Preview

How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2077 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society
Arnob Basit
Dissertation

Has Hip-hop changed the youth in todays society?

Throughout the past 30 years, there has been much speculation about how negative hip-hop music truly is, and how it actually affects the youth. The hip-hop music of recent years has been the foundation of many controversial issues and has been illustrated negatively by the media countless times. Issues such as gun and knife crime which has escalated heavily within younger age groups in the last 15 years, especially in the USA and UK and also drug abuse, the use of marijuana being used openly within the younger generations. Hip-hop has been accused of influencing the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Hip-hip has always been stereotypically associated with violence and black crime. Due to this, older generations have always had an antagonistic outlook on the entire hip-hop genre of music. Although hip-hip music is considered negative in the eyes of many people, there is to consider various questions to have a better understanding and point of view on the controversial issue.

Today we speak, dress and drive what the stars do. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy is dictated by what we "hear" the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual adult but only imagine what type of influence this has over an impressionable pre-teen. Due to the fact that hip-hop/rap music appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. Teens and pre-teens are using their part-time job pay check to buy grills (a form of jewellery worn in the mouth) and other types of jewellery and even weapons such as knives and guns are seen as metaphorical fashion accessories for the youth, as these things are incorporated into the lyrics of hip-hop

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Gangsta Rap Thesis

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the 1980s, we saw many different genres of music emerge, genres such as Pop, Rock, and R&B. But a new genre emerged that sparked a lot of controversy: “Gangsta Rap” otherwise known as Hip Hop. Rappers/Rap groups such as NWA, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, and more changed the industry with catchy tunes and lyrics that talked about hard topics like slavery, violence, and police brutality. These lyrics sometimes caused major conflict, whether between races or with civilians and police. Hip Hop was very controversial in the 80s. “Gangsta rap” has caused a lot of controversy, many people protested this music in the late 80s and 90s due to the message within its lyrics and what those lyrics conveyed. Many accused “Gangsta Rap” for promoting things such as crime, killings, profanity, drugs, sex, racism, and more. But Gangsta rap doesn’t influence this type of lifestyle; it’s telling a story/conveying a message of the individuals who wrote the lyrics.…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although some people believe hip hop has a positive influence on young people not ALL hip hop is positive. “Rappers” like Young Thug has literally no purpose. He’s just rapping to be famous and take advantage of girls. People like him make a bad name for hip hop. Most listens to his songs just for the hype. “Prior research has linked levels of exposure to rap music with a range of undesirable health behavior” (Ethnic Identity,Self-Esteem, and Variability in Perceptions of Raps). Hip hop has been found linked to the cause of disrespectful behaviors in this…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hop music and setting encourage opportunities for victimization and crime. Further, the attendees’ typology and their patterns of alcohol consumption and illicit drug abuse provide motivational factor for aggressive behaviors. “The theoretical discoveries from various researches illustrated that nightclubs in 1990s were the major settings for victimization, deviance, and crime,” (Davis, 34). Further, other types of criminal activities and victimization occur after the completion of the event as people interact and make social connections. “Other important aspect is social context, which has great impact on the behavior of the youths,” (Kun, 589). The context shapes the identities and the behaviors of individuals or group. Hip Hop Music has certain aesthetic effects, which are attracting to the youth. However, these effects making it a unique culture have been overshadowed by the negative effects and influences associated with the…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Geoffrey Bennett’s article Hip Hop: A Roadblock or Pathway to Black Empowerment illustrates the influence hip hop and rap music has had on not only the music industry but mainstream culture, African Americans to be specific. Geoffrey Bennett, a senior English Major from Voorhees, New Jersey goes over many aspects of how hip hop came to be “the forefront of American attention.” He starts from its early history in the 1980s as an African American exclusive music genre to what is now a worldwide phenomenon. He reviews the affect it has had on the lifestyle of many people and the ways it’s changed the way people speak, attire, hairstyles, and overall character. Bennett points out those rappers must be aware of the messages they send out as well as their intended audiences, and as long as there’s a mutual understanding between interested parties the special art form and rich African American heritage can be protected. Points in the article have been made that are arguable to say the least, but if some of these points are addressed and maintained, the genre can survive.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hip-hop has been the voice of the African Americans for many generations. Therefore, It was African Americans voice back then. it helps African Americans express their struggles and problems . Today hip-hop is all about sex,money and drugs. In addition This has made the generation today brutal. Furthermore Hip-hop is no longer the voice to help the struggles, but the key to problems. Because of hip-hop music today teens education is at state because of how artists make the streets seem like a fine place.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hip Hop

