Is Hip-Hop Being Irresponsible?
 

Does anyone else think that it is irresponsible to sing or rap about certain subjects?

I was listening to a hip-hop radio show today. The hosts are normally quite socially aware and on point, but they proceeded to give praise to a new artist based on his song being a "banger," yet completely disregarding the fact that nearly every line was referencing "sipping on sizzurp" or "smokin' trees." After multiple notable deaths in the rap community (DJ Screw, Big Moe, Pimp C, etc.) which were related to or directly caused by the recreational use of prescription cough medicine, one would think that the hip-hop world would become more aware of the dangers of such irresponsible promotion.

It is by no means lost on me that many rappers also reference other drug use ("pushing weight," "popping pills," etc), as well as violence, guns and gang life. Many of my favorite rappers are guilty of this, so in a way I am perpetuating the cycle myself.

I think it would behove many rappers (and musicians in general) to think about the impact that their music may have on their listeners.

who are you, my mom?

That's why I don't listen to rappers like Vinnie Paz, Eminem, etc.

I'm all for free speech, don't get me wrong. I just think that we should be responsible and not abuse that right by promoting drugs, guns, violence, etc. I'm really not trying to generalize, I was more referring to the specific example of "Purple Drank" that I initially talked about. It just pissed me off to hear that type of music being so blatantly promoted by someone that I respect.

I think it's a ridiculous standard to hold artists to.

Are you going to exclude all other mediums if they promote unsafe or unhealthy activities?

When these artists rap about this certain subject matter it just makes them fall trap to a stereotype.

I think people are impressionable, but also very choosey in how they connect stuff they absorb into their life.

That's almost twisted in and of itself. :laughing:

I'm just surprised that after Pimp C died that the mainstream rap community didn't stop and take a look at the impact that Purple Drank can have. I remember when drug talk in music was more about how crack rocks would ruin your life, not about how it's cool to smoke weed and drink cough syrup.

yeah i realize that, but it's not like i can control my subconscious you know.

The advertising for drugs, especially weed is really one of the most predominant subjects in hip hop. Cypress hill was getting airplay on mtv, it's nothing new.

I'm not gonna lie, i get weirded out when i see 13 year old kids worshippin wiz khalifa. but I don't think it's going to convince them to do anything their not already comfortable with.

Hip-hip?

Hmmm. Did you mods change that, or was it a typo on my part? Reminds me of Rob Schneider's character on Big Daddy.

"Hip. Hip hop. Hip-hop-opotamus?"

I've no problem with the subject matter.

Abuse of substances is horribly prevalent in everyday life, so why would one completely disregard an individual who praises a certain substance?

It seems to me that its current prevalence in life in general would make it relevant, but that's just me.

aint he that guy who made a song that kept saying Black & Yellow over and over?

I think I probably agree with oojay in a slightly different way. I personally have no problem with the content, I think musicians have to be able to sing about anything. What I have a problem with is 'artists' who write lyrics about certain themes not for a artistic purposes but commercial.

I reckon there are plenty of rappers like the one in question who sing about marijuana, drink and bitches so that teenagers of a certain age will listen to them for the shock value and cause mom would disapprove.

No, it's not irresponsible to rap about a subject that the rapper can relate to and this can be opened up wider to more genres, other musicians write about drugs as well or varying different types but you don't hear people running behind them saying "oh they should be more responsible about the lyrics that they write"

classic examples, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, puff the magic dragon and mojo pin

Top post from Oojay, I've said it all along. Rap artists promote drugs, for instance Eminem and his Recovery album, sex (any mainstream music video), gun crime and general violence. They should be more careful, especially when they have commercial sponsors/advertisers to consider and a lot of young fans.

Yo let the playas preach their ways, after all it's where they came from, and all they know, it's why they became what they are today; so just listen to them spit and represent.

bad ass quote OOJay (killa,lol couldn't resist on that one man)

Is Francis Ford Coppola irresponsible for making movies about the mafia?

