Rapper’s lyrics have changed over the coarse of twenty years plus. “Gangsta” rap picked up where blaxploitation left off. Top rappers began to write edgy lyrics celebrating street warfare or drugs and sex, causing some blacks teens to adopt the negative behavior of the lyrics. Many times, the instrumental is what attracts teens; lyrics are secondary. I have known a friend of the family who was influenced and guided by rap lyrics now he’s been dead for three years. My friend planned to be a basketball player but had a passion for rapping.
Sometimes when we hung out, he would recite lyrics of rap songs what he was going to do to one of his enemies. I felt disturbed by some of the things he said because they were violent and cruel and fifteen-year-old boys shouldn’t talk that way. Finally, the day came when his bully would not stop picking on him. So, he got gun and killed the bully. One week later, someone from the bully’s family killed my friend and dumped his body in the alley. The ones who allow them to be controlled by the negative rap lyrics often take a bad turn.
Considering, the negative lyrics and language that rap music sometimes portrays, I firmly agree that rap influences black teens. For example, Schooly D’s lyrics, “put my pistol up against his head I said, suck a-ass nigga, I should shoot you dead,” encouraging listeners to engage in that kind of activity. If black teens continue to allow negative rap lyrics to guide their minds, then that individual will either end up in jail or dead. Some rap lyrics have degraded women and also caused other races to look down on black women. According to Schooly D’s lyrics “I finally realized the girl was a whore, gave her ten-dollars, she asked me for some more,” This is an example, of how women are used as sexual objects and aren’t good for anything besides sex.
Also Jay-Z’s “Is That Yo Bitch?” I don’t love ‘em, I don’t chase ‘em, I duck ‘em. I replace ‘em with another one, shows how women are not respected and called names. Or, as N.W.A. (an abbreviation of “Niggers with Attitude”) tersely sums up the rap worldview: “Life ain’t nothin’ but bitches and money.” On the other hand, video after video featuring rap stars flashing jewelry, luxury cars, sporting weapons and negative gestures, (such as “the middle finger”) at the camera shows the viewers that there is no harm in negative messages. Rap lyrics can have an affect on the listeners having a successful life.
Source
Book: How Hip-Hop holds Blacks Back
By: John H. McWhorter
Jewel Harris is a 2010 GirlSpeak editor.
