Ross Leslie
Sister Anderson
English 211C/Section 4
Persuasive Synthesis Paper
Ross Leslie
Sister Anderson
English 211 C/Section 4 Persuasive Synthesis Paper
Here is a quick quiz to start the day.
Who made this statement to a Newsweek reporter
regarding the present condition of our nation and its declining values associated with popular
culture? "In terms of what certain media outlets show you, it's very one-dimensional. It's not
just hip-hop music- TV and movies in general are very narrow. Sex, violence, with junkies,
prostitutes, alcoholics, gamblers.
The new trend today is depravity"(Croal et al 58). If your first
guess in this election year was a politician, go sit down. How about some Hollywood critic, or
youth pastor? Thanks for playing, but those are all wrong answers.
The correct choice is rapper
Mos Def from New York. If a rapper thinks that our culture is getting progressively worse, then
our society may indeed be in real trouble. In recent years, rap music has come under scrutiny for
the amount of violence laced within the lyrics of many popular songs. Such music ought to
increase concern among adults to protect deeply impressionable young people. Rap music may
also contain potentially harmful messages to anyone within the sound of a rapper's voice.
It has been said music is the universal language. Every decade from the past century has
left an indelible swagger, melody, or rhythm on our culture. Perhaps the most characteristic
sound from the last couple of years of the 2Oth century can be found in the sometimes-rough lyrics
and strong beat of rap music. However, in order to completely comprehend how rap has soared
to astounding levels of success during recent years, it is first necessary to explain the roots of
popular music in America.
As the century began, the prominent voices from the 1920's included the biggest cats in
the Jazz age. Men such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington dominated the top of the charts.
A short time later arrived the big band sounds of Benny Goodman. By the mid-point of the
century, the newest craze of the music genre appeared in the form of rock n' roll (parley 54-55).
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At its inception, numerous adults thought rock would almost certainly lead to the downfall of
American youth.
The swinging hips and sexy image of Elvis Presley and The Beatles were
frontrunners in musical criticism of the time.
Beginning around the 1950's youth began to
identify with acts of resistance to their parents' lifestyle and adult authority (Maasik 603).
Obviously the decades comprising the 1960's and 1970's was an age featuring increased amounts
of youthful defiance in America during the Vietnam conflict and the Civil Rights movement.
Few should be surprised then, that by the following decade, rap evolved along with its voice of
oppression while often echoing the sounds of anger. By the 1990' s gangster rappers like NW A,
Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, and Dr. Dre exploited the mythos of the gangster, an urban rebel who
represses the underclass through acts of violence, degradation of woman, and materialism
(Maasik 602).
The entertainment product that worries people the most this year is rap music
A little
over twenty years ago when the first major rap hit to make it big "Rapper's Delight," by the
Sugar Hill Gang, rap was a marginal musical form in this country (Croal 60). Many people felt
the rap phenomenon would dissolve into a passing fad, especially since rap followers at the time
were almost exclusively limited to acceptance from African Americans of the inner cities. To
further illustrate the powerful influence ofrap, take a peek at these numbers. fu 1998, for the first
time ever, rap music sold more albums than any other type of music, a total of over 81 million
CDs and albums sold.
The financial success of rap music surpassed the previous top seller,
country music, by nearly 10 million copies during that year .
Rap sales increased by over 30
percent from 1997 (Farley 55). Further evidence of the popularity of rap music is witnessed by
sales from just two months ago. Six of the top twenty albums sold in this country were from rap
artists. Every one contained parental advisory stickers! (Croal 59)
Rap music has been under constant pressure for years to clean up its act.
Heated
controversy appeared over N.W.A's "F... Tha Police" in 1988 and IceT's "Cop Killer" a few
years later, fueling some of the hostilities behind the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
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1990's two prominent rappers, Tupak Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G were both gunned down.
Such tragic murders tend to offer evidence that violent lyrics may cause violent behavior.
The
latest threats toward decency and good taste are the plague of rap videos shown on MTV and
BET (Black Entertainment Television). A recent Newsweek poll found that 41 percent of voters
across the country listen to rap at least occasionally, while 75 percent of the voters under the age
of thirty say they do. The poll also revealed that two thirds feel it contains too much violence
(Croal 59).
Recent best-selling albums contain a heavy dose of graphic descriptions celebrating
murder, sexual attacks against women, and racial hatred.
Never before have the sounds of
slaughter been so profitable and so widely accepted among the general population. Here are just
a few examples of lyrics from some of the rap hits at the top of the charts. The following lyrics
are from "Come and Get Some" by Master P , on his album Ghetto D (Brownback).
"I'm known in the ghetto for slangin' narcotics.
I come up short I'ma bust yo' f. ...lip up
Cuz money and murder is the code that I live by.
Another prime example from one of the most lucrative albums ever by a rap artist resonates from
a fairly recent edition to the rap scene, Erninem. In one ofhis songs titled "Kim" the rapper brags
about cutting his wife's throat and locking her up in the trunk of his car (Croa159). What strikes
me odd is that these examples are not necessarily the worst of the rap out on the market today;
rather they are only illustrations from recently released albums which vividly display violence.
Another popular format among children and adolescent viewers deal with disturbing
messages and images offered from music videos.
When certain music lyrics are displayed on
screen, the harmful impact in the message conveyed by the rapper can often be deep and greatly
magnified.
According to the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics (AAP), music videos are
described as "self-reinforcing." This means if viewers hear a particular song after watching the
video version, they are capable of reverting back to the visual imagery from the video.
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Additional studies have been conducted in correlation with the AAP sustaining powerful evidence
that music videos desensitize viewers to violence, vulgarity, and lewdness as tolerable behavior.