The Velvet Underground released a song titled "Sister Ray" on their second album White Light/White Heat. It lasted about seventeen minutes long, and its subject matter dealt with a story about a few drag queens having a massive orgy and shooting themselves up with heroin (Sister Ray being a transvestite drug dealer who I think gets killed by them). This was in 1968. People have been doing this for a long time... it's nothing new, and honestly, I don't have much of a problem with it. However, what I have a problem with is is how easily accessible the music is in terms of being able to find it. All you have to do is turn on the radio... that's all children have to do, too. Yes, its the parents' job to prevent their kids from being exposed to it, but they can't be around 24/7.

That's when parents do their job of raising their children with the morals to know what's right and wrong and not to buy into the hype of the media around them.

Both takes are out there in the rap world.

It's not that simple. In fact, my brother and I were raised the same way and with the same morals, and both of us turned out differently. I'm not going to go into detail, but I can safely say that we differ (sometimes greatly) on our principles and morals. It's like that book The Power of One says... kids aren't a coloring book to where the parents can color in and shape what they want their children to look and act like. While they may take on similarities of their parents, they are still human beings and have individualistic qualities. Not to mention children and adolescents are extremely impressionable at that age -- influenced both by inside factors (i.e. parents) and outside factors (i.e. the media).

Can you honestly say that having so much exposure to this kind of music in the media is a positive thing?

Reading back on all of that, I can see how I sound like I am advocating some sort of control on the media... I am in no way whatsoever for that. I am completely for free speech... even if I find it to be negative. If we were to ever try to censor the media there would be a lot difficulties, and it would make matters very complicated.

This whole discussion reminds me of this (I think both sides make good points):



Again... I am asking if having so much exposure of this kind of music in the media is a positive thing.

Yes, I know that. That part comes along in the later years as kids develop over time they grow into their own individual person and decide whether or not to follow the guidelines of how they were raised. At that point there isn't much a parent can do because they have done a majority of it already. I know you aren't saying that artists should censor themselves but I'm strongly against that.


It all depends on the individual, you can say that about over exposure to any type of media.

That's just like saying if a kid watches too many gory movies he's going to start going on a killing spree to satisfy his desire to see gore.

Fair enough... it really does vary from person to person... I can see myself leading my argument into a huge contradiction, so I'll go ahead and stop with this last statement:

In my opinion, I don't think the amount of exposure that this kind of music receives is positive in anyway whatsoever, but I also understand that it isn't devastatingly detrimental to our society. I also understand that censoring of the media could lead to sizable complications (both in what to censor and how the population would react to it).

My take on it is that people need to take responsibility for their own actions, or the actions of their kids if they are young (and therefore a reflection of your parenting anyway). Instead of trying to shelter your kids from this stuff, why not educate them as to why drugs are bad, why violence is bad, why all this stuff you want hip hop to be rid of is bad, and then trust that should the time come when your child is offered drugs, gets into a fight or whatever else they will make the right decision.

In short, why not try and teach your kids right and wrong, and then trust both your child's judgement and your own abilities as a parent.

i always thought hip-hop was always irresponsible and self-serving and negative

there's so few of "positive" hip-hop, and those that did make it bad with "positivity" i can count on one hand

I feel like an old man at the age of 23 when I say... do you see the kids these days? I've seen stoned children no older than 11 come into my store asking for matches. I'm a stoner and I have a problem with that. Parenting is as bad as ever, media is worse than ever. The Lady Gaga videos where she's butt naked save caution tape or so on would not have been aired 15 years ago. Growing up nowadays, there's relatively no alternative for this generation. It's radio rap, radio pop, radio rock, or dubstep. And as far as all the radio songs, almost especially in the pop department, have gotten doubly more explicit in the last decade, for the sake of shock value and oneupsmanship.

I shake my head at how dumb a lot of these kids are by the time they graduate high school. My generation was smarter. I always felt like I just barely made the cut in the 'good' generation, and mind you, I was envious of my older cousins growing up as teens in the 90s. They really had alternatives to mainstream then.

