Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Does Rap Influence Crime??

By Anna Petrovsky


Some people feel that rap music influences behaviors, leading to crime, hate, and other acts of out burst. They had identified rap as- a musical form that makes use of rhyme, rhythmatic speech, and street vernacular, which is recited or loosely chanted over a musical soundtrack. Which isn’t a false statement, but the way they observed the music was through lyrics and even possibly of what they thought it meant. Not once have they mentioned of why those lyrics were produced in the first place. Rappers like 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Notorious B.I.G., and etc...went through tough times that dragged through childhood to their teen years, with bad neighborhoods to grow up, and poor family and living conditions. They had found music as a way to escape the real world, express themselves, their emotions, and just to have others see things thru their eyes. Music is a good way to get your thoughts and feelings out on paper, just like a poem or story but with music and beats.



As a kid Eminen (Marshall) faced a rough childhood, having only himself to count on. As getting older faced more troubles with family and drugs. As many know that his music is mainly about his struggles. After years of battling, he was finally able to over pass that. As this video above by Eminem shows strength and how he is showing him as a survivor, also as his lyrics say                 
                                                                              "Everybody 
                                                        Come take my hand 
                                      We'll walk this road together, through the storm
                                                  Whatever weather, cold or warm
                                         Just lettin you know that, you're not alone"




states you don't have to do this yourself. 


 They didn’t have any attention to send out the wrong message to others. Another thing is that some musicians have a limitation to what can be released and how their lyrics should be like. A good ex. Is Lil Wayne, a famous rapper with his own record label still has a limit to what his lyrics should be like in order to be fully produced. Even though many rappers wish to produce what they have written, their producers won’t allow it each have reasons to why that isn’t allowed. Also sociologist had believed that lyrics had come from a “street code” to gain respect. Also not fully a false statement, but who wouldn’t want respect if you had been ridiculed by your peers. I just don’t agree the way sociologist put the blame on one genre of music, or music itself. Some types of media can have an influence on others, also problems one can face, and people’s surroundings can influence them. So music can’t be the blame of it all, don’t people always say find a way to express yourself. Well music is one way to do that, whether you’re doing it with a beat or a heavy drum. It’s all a form of letting yourself be heard, not to cause violence or crime. 

3 comments:

  1. i agree that not all rappers are making lyrics to have people perform crime. Different rappers express thier feelings in different ways. the problem is the way people protray their lyric choice and thinking that becuase of a few words that may come off the wrong way that the whole song or what the rapper is about all that negavite ways. When it's completely different.

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  2. I agree with the post and the comment before mine that not all rappers are what influence crime. I love music and I listen to many different genres including some rap. However, it is sometimes more than just the lyrics of a rap song. It is the actions they perform such as drugs or carrying loaded guns. It can also be the music videos that often show sex, abuse, drugs and violence. I'm not saying that this is all rappers, rap songs or videos.

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  3. very well stated and i agree every rapper raps stories some fake some real but everyone can relate to it in some way weather its on a personal level or just a level where you've seen these things. but you're right saying it dosent influence crime people have their own mind and own free will there is no way music can tell you what to do all it can do is help you through things or even give you piece of mind at times

    Aaron J.

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