According to Dictionary.com (n.d.), degenerate means having “fallen below a normal or desirable level, esp. in physical or moral qualities”. Most people also use “degenerate” to mean “obscene” or lacking in any kind of moral value or substance. By this definition, rap music is degenerate, because it doesn’t have the normal kinds of moral values of mainstream society. Rap music is written to show a different side of society, and is a degenerate response to a world that is also degenerate.
Moral values in the mainstream world center around being nice, or kind, not stealing, not killing. These are the values found in the Ten Commandments, the Constitution, and other religious and political documents. Regular pop music tends to focus on these values; for example, a lot of pop songs are still standard “boy meets girl” love songs, or songs about dancing or music, or sometimes about family relationships. Rap music doesn’t fit in with these values, so it is degenerate.
Rap music is degenerate, meaning obscene, just because of the language in it. The parental advisory ‘explicit’ lyrics warning system was developed for the first time in 1985 because of the language in rap music (Dahir, 1995). For example, rap music often contains words that are not even said in any context in “normal” society, like “n*****r” or “motherf***er”. Those words alone are so offensive that any use of them would be considered immoral or degenerate, and possibly causing a breakdown in social values. Radio stations that play pop music sometimes advertise “…and no rap”. This is because rap music lyrics are so explicit and obscene that people are embarrassed to listen to them. There is no other kind of music that radio stations advertise that they don’t play.
Rap music is often about killing, murder, and street violence, including killing cops and doing drugs. For example, “Vato” by Snoop Dogg is about a gang killing:
I didn't mean to hit what I hit
Now that's three motherf***ers dead and I ain't seen shit
But these n***as scream with pleas but for like a g like me it’s just a case (2006)
Most people would condider this to be degenerate or immoral since the singer shows no remorse or sorrow for having killed three people.
Rap music can also be very explicit about sexual activity. Rap music often uses very disrespectful language about women and calls the “b****es” or “hoes” and describes their body parts or sexual activity in great detail. For example, in Dr. Dre’s “Housewife”, Dre describes in great detail all the negative things that his cheating girlfriend does to him. He calls her a “hoe” and a “b**ch,” says she has chylamydia, and describes her having sex with him in different ways. He says:
I take advantage
All up in them panties, I got this bitch speakin Spanish
I'm mannish - get yo' nails out my back
Slut I'm bout to nut and get up, go scrub yo' cat
The language here and the way that he talks about women is very disrespectful and would be considered degenerate by most normal people.
While rap music may be degenerate, it’s also important to remember that the singers of rap music may consider it an appropriate response to an immoral world. Many rappers come from poor urban environments, filled with drugs, prostitutes, and no opportunties to get out of that environment. They see murder every day, and friends and family are jailed for long periods because of minor drug infractions or because of stealing to survive. In that environment, the police are the enemies, killing is normal, and the language is what the rappers hear every day. Rap music may be degenerate, but it reflects the world of modern urban black youths.
References
Dahir, M. (1995, July). Sticker shock: Pennsylvania tries to turn labels into laws. Retrieved on February 6, 2009, from Reason Online:
Degenerate (n.d.) Retrieved on February 6, 2009, from