In my
last post, I had explored the many influences of rap music on today’s society. Since
that last post, I decided that I needed just a bit more information about the
actual effects of rap on today’s youth, so I had searched around for answers on
the web as well as in many books and published magazine articles. After all of
the searching, I had come across a unique source titled “The Negative Influence
of Gangster Rap And What Can Be Done About It” published in June of 1999 by Anthony M. Giovacchini. In this article,
Giovacchini shows how the production of rap music can have such a negative impact
on teens today. This makes me wonder, however, if teens in today’s society can
be as easily manipulated by rap as other teens can. This makes me lead to the
question, does all rap music have a negative impact on society? And if it does
can we do something about it?
After
reading yet one other article by Gina Poltrok, published in February of 1994, takes another look at the influence of rap among today’s youth. Poltrok shows
that rap can also have a positive influence on teens today. She continues to
explain how rap helps troubled youth living in poverty something that they can
relate to and allows them to express themselves though the lyrics. Some common
questions that arise from this article include: Does rap music really make a positive
influence on youth today? Does it really help kids connect with the outside
world or does it just lead to more violence and disrespect?
When I compare
these two sources by Giovacchini and Poltrok, I find that both of them have
much in common in stating whether or not rap music is a bad influence or not. Both
do an excellent job of presenting the subject clearly. Among all of these
ideas, I still do question the subject from many perspectives. Does rap music
or just music in general really have that strong of an influence on teens today
to lead them to make bad or violent decisions?
I like the topic you chose very much and don't have any comments on your writing either way, but I really do like your topic and your writing so keep going.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what you mean by this sentence: "this makes me wonder, however, if teens in today’s society can be as easily manipulated by rap as other teens can." Are you comparing teens in the past to teens today (in 2013)?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that both of those sources are "old," as in published in the 1990s. How has the rap scene changed since 1999 or 1994 (almost 20 years ago!)? I would be curious whether rap music lyrics have become more violent and sexual in the past few decades, or less so.
When lyrics are listened to over and over again – and often even repeated in the mind or out loud then the meaning and images of those lyrics are not only consciously but also subconsciously absorbed. The more those lyrics are listened to then the more influence they will have. When the lyrics contain references to violence, gangs, drugs and sex etc then there is no doubt that the kind of thoughts and images conjured from those lyrics will become more prominent in the mind and this may lead to behaving in a manner related to those thoughts and images.
ReplyDeleteGood topic
ReplyDeleteGood topic
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