Is rap music detrimental to society?

[CrafterMan]

Yes I'm not labelling it as 100% bad! But you know I see these kids hanging out and wasting their lives smoking pot/drinking etc (all well and good I know, but I have a job AND do that ) I always thought, is there a psychological thing linked with the rap culture and them being social layabouts. Anyway I hope I haven't offended anyone here, just thought hey its something to contemplate!

 

[Albino Ninja]

I personally despise rap. If you look at some of the lyrics for some of the songs they vary from killing to sex. then movies with rappers in them with extreme violence probably gives a warped perception of what cool is to kids. they see their fav. rapper shooting a bunch of ppl, if they are young enough they may end up thinking that being in a gang is cool when they get older. But there are too many variables to say that it is detrimental to society. All things vary with mental state, age, and living conditions.

 

[highly orchestrated bear attacks]

Sounds like Grand Theft Auto to me...

 

[kodiak90]

it only detrimental if you want it to be. Rap music is just music, you create it being detrimental to society, just as other contribute to it as the greatest type of music of all times. Personally i really dont like rap, i much rather go with rock, or techno, or classical and hell maybe even country before rap.

 

[runtheplacered]

I hear a lot of opinions in this thread that seem incredibly misinformed. Remember.. Rap is really just a lyrical style not really a type of music. Hip-hop, for instance incorporates rap into its genre, but it is Hip-Hop.

There's also beatboxing, Australian hophop, Christian Hophop, Underground hop-hop, Hardcore Hop-hop, West coast and East Coast (respectively) Hiphop.. there's even Emo rap and Country Rap! Red hot chili Peppers used rap, for example. are they detrimental to society?

Culture and art can never be detrimental to society, unless people are walking around beating people over the head with it. At least, in my opinion. I know you're not trying to be a biggot by asking this question, and no offense to you, but you come off as incredibly uninformed, which I would think is part your fault and part societies fault. A lot of people in this thread seem uninformed, though.

Simply put, think about it. How can a style of singing music possibly be harmful? Can someone use that style to get across an immoral message? Sure. But, can't the opposite also be true? There's a plethora of rappers in this world trying to get across messages of peace and unity (for instance), but they don't make the 7:00 news like the more immoral ones do.

 

[vede]

Yes. If a person has a certain lack of intelligence, simple opinions like musical preference can easily fester into closedmindedness, then rudeness, and eventually intolerance. Rap is just the new thing. People who like it will eventually start hanging out with other people who like it, and they are brought under the illusion that only "cool" people like it, because their friends like it, and they think their friends are "cool."

This also means that the "cool" people think the people who made the stuff that is "cool" are "cool," and want to emulate them. The only examples they have are through their material. Normally, this might just be playing music or having long hair or something, but the most popular form of rap, gangster rap, contains gang violence, prostitution, rampant drug-use, and excessive profanity. Other genres may have been played by drug-users, but few actually referenced it directly or as often as rap. I'm not saying it's the only "big thing" that was detrimental, I'm just saying it's the one that perpetuates the worst sort of activities. I'm not saying rap is going to make every little kid actually go out and do drive-by or something, but it probably will influence them to do whatever they can get away with, or act like they might do some gang-related violence, or act like they are in a gang.

My argument could also be used against video games. Most video games, however, feature obviously fictitious settings or stories, so doing the things in the games is nigh impossible. I'm sure a lot of kids who played Halo think it would be awesome to be a pwnsome SPARTAN fighting aliens. Most video games also only feature over-the-top activities. The whole "gangster" genre of anything, though, features things that would be easy to do. Do drugs, cuss, act like you're in a gang, etc.

So, yes, I think rap is relatively detrimental to society, because it popularizes illegal activities.

EDIT: I'm not saying all rap is bad, I'm just saying that gangster rap is bad. Not the music, but the people who make it, and what they popularize by putting it into the music. If you like the music, that's totally fine, just don't be an idiot. If this were about gangsters putting gang activities into rock music, that form of rock music would be detrimental. I might be a bit rambley here, but you guys get what I'm saying, right?

 

[runtheplacered]

Rap is just the new thing.

Rap has been popular since the 70's and has been happening since at least the 20's. It's not going anywhere.

So, yes, I think rap is relatively detrimental to society, because it popularizes illegal activities.

That's like saying "singing in an AB AB rhythm popularizes chicken sandwiches". How can the method in which a song is sung popularize anything? I think what you mean to say is... the mainstream media and pop culture popularizes illegal activities through music and various other mediums. That's something I could agree with, to a certain degree.

For you people who think rap is synonymous with people singing about "bitches and ho's", for whatever reason, were you aware that music exists outside of MTV? Have you thought that maybe MTV and various other outlets that model their behavior from that culture is actually the culprit for popularizing "gangsta rap" and the lyrics that are sometimes found within? It's marketing. And you guys pretty much fell right for it, because you honestly believe you've actually heard any real rap.

 

[Poyer]

well lets sit back and look at the world for a few minutes. think back to what you think happened to music, and why it seems oddly worse today... well, do you have a theory? good.

heres what really happened. (btw, who cares about the children? they can handle it)

if i may say so, i might come of racist, but black people had some fantastic music back in the day, they had Jazz and blues, that then evolved into rap somehow and alot of people, including me, consider that a savage decline.
in fact, now, post millenia, music is bad, the 90's, generally pretty bad, then 80, horrible. but 70's holy hell, they had some music i tell ya. The Kinks, The Velvet Undergound, Bob fucking Dylan and so on. the 60's where also fucking great. the thing they had where drugs, heavy binges and orgies. mostly the drugs played a great part in the development of art during the age. somehow these kid-friendly singers poped out, speaking against drugs, seeling diet coke (yes dear bill hicks lovers, this is a paraphrase). and now, camp rock and the jonas brothers.

so yes, definately destructive to cultrue and society.