One such study indicated that by eliminating MTV access in treatment facilities for troubled
youth, the amount of violent behavior among teens and young adults significantly decreased
(American Pediatrics).
The majority of gansta rap albums are produced by only a handful of corporate entities
including: Sony, Time- W amer , and Bad Boy productions.
Ironically, these companies claim to
possess
'a good conscience" or preach they serve as examples of "good corporate
citizens"(Brownback). It should not be too much to ask for such organizations to offer
explanations on how they can advertise hateful music to children.
I think it would be quite
beneficial if every segment of the media industry, including music, were to inform the public
exactly what their specifications or standards happen to be.
Some retail stores, such as the case with Wal-Mart, possess certain requirements when
selling music that carries a parental advisory label on the cover to anyone under the age of 18. It's
terribly unfortunate, however, that many other stores do not require the same standards or do not
choose to enforce them. Furthermore, many advertisements promoting new music are usually run
through media productions appealing to teens such as Internet music sites, MTV , and numerous
magazines geared toward reaching large amounts of teen audiences. In many ways, popular
music is widely accessible and is almost exclusively marketed towards the younger generation
rather than adults (Brownback).
Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas claims many parents know little about how
venomous some lyrics of these songs can be.
The wide gap in adults' knowledge is spelled out
perfectly in a recent experience of Debbie Pelley, a middle school teacher in Jonesboro,
Arkansas.
Senator Brownback was present at a United States senate hearing where Pelley
testified about the tragic events at her school in 1998. One of her students named Mitch J. and a
close friend opened fire at their school building, killing four students and a teacher. Following
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the aftermath, Pelley had the opportunity to speak with other students concerning Mitch J's
fascination with violent rock and rap music
Upon further investigation in the matter, she
concluded that many of the students were familiar with the lyrics of groups such as Bone Thugs-
N-Harrnony, Tupak Shakur, and several other rappers.
Pelley was convinced, however, that
parents of many students were unaware of their child's choice of musical entertainment.
Many American youth today must confront, generally without much parental
intervention, the media barrage of music and video images glorifying inappropriate sexual
behavior, violence, and attitudes of "me" materialism.
It should be noted, however, that it's
difficult to measure just how much adverse effect, violence from a popular CD, has on a young
mind. How accurately can we truly measure violence in music or any other format that provide
motives for another human being act out what they see or hear? While many in American society
view rap as an exploitive form of low-value speech, still there are others arguing in favor of the
rap genre (Hudson). Some might argue rap speaks of real life events, as harsh as that message
may be
Still others profess a plausible argument in this manner: "How can we reach young
people these days if we use proper language and don't address real life situations?"
Personally, I possess little comprehension concerning the present conditions of inner city
problems. My realm of experience has never given me the opportunity to know or even feel that
type of unfortunate lifestyle. Rap artists almost exclusively hail from the inner city, where the
appearances of numerous social and economic problems exist. Life in neighborhoods where
various crime and destruction run rampant, as they do in many metropolitan areas, allows us to
more fully understand the harshness behind the message spoken about in popular songs.
Rap
lyrics are laced, at times, with terrible connotations because rappers are electing to express the
outrage as young African-Americans who feel betrayed by the promise of America. Gangster rap
since few individuals, especially white people, truly understand the statements they wish to express through their music (Hudson).
There may be now quick fixes to respond to violent music. Senator Brown back has been a strong advocate in the senate to find viable solutions to violence in the media. He writes that the proper way to respond to offensive music is criticism, not taking the approach of censorship, nor silence either. Cultural decline is not merely a threat to family life; it is a threat to freedom. It seems that more than ever we automatically accept the world with which we are part, without really challenging anything. Brownback encourages Americans to stand up for issues they feel ought to be altered. He continues to extend a call for citizens to evaluate ideas, seek out the truth to the best of their ability, and finally affirm what is uplifting.
Much has been said in this essay on the issue of violence in rap music. Promoting music just to make a big fat paycheck or peddling violent music to anyone, especially youth, is cause for great alarm. Violence in any form, whether it is seen from television, books, magazines, computer games, or a movie is extremely hazardous. Marketing messages of hate, abuse to women, and murder to young people send up signals that violence is normal and lawlessness is glamorous. Unfortunately, whatever we glamorize, we tend to encourage. A society that glorifies violence, in music or elsewhere, will almost certainly grow more tolerant of violent behavior (Brownback).
Rappers are best when allowed to speak their minds freely. Since Mos Def got in the first word, why not give him the last word too- “Artists are only going to repeat what the climate is
saying. America is extremely violent and oppressive to a lot of different folks. It’s very hostile
to youth, only treating them like consumers or addicts. It’s terminal consumerism. What’s going on in media is just a symptom of the real sickness” (Croal, 65). At the present, not even Dr. Dre possesses the antidote for resolving these serious issues plaguing society.
Ross Leslie
Sister Anderson
English 211 C/Section 4
Persuasive Synthesis Paper
Works Cited
AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics. “Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on Children and
Youth” December 1996.
Brownback, Sam. “The Melodies of Mayhem” Policy Review November-December 1998
Croal, N’Gai, David gates and Allison Samuels. “Battle o=for the Soul of Hip hop” Nesweek
New York 9 October. 2000: 58-65
Farley, Christopher John. “Hip-hop Nation” TimeNew York 8 February. 1999: 54-58
Hudson, David. “Like It Or Not, Gansta Rap Endures In the Free Marketplace of Ideas.”
October 1996.
Maasik, Sonia and Jack Solomon “signs of Life in the USA Readings on Popular Culture for Writers” New York, 2000: 602-603.