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hip-hop music is known as one of the most popularizing and popular genres in our modern society. Most of hip-hop music is considered vulgar, offensive, and meaningless, which can be easily displayed by hip-hop artists such as Soulja Boy and Lil’ Wayne. However, who gets lost in translation is the artist who conveys true meaning in their lyrics and sticks with the original roots of the music. For hip-hop’s short life, there has been dramatic change in the structure and culture of the music. Most of the well-revered artists of their time like to claim that the music has lost its substance. I have a concurring belief in that if hip-hop wants to rid of its negative stereotype, it should emphasize its roots more often. Two of hip-hop’s most respected authors, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, agree with this belief by stating, “hip hop today thrives on a sense of its own past” (Williams 133). In order to clarify my belief on this subject, I want to explain hip-hop’s origins and its positive impact on our society when it follows its roots.…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Hip hop has had a considerable influence on modern popular culture, saturating mass media through music, radio broadcasts and a variety of other mediums. Gangster rap, the most commercially successful subgenre of hip hop, has been particularly criticized and associated with misogyny. Others, however, contest the societal emphasis of misogyny in hip hop music, noting that misogynist and sexist themes are prevalent within other forms of popular discourse.…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first chapter of Tricia’s Rose The Hip Hop Wars debates about the issues of violence in the urban America and its association with hip hop. Rose explain that there are five central elements that are the underlying factors of the destruction of minority communities. Rose further explained that these five elements worsen the others, causing the serious demolish of stable communities, resulting in forms of social breakdown in which violence is increased. The connection between hip hop and violence is misunderstood. A significant aspect of much of the criticism that has been aimed at hip hop is that it promotes and condone violence, therefore being accused for increased violence in America. Hip Hop music should not be blamed for the problems in society, it should not be used as a scapegoat for those who don’t understand the current issues in urban minority communities.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hop Satire

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Media often paints a different picture than as seen by the eye. Often heard on the headlines are the bad and the ugly never the good. One picture that is often skewed by the media is that of hip hop. It is often heard that this genre is a negative influence on children, as the message put out by these rappers is not appropriate for today’s youth. The lifestyle is too violent and the lyrics are too harsh. All this is skewed in the wrong direction. As the hip hop genre is impactful and helpful for the youth of the world.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    From the beats to the lyrics, the current generation of youth is engrossed in hip-hop culture, tending to idolize the artist behind the songs. Since the 1970s, hip-hop has influenced American culture tremendously. In the past, hip-hop held a central focus around inequality, empowerment and overcoming hardships. Today, hip-hop talks more about sex, money, a male dominant social standing, and drugs. Hip-hop, from then to now, has drifted to the darker side of the social spectrum. The majority of today’s youth were subconsciously thrust into a time when the darkness of hip-hop was nearing its climax. Young African American males in today’s generation are the primary recipients of and most attentive audience to the negativity hip-hop portrays. Hip-hop’s inflammatory and controversial lyrics are a major influence in the general behavior of young black men. The lyrics spoken and images shown highlight negative stereotypes that are now commonly associated with black men. The young black men who grew up without a positive male influence often tend to look to the males in hip-hop as primary role models. Hip-hop today says that males have to flaunt their masculinity, do drugs, get women, or be in a gang in order to be a man. Today’s idea of hip-hop negatively affects young black men in the way they dress, communicate, and act toward others.…