 

[Xanadu84]

Rap, broadly, is an art style, and good rap exists, as well as plentiful good rap that I can't stand but am willing to say, "To each there own". However Gangsta rap, by and large, is terrible. Not for portraying violence and amoral activity...we all play violent video games I suspect, and theres no ACTUAL evidence that theres a correlation between real and pretend violence...but rather because great pains are put forth to say that black culture in America and gangsta rap are synonymous. If Gangsta rappers would come out and say that there portraying a fantasy for entertainment sake, and they are not role models, then I would say there legitimate. Until then, they are cleverly manipulated, hopefully witless, agents of prolonging racism.

And its reeeeaaaly hard to not just outright say that there music sounds like ass.

 

[Soulfein]

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.

Now, by a show of hands, how many of these people who are crucifying rap have ever actually listined to it? How many of you had a thought process similar to this: Rap is cool, therefore to be different I must not like it? Those who condemn rap without listinging in ikt are on the same level as the Jack Thompsons of the world. Dont knock it before you try it. Go, listin to some NWA, then tell me what you think. When you have actaully tried it and said "No, this is wrong" THEN you cam stoke the fires.

 

[shaboinkin]

new rap is wack
old skoo rap is where it's at

 

[Xanadu84]

There is good rap, yes.

But there is a lot (and I mean A LOT, as in most of it) of bad rap. My sisters and a few friends listen to it around me. Generally, it is an insult to my ears and my intelligence. I just think that when people look at violent video games, its hard to go, "Those silly young adult male demographic" but when a lot of people listen to gangster rap, they do think, "Those silly black people". and video games don't constantly keep saying that they are what its like in the real world. Rap is like Lawyers: 99 percent of them give the rest a bad name.

 

[Albino Ninja]

I went through a phase as a child where I listened to rap all the time, and one day I woke up and was like, "holy hell what am I listening to?" I have listened to rap, I listened to it for 3-4 years of my life, then I found a better type of music. I find that when they rap about life and what they went through I have no problem with it, its when those who never really experienced what others have sing about violence and womanizing that just kinda turns me off. as a form of music it is for those with no real musical talent to get into the music business.

 

[fluffylandmine]

No, it's not. Stupid people are detrimental to society.

true as true can be, they make the average person seem to be an idiot but they lower the average without trying.

also classic rap is good i.e. tupoc and back. that was when it meant something. it meant they came from the gutter and made it because of their musical connection as artists, but now all that's changed like instead of saying the ghetto needs to be changed and how gangs start and what needs to be done, now they say is i made money off of just one repetative beat crackas!

edit: not all new rap/hip hop is bad just generaly bad rap. i like outkast and sean kingston(he's r&b, hiphop/rap)

 

[Rshady]

Yes, In the same way Rock and Roll was in the 50's.

A lot of rap is absolute cack (though when it is good, it's brilliant), but that just makes it bad music, not a drag on society. As mentioned above, calling something harmful to society just because you don't like it, is very 'Jack Thompson-like', which is never good.

Also NWA aren't that great IMO, try Ice cube and Dre's solo albums instead.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Its sucks for musical talent as far as beats go most is very simple so it stimulates fewer neurons(something like that) in the brain as opposed to classical or jazz(which is why those are good to study to as it promotes a more active brain. I don't think it's rap that is detrimental to society but rather the culture that glorifies the life style that many rappers portray.
Plus it's just plain painful to listen to gah imho Like someone on here said "music is like candy you throw away the rappers" ha i thought it was chuckle worthy

 

[fluffylandmine]

I hear a lot of opinions in this thread that seem incredibly misinformed. Remember.. Rap is really just a lyrical style not really a type of music. Hip-hop, for instance incorporates rap into its genre, but it is Hip-Hop.

There's also beatboxing, Australian hophop, Christian Hophop, Underground hop-hop, Hardcore Hop-hop, West coast and East Coast (respectively) Hiphop.. there's even Emo rap and Country Rap! Red hot chili Peppers used rap, for example. are they detrimental to society?

Culture and art can never be detrimental to society, unless people are walking around beating people over the head with it. At least, in my opinion. I know you're not trying to be a biggot by asking this question, and no offense to you, but you come off as incredibly uninformed, which I would think is part your fault and part societies fault. A lot of people in this thread seem uninformed, though.

Simply put, think about it. How can a style of singing music possibly be harmful? Can someone use that style to get across an immoral message? Sure. But, can't the opposite also be true? There's a plethora of rappers in this world trying to get across messages of peace and unity (for instance), but they don't make the 7:00 news like the more immoral ones do.

this is all very much the truth, you don't see a normal person being polite on the news. you see and idiot who ordered a chicken sandwich, no chicken and when he gets chicken he goes ballistic.

news media can be a great contribution, but most see it as a way to scare and and make people so paranoid that they kill anyone suspicious. that's why america's so in the gutter. oops getting off subject.

also if you don't care for my way speaking: i don't care for your grammar you fool, i'll talk how i want!