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I don't see educated, middle class black folks doing this either. The "culture" appeals mainly to lower-class, undereducated black males. It validates precisely the wrong things to this socioeconomic group, telling them it's "OK to be bad."
I don't really see it as much of a "racial" issue per se. It has nothing whatsoever to do with, for example, a graduate student from Africa studying here - it's not about skin color or genetic makeup. It has nothing to do with the African race per se or in any broad sense. It is encapsulated within the African-American subculture and for young males therein in particular - and I should say again, it is wrong to assign its faults to that entire subculture.
One wonders why this doesn't happen within the black community...or perhaps it does, and such criticism is just drowned out by blaring hip-hop music.
I will say that you really must be some kind of idiot to wear your pants around your knees, and somehow believe that this makes you look cool.
So in other words, it's impossible for an educated person to enjoy rap in any way? That's an incredibly classist statement, not to mention a gross generalization. You obviously aren't at all too familiar with the people you are quick to judge.
We all understand that just because a person listens to a type of music, that they won't want to emulate the people singing the songs. On the other hand, we do realize there are certain types of people that will tend to act like their favorite celebrities or other figures. I know everyone wants to just blame parents, and to an extent it is understandable. But, while they blame parents, they are in a way acknowledging that certain cultural elements have a huge impact on individuals and communities.
In Mexico for instance, I read an article about how most of the Mexican mobsters have been wearing Polo shirts. The fashion is being called "Narco Polo", and the demand for polo shirts in Mexico is high. Why? Because many of the young in Mexico basically idolize the Mexican drug lords. They want to become the drug traffickers themselves, its the style, its becoming the culture of Mexico, where crime is exploding even in the nicer areas of the country.
The root of the problem in my opinion seems to be that, men tend to want to be the toughest, roughest, baddest mofo around. Rap music sells a very tough, manly, sexually charged exterior. The clothes, the looks, the music, the culture, all promotes what I consider non-civil behavior. The same argument can be said for much of rock music. And it would be hard to believe that rock music hasn't to some extent made the world more violent or sexually deviant, through the glorification of such behavior. While it tends to stereotype anyone who isn't a part of that hardcore rock culture to be weak, or unmanly.
At the same time, women tend to like bad boys(it seems to be in their nature), which makes the problem even worse, because the bad behavior and bad attitudes get rewarded by more female attention(and usually not moral attention if you know what I mean).
The question is, would crime go down in the absence of cultural elements that promote bad behavior? YES. Would out of wedlock pregnancies go down in the absence of cultural elements that promote and glorify promiscuity? YES.
Its pretty damn simple.
Would all crime and promiscuity end if you got rid of rap music? No. But no one is saying that.
The question really becomes, should all elements of society that we believe have a negative effect on morality, be made illegal? For instance, should porn be made illegal? Should violent video games and movies be made illegal? That one was just recently decided by the supreme court, which said violence in video games are a freedom of speech.
If we refuse to allow California to ban the sale of violent video games to kids, then this argument about rap music is simply pointless.
But the fact remains is that is that rap is inspired by a culture that will remain whether the music is there or not.
And most rap is intended for adults anyway. Not children and teens. So yes, it is all on the parents and schools. Rappers shouldn't have to assume any responsibility. If parents aren't doing their job, they're going to have problems regardless of what music the child is listening to.
Most posters here don't know Curren$y from Immortal Technique, so arguing with them about rap is a huge waste of time. BET does suck though, just like the vast majority of television programming. Solution? Don't watch.
Most rock music does not promote violence and sexual immorailty. People here have named Marilyn Manson and Twisted Sister (this is not 1990), but what about all the rock bands that DON'T promote that garbage, like Anberlin, As I Lay Dying and Alter Bridge, to name a few of many. In fact, the bands that I named make music with positive and intelligent themes. In contrast, almost all mainstream rappers talk about violence, reverse racism, promiscuous sex, drug dealing and/or crime. People here have brought up Common, Immortal Technique and Lupe Fiasco, but those are the exceptions to the rules. 90% of mainstream rap and ghetto rap promotes the negative themes that have been named on this thread. My main point is that most rock music doesn't promote violence, while most rap music does.
But the fact remains is that is that rap is inspired by a culture that will remain whether the music is there or not.
And most rap is intended for adults anyway. Not children and teens. So yes, it is all on the parents and schools. Rappers shouldn't have to assume any responsibility. If parents aren't doing their job, they're going to have problems regardless of what music the child is listening to.
That is the argument the cigarette companies used back in the 1990s when they said that they weren't targeting kids with their advertisements. Children and teens still listen to that garbage. It still gets played on TV and the radio. A lot of it is made by "men" in their late teens and early 20s, so not much older than the teens to which they're selling it.
Also, sadly, a lot of black children don't have parents that are active in their lives.
Most posters here don't know Curren$y from Immortal Technique, so arguing with them about rap is a huge waste of time. BET does suck though, just like the vast majority of television programming. Solution? Don't watch.
It doesn't matter if people don't know about all the lesser-known and more obscure rap artists. Every genre is defined mainly by its most popular artists, songs and albums - because that's what has by far the greatest influence.
Most rock music does not promote violence and sexual immorailty. People here have named Marilyn Manson and Twisted Sister (this is not 1990), but what about all the rock bands that DON'T promote that garbage, like Anberlin, As I Lay Dying and Alter Bridge, to name a few of many. In fact, the bands that I named make music with positive and intelligent themes. In contrast, almost all mainstream rappers talk about violence, reverse racism, promiscuous sex, drug dealing and/or crime. People here have brought up Common, Immortal Technique and Lupe Fiasco, but those are the exceptions to the rules. 90% of mainstream rap and ghetto rap promotes the negative themes that have been named on this thread. My main point is that most rock music doesn't promote violence, while most rap music does.
Are you sure those bands are mainstream? I've never heard of them before.
It doesn't matter if people don't know about all the lesser-known and more obscure rap artists. Every genre is defined mainly by its most popular artists, songs and albums, because that's what has by far the greatest influence.
If you think that the Billboard Top 40 serves as an accurate representation of a genre, and move to use that representation as a critique of an entire "culture," then you do yourself a disservice. Even if we want to use that metric, however, most of the current rap songs that are highly popular are largely non-violent party blather, so the critique remains empty.
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