Week 8

This week’s entry was the hardest entry yet because we had to use a Technorati to track and find blogs related to our subject. This was because there was rarely any blogs that related to my topic of Music’s Influence on Society during my first couple of searches. I tried various search words and phrases and it just did not work. The majority of the results focused on musicians and new music releases. However I was able to find my blog and also another blog which I thought was interesting. The Just Listen, the unexpected connection Blog, focused on many aspects that was related to my discussion. This blog focused on the connection between music and society. Although it did not focus on the hip-hop genre of music it did focus on how people can be moved by music. It also focused on how people are moved by different types of music because of their personality and the different events that are going on in their life. All-in-all I find blog tracking to be interesting however, I think it is difficult to narrow down your search results to fit your particular topic. But I am pretty sure I will grasp the concept of it eventually.

Week 7

This week I wanted to examine hip-hop music and give it some meaning. To some hip-hop just seems like a blur of words, with no significant meaning except glorifying money and clothes, over fast beats. But to others hip-hop serves a purpose. And no matter what your reasons are for liking or disliking hip-hop its presence is felt.

I was online this weekend when I came across an essay by a student entitled My Hip-Hop Reality. In this essay, Richard Wallace writes about how hip-hop lyrics are applied to his everyday outlook on life. I found this interesting because he choose songs which people would usually give a negative connotation and gave them a positive meaning. I think this just shows the many ways rap music can be interpreted, and how it can impact one’s life.

In the study FROM THE FRINGE: THE HIP HOP CULTURE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS, R. Reese examines hip-hops’ impact on the economy and society. This study presents another positive view on the hip-hop culture. It outlines many arguments for hip-hop including the argument that the hip hop culture that it encourages corporations to recruit a diverse cadre of individuals.

Week 6

How Do You View Hip-Hop Music?

This week I want to open up my blog to find out what you all think about hip-hop and its influence on youth. There are several arguments discussing the positive and negative effects of hip-hop, and I was wondering how do you all view hip-hop music.

Personally I feel that it is obvious that hip-hop music affects teens lives In fact it probably does so more than it should. Young kids often mimic rap artists and how they dress, act, and speak. And I feel that this can be both a good thing or a bad thing. If hip-hop artists use their popularity to support good causes then they will generate a huge following. Furthermore, they can also use this popularity to make young children more aware about different social issues. However, although there are positive messages in hip-hop, the general perception is that it's about wearing lots of jewelry, getting drunk, doing drugs, women, and crime. And while this a way of life for a lot of people in the inner cities, it adds to the negative image that society has about hip-hop artists because the media and listeners often forget that music is simply entertainment.

This is an interesting article that I found discussing how music influences teen's sexual behaviors.

Week 5

I was on the internet when I found a website showcasing a video called Hip-Hop for Kids. This is an exercise video that uses hip-hop music and dances to get kids to be active and have fun by learning the latest dances. I found this to be very interesting because this video is also using hip-hop in a positive way to help our youth. The video features Roger G, who has been featured with Jay Z and has appeared on 106 & Park and Def Comedy leading several kids in a hip-hop dance workout. Hip Hop for Kids recently won the Parent Choice Honors Award for Best Children’s Video and is currently distributed in the USA and abroad. This video tackles the issue of obesity in kids and uses hip-hop dances as a means of exercise. This is just one of the many strides that the hip-hop community has taken to use its popularity for a good cause.

Week 4

I was watching BET today, when a news update came on highlighting the rap group Slum Village’s new song. What was so interesting about this was the new song is focused on the use of child safety restraints in cars. I felt this was relevant because it showed a positive use of hip-hop. The song is targeted towards young children and encourages them to always buckle-up.

The song and video, titled "4 Steps," was written by Slum Village members T3 and Elzhi, urges young children (especially those between the ages of 8 and 10) to travel safely. It will be made available through a CD distributed by Safe Kids Worldwide and through web downloads. The group met with representatives from Chevorlet and Safe Kids before going into the studio, to hone the song's message.

Realizing how respected Slum Village is throughout the entire music industry, they will be appearing in nationally televised spots for Chevrolet and there new line of 2006 Impala and HHR automobiles. The homegrown union will include an integrated campaign with a music video feel, using Slum’s “Ez Up” single; which will include an “Ez Up” Motor City remix and remixed lyrics. as Chevy and Slum Village bring the American Revolution home to Detroit. According to the Slum Village Web site “this deal is a very hip one for Chevrolet and one that will warrant intensive media coverage; radio spots will start airing in mid-October, with national TV spots running in early November.”

