Is rap music poisoning the mind of our youth?

Question

Is rap music poisoning the mind of our youth?

Answer 1

Yes that is true about those rappers. Then again how many of the country singers or the families where the husband or someone else has a problem with drinking and or cheating on spouse Rock music maybe drinking and drug problem. Just b/c you listen to christian music doesn't mean you have any flaws. I think no matter what you listen to its up to each individual what kind of life they want they want to live.

I've always listen to rap music but I can appreciate other music but gospel and country. I've never been in a gang or jail. I don't do drugs and drink maybe once a year. Why? I chose that route. I want better for myself.

Answer 2

YES IT IS!!! I'm a teenager in todays society and I can even tell it has ruined the respect and good in todays world. I live in an area where there are a lot of refugees from Iraq, so my whole entire school is basically chaldean, arab, etc. Almost all of them listen to rap, and you know what? Almost all of them have no respect for others, they do whatever they want and its always about them...they even think they're "gangster" calling each other the "N" word and "pimp out" their cars. It's horrible. It's like they hear the rap music and think that's how they're supposed to act. I really dislike my school because of that. So yes, rap music IS poisoning the youth of our society.

Answer 3

Its music! how could it possibly do anything. Children are not effected or acting the way they do by what they hear on the radio but what they see on TV. when they see Miley Cyrus doing something they will want to as well. She is not the best role model. Rap songs tell the rappers story, most of the time it is an incident that happened to them. I don't believe that music effects the minds it TV that does. Britney Spears and all those people who act so stupidly and don't think about what the youth is going to think, they will want to be like her because they love her. Music is fun to listen to, rap music has a great beat, although I am not a big fan of it sometimes certain music has a good beat to it.

Answer 4

You're right that you're not the first person to express this opinion, but that doesn't make it any less ridiculous.



There has always been a medium of art or entertainment that has been demonized as a cause of the deterioration of youth. Before rap music there were comic books and Dungeons & Dragons, and rock music, and "motion pictures." They even convicted Socrates for the corruption of youth.



It's all bunk. Every generation thinks it's youth are wild, and every generation idealizes its lost past. But the world is not getting any more violent or depraved or immoral than it used to be. If anything, it's improving. Arts and entertainments will never destroy our youth or our society.



And to that statement I add this injunction: "That's realer than Real-Deal Hollyfield, so now you hookers and hoes know how I feel." (The poet, Snoop Dog).

Answer 5

I do not think that rap music is poisoning the minds of our youth. We as a society are. You have to TEACH your children what is right and what is wrong. It depends on how strong minded the individual is as a whole. If we as parents fail to teach them, they will fall in the wrong tracks regardless of music. Most parents are too busy working or whatever to actually spend time with their kids and BOND with them....they sit them in front of a video game, tv, music or other people. I listened to rap music when I was young and the stuff I listened to would make a lot of parents cringe today...and that was in the 90's! I also listened to a lot of heavy metal which is a lot more hard core than what is heard today, and I came out just fine. I didn't turn into a thug, nor did I want to become one.



Rap is music, it's art; poetry. To those who do not understand the message in "thug life" rap style will look down upon it, but those who live it; who understand it, will not. You do not understand, so you look down upon it because of it's nature. It's not all bad, trust me. Most of us hear the word "gun, murder, kill him" and we instantly think the music is promoting it when in all actuality, many times they are talking about the struggle. Yes, some rap music crosses the line, but so do other music types. We've got to stop blaming music for our childrens' short-comings. We need to prepare our children for the real world. We as parents have got to stop trying to shelter our kids from the real world. I think that is the biggest poison of all.

Answer 6

A good question.



Music doesn't make Culture, Culture makes Music. The hedonistic, violent and misogynistic messages in Rap are Cultural symptoms being expressed. Music, like propaganda, exacerbates feeling and beliefs that are already there.



Those that have little sense of their culture or none at all often grab onto Rap-like White Suburban Teenagers who've never even seen or been to a ghetto.



Ignorance of one's own culture leads to the adaptation of a different culture-most often the closest one available. For the culturally ignorant white suburban teenagers, it's not really that far from the Ghetto and it's culture.