I seen the 8 year old neighbors' kids dancing out in the driveway to Lady Gaga for an hour, singing along to every word, and I hear the content and see the girl and just shake my head. She will be a slut by high school.

Has anyone taken a look at this generation of kids coming out of the works? They thought my generation was 'unprepared', wait til' they see these kids. Absolutely mindless drones.
:clap:

While absolutely true, can't some artists find better things to rap about I don't know... some time?


That's not how it began, and it only got worse over time. But I bet I could find positive rap albums in every era of hip-hop.

Why is this?


How are there less alternatives now? We have all the previous music and more outlets for music.

I agree with the rest though, especially the shock value part.



This is not cool.

typo - i meant "make it big with positivity"

Well Matious, what I meant I suppose is that this generation growing up had to dig harder for what I consider 'growing up staples' whether hiphop or rock or whatever. Most of my generation hasn't dug nearly as deep as I have, but at least the foundation was sound. As a fan of music across the board, I can't turn on even satellite tv and consistently if at all find music I like on any version of MTV, VH1, Fuse, Box, 100 XM channels, etc., or on the radio. Growing up with less options, better/more music was played.

The corporate/business end took control and really fine tuned what should be popular. It's an exact science for them, and they have the formulas across the board.

You do have old man mentality with that one. This generation is far better off than during our own time because they have the internet to open up their minds to a greater library of music than just using the radio and music television channels to get music.

lol I have to admit I have that done that before....future sluts of america but it's judging unfairly though.

This generation has a greater advantage because of all the green jobs being available and also the handy dandy internet so that whole "unprepared" crap is just nonsense imo.




No, I rather them rap about what they know or would like to be than to try to tackle politics or some other bullshit and have it come out sounding forced.


going online and looking for music isn't digging hard imo. You know how easy it is to come across music so quickly? The same better/more music that was played is also part of what they are able to find today as well easier thanks to the internet.

My little brother brought up something today actually. I told him about this discussion, and he asked (in an antagonizing manner) to name one hip hop or pop song that has a "negative" subject matter. Since I don't listen to the radio very often, I was unable to give him an answer. I know for a fact that it's in the media because of the amount of hype and exposure of artists, such as Lady Gaga, receive. Yea, I hear the typical-sounding stuff in stores, other people's cars, etc, but do the songs themselves actually deal with "bad" subject matters?

Some people feel like talking about guns and going to kill people is viewed as negative, in the first post, he talks about how people are still rapping about drinking purple drank and he feels like it's a negative thing to be promoting that even though they aren't. They rap about it because they use it and they are grown ass adults, if they want to drink something that's harmful to their own body and they could possibly die from it then so bit it.

They do indeed. However, I think your experiences is a good example that many people aren't really aware of it. People really just listen for the beats.

A lot of popular hip hop songs discuss rape and murder in a positive light. It honestly doesn't bother me too much, but I'm so disencitized to it at this point.

^^they could pretty much keep it to themselves instead of "promoting" it

[2]

I personally as a women find rappers making light of rape still very offensive. I think it shows the lack of integrity they have, in terms of how they view women.

In the end though, I think society has become so immune to the hateful slurs of rappers, it doesn't even affect them.

There is some merit to thinking that young kids/teens listening to rap music could indeed influence their behaviours such as by getting into drugs and alcohol, but it's not going to be the sole reason. It's not that black and white. If parents have control over their kids then there should be less concern, but these days everyone's too busy to give a ****. So why not blame those who are drawing attention to themselves? It was no different in the late 50's early 60's when the conservatives tried banning rock and roll music.

When I was a teen I did drugs, smoked and drinked because I wanted to and my friends did too. It wasn't because music said to. So no, hip-hop is not being irresponsible, it's not their job to be role models or parents. The fact is people would still rape, murder and do drugs with or without rap bringing it to the spotlight.

