The 2005 American film Havoc, starring Anne Hathaway, manifestly showed the effects of the hip hop culture on impressionable teenage minds, and the temptation it presents to them to ape a largely glamorized gangster lifestyle that involves promiscuous sex, drugs, and other unhealthy practices. It is therefore, with decent cause that parents often find themselves worried about the influence that rap music can have on the minds of their own wards. The popularity of rapping, which is the primary ingredient of hip hop and reggae, is growing at a rapid pace, and is soon becoming a staple favourite of adolescent music lovers across the country. Multiple studies and social scientists have linked rap music to several negative personality effects such as substance abuse, addiction, violence, troubled sexuality, and more. Given its all-pervasiveness in today’s entertainment industry, it is very likely that most teenagers are exposed to the language and the rhythms of rap music in some form or the other.
Rap Music and Teens
Most of the rap musicians are high school dropouts, social outcasts with criminal offences to their names, and are openly involved in gang shootouts, drug peddling and usage. Given the personal nature of the lyrics, neither their personalities nor their music are considered to be appropriate role models to be looked up to while growing up. Nevertheless, teens find themselves drawn to this genre of music. Its popularity has been attributed to its funky beats, catchy rhythms, and the natural style of the vocalists. Many of them are also introduced to it as a result of peer pressure. In the process, they are exposed to the sexist lyrics, explicit content, crude language, objectification of women, and the hazardous embrace of fame and fortune.
No: Rap music’s links to negative personality effects
As a result of this exposure to largely ‘indecent’ content, young adults absorb the unsophisticated vocabulary and several other unconstructive social appraisals that come with it. The rise in teen pregnancies, gang wars, illegal arms trade, chauvinism, and prejudice, have all been ascribed to the ill-effects of the spread of rap music and the lifestyle it promotes. Studies have published information about the destructive behaviour displayed by young girls who watch rap music videos such as, violence against teachers, civil and criminal misdemeanours, and exposure to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) as a result of promiscuity. Drawing out these associations between rap music and socially-unacceptable bad behaviour has thus led many to believe that teens should be discouraged from indulging in rap music.
Yes: The Positive Side of Rap Music
While on one hand, several religious organisations and other opinion-makers write off rap music as bad influence, many others continue to rally for the continued existence of rap music by cataloguing its several positive effects on society.
· Some support their claim by insisting that the effects of rap music are in the way they are interpreted. Rap music is often credited to, by young people, as having improved their confidence levels. This is attributed to the origins of rap music, especially in reggae, as a medium of uniting slaves and the discriminated in the face of racist oppression, and the promulgation of ‘black brotherhood’. Rap lyrics often have an underlying message of laying claim to justice and self-respect in the face of discrimination and social wrong.
· While rappers are often labelled ‘rebels without cause’, this is not entirely true. Several of them have emerged from harsh childhoods of abuse and neglect to become independent individuals through broadcast of their sheer talent. Rap music is therefore said to be, by enthusiasts, a symbol of hope despite the inhospitality of a condescending society.
· Like any other form of music, rap music infused in hip hop and reggae has led to the evolution of new dance forms. B-boying and reggae dancehall are popular among young adults, and has encouraged several to become trained in them. In this way, it has helped them remain active and develop commitment to a discipline in the long-run.
· The consistent rhythms and lyrical ways of rap music has led to the genre being touted as modern poetry. Like poetry through the ages, they are described as insightful and satiric, offering social commentary.
The Verdict
Thus, before parents reach a conclusion regarding the debate over letting their teenagers indulge in rap music, it is important that they weigh both forms of consequences arising of it. Parents must be sensitive to the fact that strictly forbidding the genre of music in the household could lead to social alienation of their teenage wards, while in the same breath, could also introduce to harmful social elements and deviant behaviour. It is often a good idea to find middle ground between the two extremes and have open-minded discussions regarding the different messages sent out by rap pieces through various genres of music, so as to lay the worry to rest by keeping abreast with the views of the new generation.