Now, it's also true that it's not a phenomenon that's restricted to the Black Community (People often forget about Jazz and Soul Music)-it's one that's present in areas of urban decay-and it readily adopted by those in that area-regardless of racial heritage. I know a White Guy who talks, acts and dresses like a "Gangsta" because that's where he grew up and adopted. Meanwhile, I know a Black Guy whom I consider to be a close friend who dresses nice, speaks eloquently (no Ebonics) and often poses quite a challenge to me in Political Debates-despite the fact that he grew up in the same neighborhood as the aforementioned White Guy. It's about what you adopt and what leads you to that. I never adopted the "Redneck" culture that I was born and raised in because I never had that intense feeling to belong that arises out of the lack of individual skill or ambition-but that's a topic for another day.

Answer 7

People dont have 2 b involved in gang activites 2 b shot. Dont u hear on the news everyday about innocent ppl being killed on the street? Mayb they were but since we probably will never wrong I dont know y u would assume they were... But anyway if rap music is poisoning the minds of youth I wouldnt think its anymore to blame than violent video games, violent movies, movies in general, television, and the news. If parents bother 2 talk to their kids the way my grandparents did, kids would b fine. I think thats more of the problem.

Answer 8

you have brought about a very interesting debate, on one hand i can agree with you on the youth of today being nothing more that disrespectful, mean spirited little bastards. yet i can't see fit as to blame rap music entirely for the problem, the biggest part of the problem is parents who don't give a damn about what their children do, where they go, or who they hang out with. then of course there is the argument that our schools are failing, economy in free fall blah blah blah.



for instance i grew up in a very poor part of riverside california. there were gangbangers all over my neighborhood. crime was high naturally, my mother a drug addict and i had an absent father for most of my childhood. now in addition to this i also listened to not only rap music ( which by today's standard would be considered hip hop) but i also listened to other genres such as acid rock/ heavy metal.



did i go out and shoot up the block? NO, did i drop out of school, YES i did and only because i couldn't stand by and let my 9 siblings starve to death. these poor little " rich kids" who try to act all gangster don't have a fricken clue about what life is really about, they have a silver spoon in their mouths from the day they are born and don't know how truly lucky they are.



it's these spoiled little brats that think living the gangster life is so glamourous. yet they don't see it from the eyes of those living in the ghettos, it's just a game to them when it's about trying to survive for those of us who are forced to live in such a way.



so in short dear Tom, it's not just the music it's the attitude that these little punks have towards anyone else they think of as inferior to them. i clould go more in depth but i'll save that for another day!

Answer 9

No, rap music as a genre is not poisoning the mind of our youth. For one thing, it is not listened to by all of our youth. For another, not all rap music is "gangsta." Quite a bit is about improving your life. It's not that it isn't politically correct to judge a book by it's cover - it's that it is stupid to judge anything or anyone by your preconceptions or prejudices. Howard Stern did not *have* to go to satellite radio, he chose to for the freedom he would find because he did not want to play by the rules the public airwaves must operate by. If kids today in America do not have respect for anything, it is not solely a product of music. Their parents must accept some of the responsibility, as well as the schools and other forms of media, including movies, the internet, tabloid magazines, etc.



You talk about kids today and the youth of America, but cite as your examples Tupac and Biggie who died over 10 years ago, when most of today's youth was in diapers. You should consider coming up with better examples. I wonder how much of your statements are racially motivated, but since they have little to do with todays rap (other than actually influencing todays artists to tone down the violence), I won't comment further.

Answer 10

My dear Major Tom: Every generation says that about the music of the next. It cannot be true as much as they say. People who follow the lyrics of a song are not very strong folks to begin with. Free will is something that we all must deal with and freedom of speech too. If any person thinks that life is a song they really aren't thinking clearly. However if you add drug abuse and peer pressure to the mix then I might be persuaded in saying that these influences can and do delude the minds of our youth. It's sad to think that a young person might think that being a part of a movement that is counter productive is a good thing to be a part of. ~M~

Answer 11

To each their own.



I grew up listening to what's now considered old school rap. Honestly, I still have some of those types of songs on my MP3 player. This didn't affect my upbringing. My parents raised me to be respectful and have manners. I have never done drugs. I have never smoked. I drink socially. I have never been to jail. I am proud to say that I was the first person in my family to finish high school and college and I now have a great job.



