negative aspects of rap music 936

The African American Community:
How rap music has made a negative contribution.
It is easy to write or comment about the negative aspects of rap music because
controversy and its reputation has proven to be a hot seller in this society. Rap music has
to constantly endure a damaging reputation because the negatives in the music are
focused on the most in the media, and the negatives sells. But, rap artists whose lyrics are
positive or about political, social or economic empowerment receive very little attention
(Akil, 2003). The negative aspects of rap music is revealed through artists not setting
good examples, the disrespectful, explicit and violent lyrics and the battles that
sometimes leads to violence.
One of the most acknowledgeable negative aspects of rap music is that most rap
artists are not setting good examples for the African American community. Black
musicians and artists have a responsibility to be conscious of their world and to let their
consciousness be heard in their songs" (Regan, 147). "Keeping it real" or "hardcore" has
become the quickest and most likely way to become a star. Whether we are aware of it or
not, being a rapper perhaps plays the most essential role in shaping the minds and
attitudes of black youths. Rappers are one of the most influential figures in the
community. Their influence is greater than most of our prominent religious leaders,
athletes, teachers, and even parents. But, artists sometimes fail to realize that people,
especially young kids, try to imitate everything from the different lifestyles to the clothes
rappers wear. Some rappers lyrics along with their lifestyles are directed toward violence.
Today people think that if a person is rich and famous then he or she can get away with
anything. Not all artists have run-ins with the law, but the ones that do are very well
known. A good example is Tupac Shakur. Tupac was known worldwide for his music
and sold millions of albums. On the other hand, he glamorized the life of a gangster and
lived by the gun. Tupac became a victim of his own lyrics and was murdered.
Secondly, the majority of today's popular rap music contains disrespectful,
explicit and violent lyrics. In the late 70s and early 80s lyrics dealt mainly with the
removal of drugs, violence, poverty or just having a good time. It quickly evolved to
lyrics promoting gang violence, glorifying drugs, bragging about how you can ruin a party
through nonsense (Akil, 2003). Today materialism, the degrading of women, sex, and

drugs are consistent themes. When many rappers are asked why they refer to women as
"bitches" or "hoes," they usually say the message is not directed towards all women just
the ones that fit in those categories. If rappers feel this way about women, then many
times their children will follow in their footsteps. The word "nigger" was practically
resurrected to a new status. African Americans become so upset when a person of
another race uses the word "nigger", but yet there is nothing wrong when the word is used
among the African American community. The explicit language has become so common,
that it is impossible to hear street conversations without hearing those words every five to
ten seconds. Even though artists say that they are reflecting what really happens on the
streets, the rappers that came before them may have been in worse situations and did not
have explicit lyrics in their messages. Rappers such as Grandmaster Flash and the
Furious Five, Kurtis Blow, and Afrika Bambaata "described and analyzed the social,
economic, and political factors that led to its emergence and development: drug addiction,
police brutality, teen pregnancy, and various forms of material deprivation." (Dyson, 152)
A third negative aspect of rap music is the pointless competition among rap
artists. "Battling" and "dissing" is nothing new in rap music. The early rappers used this
as a way of determining which artist had the best freestyles. The battles back then were
done in the public and face to face. However, most of the battles today are only used to
promote album sales. Rap artists discuss who has the most females, the most "bling
bling" (diamonds in their jewelry) or who owns the most cars and homes. Many times,
the battling leads to violence. The battle of the two most talented rap artist led to both of
their deaths. The death of rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace were mainly
over which coast was better, the east or the west. After these incidents, the rap industry
began to realize how drastic or deadly a person's lyric could be. Yet, we still have artists
battling over materialistic things after these two tragedies. The African American society
also encounter tragedies due to the fact that people are killing each other over jewelry,
money, clothes and even over negative words being stated about each other. Therefore,
the actions that artists take and say in their lyrics affect the African American society also.
In today's American society, rap music has become more of a form of
entertainment instead of a way of getting positive messages across to others. The

negative aspects of rap music gains more attention than the positive aspects. The African
American community has become comfortable with seeing the negative lifestyles of
rappers, hearing the albums with explicit language, accepting actions of degrading
women, and also the battling of artists over materialistic things. Living in luxury homes,
buying multiple luxury cars, jewelry, and clothes have allowed the rap business get to a
comfort zone which makes it hard for artists to switch to making albums that are
meaningful.