Pardon my incoherent ramblings. I was thinking it through as I went along.

I don't know friend. I see your perspective but I disagree with almost all of it.

I was born in 87. By the time I was 11 I had Windows 98 and a slow internet connection. I was downloading free music by '99. That being said, most didn't and I was one of the few always coming up with new bands and even genres to listen to, etc. because most were just on CDs from shows and/or radio and/or tv. Yes, the playing field is level now that nearly everyone is online, but you must know that not everyone has computer, internet, or a smartphone, even in America.

Also, besides us folks on MB and the like, the general populace doesn't care enough about music or 'have enough time' to research their favorite bands music tree, or branch out to new things. The average person gets online, checks email and facebook, and signs off. Those in the position to download new songs might hear about a new artist from a friend or blog or something and download a few tracks, maybe an album. They might go so far as to check out older albums or maybe top recommended similar material, but that's about it. It's a snails pace in terms of finding new stuff. I treated finding new, great music like a job for a while, hunting, crate digging, staying up to the wee hours of the morning listening and rating, going through 10 albums a day at least, and still not had enough. I still haven't finished. But I have 5,000 5 star tracks and 16,000 5+4.5 star tracks, which is what I throw on random and chill to. Your average human being doesn't have that dedication to do that, or even half of that. Your average person is so distracted multi-tasking watching "Robot Chicken/So You Think You Can Dance", chatting/texting, and having other interests plus the false sense of contentment of having 'enough' music that most people don't realize there is anything else out there to be desired. Even when they come across something 'unique and different' aka they've stumbled upon a new genre or sound they treat that as an end, like "Oh man, this is all I need out of this sound of music, this is perfect" when they're barely brushing the surface, etc.

Long story short: they have the tools to do so, but most don't use them. Most don't even know there's better stuff out there, and most don't know the classics, of any genre.
:rofl:
Just... I'm sorry. Either I misunderstand or... I don't know. I find this thought to be either laughable or... I dunno.

I've spend over a year looking for certain albums. Torrents, Limewire, warez sites, Mediafire, Rapidshare, everything. Finally found a blogspot in Russian or something that had a link embedded.... Not so black and white. It depends how pop-ular the music you're looking for is.

For example, I've been hearing for the past week or two that one of my favorite guitarists fifth album is out, but I still can't find a copy. If this was a Lil Wayne album I would have had a leak last month.

I think you're vastly underestimating that thing called youthful impressionism and influence. A lot of these guys are idols, and anything they say they do, or find fun, at least a few people are going to try. It's just the way this stuff works.

I think there is a lot of negativity in Hip-hop/Rap. The posturing, the sheer aggression, the derision and degrading nature of the lyrics, be it sexist, racist or simply as insulting to someone else as the artist can manage. I think there is a lot of positive stuff in hip-hop as well; Striving to succeed, regardless of where you started in life, people like Jurassic 5 who rap about holding onto what's important to you, but I don't think it's possible to laugh off all the "gonna go shoot some drugs and **** some bitches" stuff in rap as "they can do what they want because they're adults". Adults have responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities is understanding the consequences of one's actions, something I personally feel is absent in much rap.

Eh. People have been saying these kinds of things about younger generations since the beginning of time. Thus far the world hasn't gone to hell in a handbasket, people just continue being people.

On a side note, as someone who was a teenager in the 90s, I can tell you firsthand there is far more access to alternatives to the mainstream now than there was then, thanks to the internet.

As much as adults have responsibilities, so do individuals. I think the blame needs to fall on the individual themselves if they can't handle any form of media that is supposed to be used as entertainment and becomes easily influenced by it. It's the individual that it falls back onto. Most of the rappers that have material that is considered "negative" don't go around saying that they are role models and you should do everything that I say in my songs.

Yeah, Janz, but that's cuz you're smarter than the average bear. You know where to look. Any of us on these boards knows how to find new tunes. But the average kid/teen/young adult doesn't know what to look for. Plato's cave'd.