Music doesn't influence a person to become or do something that they shouldn't be/do.

Answer 12

One word for ya!



PARENTING!



It's entertainment and if you have an open communication with your kids,it shouldn't affect them.

Why pick on just rap? Have you heard some heavy metal music before? They speak of killing themselves and other,drugs,violence as well.

People need to stop letting the tv and radio be the parents of their children.

Answer 13

what's that got to do with Etiquette? This is more of a subjective question of taste and personal parenting styles and preferences. What can poison one mind will not affect others that are strong enough not to be so easily swayed, so really, there's no answer to that.

Answer 14

RAP SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 15

No...When I was young I never knew the meaning of the words of the songs I was singing ...they just rhymed!

Answer 16

Yes, I think it could be. But not rappers like Tupac, but the rappers of today, like Jermiah or Lil Wayne.. But not necessarily just because of poor language or violence, but because of the sex and drinking and drug! I mean, hear is my 16 year old cousin talking about that song birthday sex and she hade sex on her 16th birthday. ugh. I don't want to hear that! It's not just music though. It's shows. Like the show Gossip girl, for instance. Or secret life of the american teenager. At least secret life is a little more clean and doesn't have drinking or anything, but you look at shows like that where kids act like adults. I'm not sure when things will get better but I hope they do soon!

Answer 17

No... no it doesn't. Where do I even start now? By 'poisoned' minds, and 'no respect for anything' I'm not sure EXACTLY what you have in mind. If you mean that with our youth today there are higher rates of teen pregnancy, drug use, promiscuity (do they even measure that?), gang violence, school shootings and violence, drinking, and all that... no, I don't think rap music is the cause. Older people like to talk about 'how bad the times are getting' as far as morals go, but no one really measures that, so there's always a debate as to if it has gotten worse than before.

As far as violence (especially), drugs, and the like go, notice that there are FAR GREATER incidences of these in POOR areas. A lot of the youth you seem to be talking about grew up in dysfunctional families, where they had no father and their mother was possibly addicted to drugs, and were in a neighborhood and school with violence, gangs, shootings, and drugs ... this is the environment where the rappers you here come from.

Rap ... is CREATED by people who grew up in bad neighborhoods.

Rap does NOT CREATE those types of people ...

Neither does it cause people who live in better areas to end up in a bad area or live a bad way because of the rap music.



I'm convinced that people who do bad things and commit crimes and all that are like that because there were never shown love when they were growing up. The sex and drugs is the only 'escape' from that sort of life, because it is difficult for them to get an education, or a better job, and they have been put down their whole life.



As far as the rest of 'America's youth' go... the ones who have decent homes and neighborhoods to live in, well it's different.

If you ask me, you're picking out one small detail from a massive, enormous problem called MAINSTREAM AMERICAN MEDIA.

And this makes me... so f***ing mad ... I don't even know where to start... You know how much s*** they show on TV and in movies and its supposed to be... normal? Do people EVER pay attention?

They show... let's see... violence, shooting, killing, all that great stuff. I'm not against showing sex on TV, but ... HOW they show it (normally its only for lust and not love) is just stupid. You can barely even watch a TV show about high school kids without them having sex, drinking, talking all this s*** about their classmates. It promotes sh***y stereotypes: a man has to sleep around with women to be 'macho', if a girl's never has sex she's a prude, if she has too much sex, she's a whore, you're not cool if you don't drink in high school, you have to look attractive like a supermodel so other guys and girls will want to have sex with you (not a real relationship of course, people don't do those). You have to be rich and beautiful and popular to have worth, thin if you are a girl, muscular if you are a guy. If you care about school, you're a dork. If you don't wear hollister and abercrombie clothes, you're weird and not cool and no one wants to hang out with you. If you don't own 50 billion pairs of shirts etc., same thing. People think they 'need' sex ('I have needs') but the media is ONE HUGE LIE , and people NEED love. Babies who aren't cuddled by their mothers CAN DIE. Yet, when there is someone in need of love, they are labeled weak, pathetic, selfish, whiny, emo, etc. WHY IS THAT???

