Is rap music detrimental to society?

[Ares Tyr]

Gorillaz are a band I should have mentioned in my argument, they are what I would say are an example of good rap.

The Gorillaz aren't a rap group, they are a band that hire rappers to rap for them on different songs (like Del The Funky Homosapien in their first album or MF Doom on Demon Days).

But they do have alot of Hip Hop on their album and Hip Hop influences, but I would call them more of a "indie rock" group than anything else.

 

[Arcticflame]

Gorillaz are a band I should have mentioned in my argument, they are what I would say are an example of good rap.

The Gorillaz aren't a rap group, they are a band that hire rappers to rap for them on different songs (like Del The Funky Homosapien in their first album or MF Doom on Demon Days).

But they do have alot of Hip Hop on their album and Hip Hop influences, but I would call them more of a "indie rock" group than anything else.

They use rap, therefore it is an example of rap. You can put whatever label you want on it, it's still rapping.

And I know they hire rappers blah blah blah. Nothing to do with it.

 

[Beerish]

Um I wouldn't really call much of what passes of today as rap or hip-hop or whatever because it doesn't really mean anything at all. Now old-school stuff, made during the depths of the dark times such as the LA riots, etc, you could argue that's a proper representation of the genre, and I would say that myself.

I don't think any of that can be put through a major label, as has been the trend in the last few years.

 

[fulano]

I'm more concerned about the current state of vanity in mainstream pop music culture than I'm about rap.

If you notice, rap CAN be used as a social commentary, political tool. Just look at N.W.A's "Fuck The Police" or Ice Cube's "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted."
Those were most likely politically motivated works, beyond the whole gang banging and hoes and "capping" people's asses with "pieces". They may not have been poets (though I'm sure they'd disagree) but they were employing an outlet to get their oppinions out in a time where their oppinions "mattered little". After a while the whole thing exploded and, well...

I should confess that I don't really seem to dig most rap, at all, and have actually listened and enjoyed very little. Most of it, To me, is mostly un-listenable, but that may stem stem from a cultural bias on my part. Also, I find the constant glorification of chauvminism, gang violence, "hustlin'" and overt-machismo put forth by lots of male rappers to be quite boring and off-putting, but to each their own.

What really bothers me is kids acting out and relishing the rap "background culture" without really having an ounce of idea about where it comes from, or better put, they lack the cultural background to even relate or understand on a social level what they are doing and endorsing, and that to me is dangerous, but that also, is not exclusively reserved to rap, only.

Quoting Angela Wright, "Peace out, Dogs..."

 

[Erana]

Its like poledancing.
sliding oneself up and down a metal pole in skimpy outfits isn't sexual itself, but it was made in the context of sex and female subjegation, so people still associate it with.. Well, sex and female subjegation.

 

[Fronken]

i wouldnt say all rap is detrimental to society, Mainstream rap is, that i can say from personal experience with friends who listen alot to that kinda music, but there are good sorts of rap out there that deal with real problems in the world.

I myself really hate the rap/hip hop music in general, so i only know of 1 rapper that deals with real problems in his lyrics, and that was Tupac Shakur, thats the only rapper i've heard that isnt about the bling nor the bitches (sorry for the B word).

Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: Yes, but with exceptions.

 

[Najos]

You aren't allowed to say rap is detrimental to society and then follow it up with a "long live Hendrix!" I'm pretty sure Hendrix had a lot of songs about narcotics, which in some circles might be considered just as detrimental to society.

Personally, I don't think it matters. Most people are stupid and rap doesn't make them that way.

 

[squirrelman42]

Rap itself isn't bad for society, it just so happens that 90% of the rappers promote a culture of ignorance, hatred, and self-destructive behavior. Get rich or die trying kind of mentality leads to exactly that: a lot of dead kids.

http://notarapper.com/ or possibly better known from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUkpR2Q6Oy8

This is a smart man rapping intelligently rather than talking about the usual rapper repitoire.

 

[ninja chicken]

I dont think society pays much attention to rap, unless rap would come down to the white house and kill himself with a banana peel on bush's face than yah.

 

[ike_luv]

Rap is as detrimental too society as a video game. What someone listens too cannot be more detrimental than what they play, correct? So saying that Rap popularizes illegal activities is like saying that video games do as well. And most people in this community will defend the idea that video games dont cause violence with their lives, I am sure that you can see the point that I'm trying to make.

I wanted to quote the whole thing, but mate you've got it to a tee!! I couldn't have worded it better! It's refreshing to see someone with a bit of an open mind on the whole thing!

 

[Barciad]

Can a form of cultural expression be detrimental to the society which spawns it, or indeed any other societies? You could write a phd thesis on that and not even begin to scratch the subject. What we are talking here is Social Athropology, Sociology, and probably a tough of Economics and History as well. Good luck.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Rap Music, no.
Expression of violent anti-authoritarianism by an establishment figure to an impressionable audience. Yes.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

oh, terms like rap, hip-hop, and R&B are really just industry euphamisms for "black people music".

it really is all just music, these notions of genre differenes are really just myopic expressions of sounds combined with subculture differenes. don't fall for it, listen to it all.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Considering that in Calgary right now we have a whole bunch of fairly well off Suburban Kids joining gangs and shooting eachother up at the moment... I would say so. Though it could also be bad parenting or some other factor.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

R&B is very different from hip-hop in terms of music styles. Rap, on the otherhand, is a term which describes a certain style of vocal performance which is found in hip-hop but originates in dancehall music from the Caribbean.

:]

modern rap incorporates many melodic elements now, it isn't the stacatto Grandmaster flash stuff of old. what rappers do nowadays is closer to singing than it is to traditional rap with some rappers even rapping entirely in tune.

though the origination of hip hop and R&B were clearly different these terms now mean nothing when looking at the major label landscape. most of the socalled hip hop/R&B music is just simply pop music with spiritual or soul vocal deliveries.

when Ciara samples Soft Cell's Tainted Love, she isn't considered New Wave. they slap an R&B label on it just because she's black.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

And Ciara sampling Tainted Love and being labeled R&B makes sense because she is an R&B singer. What's being sampled doesn't figure into the equation anywhere nearly as much as how it's treated as a sample.

usually, genre identifiers are applied to musical differences since it is common to change up vocal delivery styles within any given genre. the fact that her R&B status magically cancels out the music makes the terms useless and void of meaning... and they haven't meant anything for awhile other than a non-offensive demographic identifier.

hell, Bone Thugz & Harmony have more in common, vocally, with the Beach Boys than they do with Run DMC. but nobody will call them pop.

i just think it's rediculous that people are willing to write off an entire genre of music even when the current state of that supposed genre has extended past it's criteria and has more in common with what these myopic people listen to. it all just seems like an extension of ethnocentricity rather than any sincere taste in music.