did not consider true rappers because they were raised middle class and yet are trying to pass themselves off as being "from the hood." None of the songs we read were about sex and dating. I suspect that much of rap and other songs are about society and real issues, but because that is not what the majority of listeners want to hear about, that's not what is played on the radio.
Like what you've read? Well, then here's more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
There is no uplifting message, maybe not all share the same hood... ;-)