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.