On the Xzibitcentral.com web site, Slum Village group member Elzhi said “it's good to take a safety message and put it into a Hip-Hop song, because Hip-Hop is youthful.” “Hip-Hop holds a lot of influence over kids. Some kids even want to be like us - to do what we do - so we hope they will listen to our message.” This just shows the power of hip-hop music and its potential to impact the lives of children.

Week 3

Today, hip-hop and rap is the fastest growing music genre in the U.S. Because of its widespread appeal, the hip-hop culture is has a significant impact on diverse populations. In Decoding hip-hop's cultural impact, Ronald Roach states “as a cultural movement, hip-hop manages to get billed as both a positive and negative influence on young people.” Although created by inner-city African Americans, hip hop's influence has become worldwide. Approximately 75% of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the streets to the suburbs and into the corporate boardrooms. Indeed, McDonald's, Chevrolet, Sprite, Nike, and other corporate giants have made billions of dollars by investing and endorsing the hip-hop community. Although critics of rap music and the hip-hop culture seem argue that it promotes messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers us a paradigm of what can be. This musical genre is very important to our society and has the ability to shape ethnic relations in our society.

Furthermore they also have had huge impact on mainstream White America's music. For year's African-Americans have been innovative in what is known to be popular music in our society. In Music - influence of Black music on White America, Lynn Norment examines the effects that African-Americans have had in the music industry. She presents an interesting argument on how blacks have been able to shape the music arena and the trends in music. Furthermore its shows how music has the ability to transform the way a society thinks because even during the days of segregation African-Americans were still able to be successful and create music that was appreciated by all races.

Everyday you see hip-hop artists such as T.I. and Ludacris branch off into different fields of entertainment creating commercial appeal. These artists have huge masses of fans who follow their every actions and support everything they do. Because of this, what they say has a huge impact on what millions do. These artists not only shape the lifestyle of blacks, but everyone. Hip-hop artists do not fit into in a specific demographic instead they are all different types of people. Because of this they are opinion leaders in our society and have the ability to mold the youth generation.

Week 2

Does allowing your children to listen to rap at an early age make you a bad parent?

Many people feel that rap music is negative and if a parent allows their child to listen to it, than that parent is a bad parent. This is because many rap songs condone the use of drugs, sex and violence. If the child is expose to this at a very young age, then there is a greater chance that the child will engage in those activities later on in their life.

By exposing toddlers through kindergartners to rap music or allowing others to expose them to it, they often start to conform to what they think is cool or funny. Some young kids might hear a rap song, start to dance and try to sing to it and people will comment about how funny or cute it is, often enough and so that child might be inclined to want to listen to it because of the attention they get.

I was on youtube.com and I came across a video of some young kids rapping the song Grillz by Nelly. Although the song isn’t really referring to violence or drug, it does discuss sex. The kids in the video are also dressed up with jewelry and fake “grills” in their mouths. This showed how the parents seemed to encourage the children to mock hi-hop artists without careful consideration of their actions. They also seemed to encourage and make fun of many of the stereotypes of the African-American and hip-hop community. I’m not saying they are bad parents, it just seems that the parents were contributing to the negative stigma that many people have towards the hip-hop community.

However, allowing your child to listen to rap music does not always have to be bad. Listening to diverse music is actually beneficial to your child’s social and cognitive learning. Parents just should monitor what exactly their child is listening to and make sure there isn’t any profanity and obscure language. Because children often tend to listen to what they hear, a parent should try to use the music to teach the child about different cultures and how to be more acceptable of those cultures. Furthermore, the parent should try to find kids appropriate songs such as those produced by Kidz Bop, which recreates popular songs and have children sing them.

So with this I ask again: does allowing your children to listen to rap at an early age make you a bad parent?

Week 1

My name is Lamar Johnson and I am a 3rd year public relations student at the University of Florida. I created this blog to discuss the different thoughts and views on the effects of the music industry on society.

As a public relations writing student at the University of Florida, I am working on a communication plan for a new product that I am suggesting to BET. My proposed idea is a children’s sing-a-long DVD/video, featuring current hip-hop and R&B artists, singing the alphabets, numbers, and also different childhood stories. I’ve noticed that many young children know the lyrics to many of the popular hip-hop and R&B songs, however they do not know how to spell the words or what the words actually mean. They just imitate what the artists are saying. I feel this DVD can be used in pre-kindergarten and daycare schools to stimulate early childhood learning. It can also be used to help students who are mentally handicapped learn in a fun way.

I choose BET because it has a broad and diverse audience and it is very influential in the entertainment industry. Furthermore it has a very resourceful network with several partnering corporations.

I recently found an article published about The Influence of Music and Music Videos and thought it was pretty cool. It supports the idea that music plays a significant role in the learning process of children. Check it out and tell me what you think:
The Influence of Music and Music Videos on Society