The media is created by humans, with flawed human nature, and reflects all the vices of being human.

And people think it is a god and try to emulate it...

And they wonder WHY there is so much drunk driving, WHY there are so many more anorexic and bulimic teens trying to be super think, WHY so many people want plastic surgery and breast implants, WHY people buy all this brand name stuff trying to look cool, WHY people have so many concerns about sex, that they didn't before, WHY there is such an increase in violence...

It is there, sitting right in front of us. Only people told us it was normal, so we don't notice it.

Answer 18

Nope. I'm old, and I love rap. I listen to all genres of music and so does my kid.



It's freedom of speech, no different than Bob Dylan, John Lennon (who was also gunned down in the street) or Pete Seeger for that matter. Just because you don't like it doesnt make it wrong.



What's better? Indoctrinating them with Jesus? Just because I don't particularly agree with that doesnt mean I think it should go away.

Answer 19

it's more the culture associated with rap music. if you live in a ghetto area, you see a LOT of it.



things i hate: promotes nothing but negative values, (you can say metal is about genocide and all this other crazy sh!t but the difference is that things like Columbine with metal fans are a LOT rarer than drivebys and gangs with rap fans, because they are more likely to know it's just music.) It's a combination of violence and anti-intellectualism that goes beyond belief. You're mocked for even talking about reading, school, etc.



a completely different level of tolerance towards anti-white bigotry for people who are so vocal and supposedly 'anti-racist'. and white kids who listen to rap music just because it's trendy but talk sh!t about 'n!ggers'.



talk so much crap about 'f@gs' but know jack about it other than what their religious leaders tell them (religious conservatives also supported slavery at one point, to give you an idea as to their "morals".) The macho ******* act like idiotic penis brained hypocrites, because they want to make a federal case out of 'homos' while getting off on girl-girl.



push a very casual attitude about religion as a fashion trend more than anything to be taken serious. Just take the popular views for granted. To do otherwise, would be 'un-Christian' or some junk. Even as an atheist (towards the Bible God anyway), I can see how ridiculous it is to do a 'Jesus' song after 10 about guns, drugs, 'hoes', etc.



despite the fact they get sh!t from older generations themselves for being different with baggy pants and all, they are so often the first to talk crap to say, rock fans with long hair or too many tattoos. At least the metal look, with skull rings and everything is more 'thug' than Sears Roebuck or Hollister hip-hop look. lol.



I find it really annoying when mainstream rap fans try so hard to act hard. They pick on people who listen to music ten times harder than them, like metal fans. This is funny because.....Metal is more counterculture, while rap fans want to buy all this rich white namebrand preppie crap and actually care what songs are 'top of the charts' or 'flavor of the moment'. The metal they mock is ten times harder than the mainstream rap they 'bump'. Hell, even a lot of underground rap beats the bloody crap out of the Soulja Boy crap they bump, trying to act hard.



Even with a lot of the 'conscious' rap, they support black nationalism, like Public Enemy promoting Louis Farrakhan, or Dead Prez supporting the New Black Panther Party (supposedly different than the original, which was not racist.)



The culture itself, is horrible. It's not a race thing, either as many of the white fans are just as ignorant.....and PROUD of it. I think people in general are stupid, so this isn't a race thing as everyone is subject to some form of propaganda. Rednecks annoy me for different reasons, for one example. Poverty is a part of these neighborhoods conditions, but if you gave some of these thugs a billion dollars tomorrow, they'd be the exact same.







I actually like a certain amount of rap, but I just don't take it too serious as far as buying into an ignorant image.

Answer 20

Rap is crap that's what I know and yes it's going to make today's youth kind of acting like weirdo and not normal.I don't even consider it is a type of music but just garbage.

Answer 21

1

Answer 22

What is offensive with"It's McDaniels, not McDonalds, the rhymes are Darrell's the burgers are Ronald's?"

Answer 23

More details required

Answer 24

Yes. But Rap Music isn't the on;y "bad" music that talks of sex, drugs, money, satan.. etc.. you get the picture

Answer 25

You sound like such a square honky cracker. The music isn't the cause of the violence, it's an artistic expression of it. The issue is about gangs, not gang music.

Answer 26

yes