    • 2199 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” This profound statement from English writer, Aldous Huxley, demonstrates the importance that music obtains in today’s society. Simply, music is a form of expression, not limited to any specific genre. Although this expression is not limited to one genre, there is one that seemingly obtains the title of most controversial. The Rap/Hip-Hop genre has been harshly criticized for the topics of discussion in which many songs entail, and the various projected images. Everything has its pros and cons; many people have lost sight of its purpose. Student of Dartmouth College, Rebecca Heller states, "Many people don't realize that hip-hop began by bringing communities and neighborhoods together on the streets of the South Bronx." Hip-Hop is not only a tool of personal expression, but it is also a tool of communal empowerment. Tricia Rose, author of Black Noise, writes that “it is a black cultural expression that prioritizes black voices from the margins of urban America” (2). Hip-Hop is a social movement. It is a way for the African-American community to identify, as the search for identification is a struggle. “Hip hop emerges from a complex cultural exchanges and larger social and political conditions of disillusionment and alienation” (59). In today’s society, the best method in connecting to the youth is the media outlet, through music or television. So how does Rap/Hip-Hop influence today’s youth? It influences each individual differently; life is what you make of it. Hip Hop influences today’s youth either positively or negatively; it creates a sense of awareness, cultural connection, and empowerment or creates a negative image for admiration and enforces negative stereotypes. Altogether hip hop is a powerful force, not to be taken lightly.…

    • 2254 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip-hop music and tattoos are important to many teenagers of society today because these are forms of self expression. Although, these forms of expression, along with any form of expression, convey positive and negative message because as people, we have positive and negative emotions. Why are these forms of expression so popular in teens? And why is it mostly teens?We should pay close attention to the negative effects of these cultural trends because it shapes the the people of today, the future of our society. Hip-Hop music made its debut in New York in the 60s and 70s, brought over by Jamaican immigrants. Later, hip-hop often sent the positive messages of working hard, or "hustling", for money through hard times in while living in ghettos. Its most likely safe to assume that the Jamaican…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In almost all communities where it exists, music reflects on the social climate, and it also has a significant influence on adolescents and children. If a song or genre has a certain appeal to it, it will be heard almost everywhere whether it is on the radio, or online. In modern times, the majority of parents are completely unaware what their children are listening to on a daily basis. Hip-hop is special in the fact that it can evoke communication that can transcend barriers, and we often see that with children learn the lyrics they listen to and make it apart of their lifestyle whether it be unconsciously or consciously. A style of music created in Ghana, which merges hip-hop and highlife is called Hip-Life. Traditionally, highlife…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although rap music can also be a source of therapeutic inspiration, popular rap music sadly consists of negative encoded messages that contribute to the construction of identity of many adolescents. Through new mobile media this form of music is highly accessible for anyone to discover and enjoy. When analyzing the lyrics within rap compositions it moves the intentions of a seemingly innocent song to sexual objectification, drug use, and ideals of body image. Messages encoded within this form of media are well thought out in order to fulfill corporate pressures, and consumer demand. These lyrics begin creating provocative messages in order to grasp a consumer’s attention in hopes of obtaining multiple views. These messages then become decoded in two main ways, sexual objectification of women and drug exploitation. Sexual objectification towards women in these songs creates a framework in which girls identify themselves with and in turn can begin to self objectify, leaving a never-ending cycle of misynony. Drug and alcohol use is also a major component in rap lyrics and music videos that can influence young teens to explore various substances in hopes of identifying with a party culture that many rap artists enforce. The visualization of rap music videos is a major influential form of media that is also used to praise particular body types, while putting others inferior compared. This shapes the identity of young girls regarding their views of attractiveness. Lastly, radio broadcasting can also hinder an individual’s sense of identity as the selection of songs played is based off of popularity, allowing inappropriate and exploitive messages to be communicated. All in all when consuming music media an individual should properly analyzed the messages within the piece of music before allowing it’s messages to become…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    H i hop m usi has been an i egralpartoft Am eri pc nt he can culure si t nce t 1970s.H i hop m usi w hi encom passes rappi di j he pc, ch ng, sc ockeyi ng, break danci and graf iiw rii has becom e so popul t ng, ft tng, ar hatAm eri can culure has adopt t m usi i m ai ream f t ed he cn nst ashi and m odern on l anguage. The confi on w het lct her hi hop m usi i “ or poi pc s art son”has been contnuous. Som e Am eri i cans supporthi hop as an essentalart pi…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics