Does Hip Hop send a bad message?

[shniggens]

Mainstream Hip Hop, that is. Every time someone pulls through with all of their car windows down, and doing the lean-back-in-the-seat-and-drive-with-one-arm-and-look-tough routine, I always get a bad vibe.

 

Granted, ANY music that I can hear in my car FROM your car - and MY FUCKING windows are rolled up - should be considered bad music. But it seems that this phenomenon occurs with Hip-Hop more than any other genre. I mean, is it a rule that if you are listening to Hip-Hop you have to roll ALL of your windows down?

 

Anyway, since I really have no choice than to hear the lyrics of alot of the rap stuff that people (around here, anyway) listen too, I have come to a conclusion - (prepare for gross generalization) - RAP IS NEGATIVE!

 

Yeah, sure, some of it is really funny. But the underlying tone of it all usually has to do with killing, shooting, raping, and building up the most gigantus amount of *bling* known to man! Why do rappers feel the need to flaunt their earnings for the sake of art? Repeatedly.

 

Personally, I'm sick of it. I know music doesn't "make" people do undesirable things - ask Judas Priest or Frank Zappa. But alot of kids are building their own persona in the image of some of the more rutheless "performers". No, it's really is not cool to screw your friend's girlfriend and then carjack your ride home!

 

Why can't they talk (that really is all most of them are doing, right?) about something more abstract . . . or at least DIFFERENT from what the rest of them are talking about?

 

Oh well, take a vote.

[shniggens]

Here's some lovely words of inspiration from one of latest big-shots - 50 cent -

 

(50 Cent)

uhh..uh huh uh huhh...uh huh uh huhh...uh huh uh huhh..uh uh uh uh

uh huh uh huhh...uh huh uh huhh...uh huh uh huhh..uh uh uh uh

 

Money make a pimp, pimp hoes, hustlas sell dope, thugs gun smoke

What(echo)

Money make the world go round, as the world turns

Money make the world go round, as the world turns

Nigga I need money to main-tainn

Hustalin aint a gamee

Nigga go and gets the grainn

Gon' get tore out the framee

T.Vs in the Rangee

I'm in ta nice thanggs I slang weed (snort)

Coc-ainee and Herio-anee

50 Cent

Thats my namee

Nigga I bring the painn

You thought shit stay the samee

Nigga shit gon' change

Put a bullet in your brainn

Nigga at close range

Run away wit ya rollie, your rings, and your motherfuckin chainn

Aint nuittin funny mangg

I'm about my money mangg

Bitch get down on that track and get my money, I aint playinn

Better understan what I'm sayin,

What I'm sayin, I aint playin

I'll be, In front of your crib, layin, wit the mack ta start sprayinn

Any nigga thats in the game, for the fame, gotta be a lamee

Crackers'll put ya in chains

Box'll drive you insane

Sun cant shine all the time, man its gotta rain

That whole loose? is ill

You better crack the whip mang

 

(Chorus - 50 Cent)

A pimp aint a pimp with no hoes (hoes)

A hustla aint a hustla with no motherfuckin dough (dough)

A thug aint a thug if his gun dont smoke (smoke)

A playa aint a playa if his ass dead broke (broke)

 

A pimp aint a pimp with no motherfuckin hoes (hoes)

A hustla aint a hustla with no motherfuckin dough (dough)

A thug aint a thug if his gun dont smoke (smoke)

A playa aint a playa if his ass dead broke (broke)

 

(50 Cent)

I live

Life in the fast lane

Man I aint got nuttin ta lose

Everythin a game

Either you wit me or against me man aint nuttin changee

Nigga, you

Go against the grain

I'll make you

Walk wit a cane now nigga now

Who you gon' blamee

When shit aint the same

Nigga nobody hears your namee

You got down wit a gangg

O thirty-one blood

Ya'll niggas do your thang

You got 2 felonies

Fuck it, go out wit a bangg

Ya'll niggas wanna hangg

Wit niggas that fitlthy rich

They aint even got ta talk

To take your bitch

One look was all it took

She seen the benz-o

She seen them T.Vs

And them big ol' chriz-omes

A-yo the bitch useta bring you dough

Useta be your bottom hoe

Now your paper comin' slow

She feel like she had ta go

Roll wit them rich niggas and ball with them ball-az

Politic wit the willies the real shot call-az

 

(Bun B)

I got one life to live

Follow that light that keeps on guidin me

Hate-az tryin me

Hoes is a-bidein me

Media ride me

King a the underground

So the streets is steady hide-in me

Representin sure taste-az

The yay keep takin pride in me

Streets

Deciple slide-in me

Status reports the badest you caught

Walk in the black top wit fat rocks and had his newport

I cant stay away like Too $hort

I gots ta break a bastards back

Tore em up, get em ready ta port

Put em on the master track

I blast the facts the life in the grill

Gorilla pimpin

If I have ta mack ya wife then I will

It's me and 50 Cent my nigga

Live in trife, and thats real

Talkin shit on us, thats like pullin out a knife and dont kill

Thats on for treal (?)

I'm on for million wit your pit, in the clit that shit true

I split through, your defences, so relentless, get you, without you even

knoin

Got you strippin and even hoe-in

You dont wanna let the pro in the door

This what we showin

 

A pimp aint a pimp with no motherfuckin hoes (hoes)

A hustla aint a hustla with no motherfuckin dough (dough)

A thug aint a thug if his gun dont smoke (smoke)

A playa aint a playa if his ass dead broke (broke)

 

(Repeat)

 

(50 Cent)

Is your bitch your bitch or is your bitch mines?

Is your bitch your bitch all the time?

You done got your paper, now its time I get mines

Except the serve and everything'll be fine

Bitch!

 

(50 Cent talking over beat)

Runnin from pimpin...bitch you need to run TO some pimpin

Wit them cheap ass payless shoes you got on hoe

You still aint figured out what a hoe supposed to look like

Look at you motherfucka here

Huh bitch?

How you gunna catch some dates lookin like that hoe?

Bitch get off the sidewalk and into the street

Bitch the sidewalk is for pimpin bitch!

 

(Fades)

[KenElevenShadows]

I didn't vote because there's no provision for SOMETIMES.

[shniggens]

Really, is 50 cent breaking new ground here?

 

AND KIDS WANT TO GROW UP TO BE JUST LIKE HIM!

[shniggens]

Originally posted by Ken/Eleven Shadows:

I didn't vote because there's no provision for SOMETIMES.

OK, thanks for that.

[LawrenceF]

Before someone calls me a racist, I'm a black man. With that said...

 

Yes. It sends the wrong message.

 

The messages I get from the hip-hop artists in my studio are...

 

1. Most have a surprising talent for remembering words and phrases but never use that to convey a poisitive message.

 

2. When asked to write lyrics about something other than the "me bad, kill you" style, it takes a very long time. I asked this rapper with a great vocal tone to give me an 8 bar rap in the middle eight of a up tempo love song. It took him 45 minutes to come up with something. Had I asked for eight bars about killing someone it would have taken about 5 minutes.

 

3. Some young men in the black community actually try to live what these songs portray. When listened to constantly and mixed with drugs and or alcohol it can have a very negative effect. An example of that is an experience a buddy of mine had a couple of years ago.

 

He's a nice guy not prone to violence. He was spending some time with his young nephew and a couple of the nephews buddies just cruising around getting a buzz and listening to hip-hop music. He stated that having the buzz and after listening to that music for an extended period of time had he encountered a percieved threat he would have responded much more violently than he normally would have. To be exact his words were "After four hours of drinking and listening to that music, I wanted to kick somebody's ass!"

 

Conclusion:

 

Many young black men with no male role models will take from hip-hop what the artist idea of "being a man" is. That means getting a gun to solve their problems Not entirely the artists fault but they do have some responsibilty there. If there was a greater percentage of positive messages I could more easily tolerate the entire art form.

 

Lawrence

[alcohol_]

Here we go again!

[Barandine Vondenger]

oh yeah, oh yeah

oh I go by arell spencer

and my really real name is rick

and my real game is really real work I said WORK

so much work it's sick uh honh

now I have sang for muh supper oh yeah

and I have been removed

and sittin in the graybar hotel there

I wrote my very first blues oh yeah

and I got the blues in my pocket

and yeah I got me plenty of ska ka ska

and I got me some mozart kickin'

he gonne help me buy my bike and my car

he said now boy when you make a run for it

grab your wife and box of of of care

and take your gift and show 'em all you riffs cause now you got somethin' werf a share

 

word up YO! !

[Super 8]

Yeah, I really miss the good lyrics like:

 

"i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie

to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop the rock it

to the bang bang boogie, say up jumped the boogie

to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

 

Now THAT'S a positive vibe!

But in general, Shniggs, I'd agree. There's a lot of posturing....posing....acting like you're somthing that you're not.

 

Chuck D came to my college to speak one time. His message was that the stuff you're seeing and hearing is not the way it really is. When the video shoot is over, the Rolex comes off, the BMW goes back, and the babes go home. It's a big show. This is the stuff people don't see.

 

I was working at a studio some years ago, and I walked in one day, one of my associates was recording some young aspiring Rap artists. The song they were recording involved shooting a cop for pulling you over.

"Fuck a po-po

Fuck a po-po

My trigger finger's numb, I'm screaming out "Red rum""

 

Actually, the lyrics were pretty catchy -which is why I can remember the song 6 years later. But it was still some pretty scary shit. I don't dig that scene at all. But, I guess it's everywhere, really. You can listen to Metal and get the same message.

 

I used to hear about KISS all the time when I was a young kid. 'Oh, they're evil'....'Oh, they're into this....they're into that'. I never paid much attention. The lyrics never really affected me.

I never hurt anyone. I never took drugs because the rockstars said it was cool. I never bowed down to worship Satan.

Interestingly though, I did know some kids who did! One of them, in fact, joined a Satanic cult, and killed his best friend and his father.

 

But, if Rock-n-Roll made him do that, why didn't it affect me???

 

So in conclusion....Hell if I know...

Music provides an escape. Maybe people can use it to entertain fantasies of killing and fucking. Maybe some can't tell fantasy from reality....I don't know. I think people have to make choices.

There is truth to the saying; "Garbage in, garbage out". I guess how it affects you, depends on what you are rooted on to begin with.

 

Originally posted by LawrenceF:

Many young black men with no male role models will take from hip-hop what the artist idea of "being a man" is.

Man, that's the truth. That's why Fathers have to step up to the plate, and start being Fathers. I don't care what color you are....kids need their Dads.

[KenElevenShadows]

So LawrenceF, do you feel that all hip-hop is "negative"? Some of it? Are you into a lot of the more "positive" hip-hop? Do you like Cuban hip-hop? Do you feel that there are some good black role models in hip-hop? Just curious.

[Raymar]

Almost makes you want to become an instrumentalist.

[Salyphus]

May as well read these instead:

 

Why is there so much Inate Hatred towards Rap/Hiphop/ anything Rapmusic?

 

Is Hip Hop culture really a "Culture"?

 

Really Great Innovative Hip Hop

 

For a start...

[henryrobinett]

This is a ridiculous generality and as such is racist.

[pseudonym]

Topic: Does Hip Hop send a bad message?

 

Why, yes mother-fucker it does send a bad message

[Philter]

Generally, if you don't like hip-hop, I believe you should

 

BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!!!

 

I never used to snore in my sleep 'til this rap shit started

Warm thoughts fill the hot-headed and cold-hearted

Your whole paycheck, you burp it and then fart it

And y'all think I'm gon' stop? BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!

 

If you mad I'm on top, then wish me gone

If you mad I'm on the road, then wish me home

And if you mad that I'm right, punk wish me wrong

But after your three wishes - BLOW IT OUT YA ASS!

 

-LUDACRIS

 

I'm sorry man, this stuff is great. You just have to loosen up and stop taking it so seriously.

 

This thread makes me think of people who felt threatened that heavy metal was producing legions of satan-worshipping teens.

 

I grew up listening to NWA, Public Enemy, and Black Sabbath, and I haven't shot anyone yet, I don't deal drugs, and I don't even believe in a devil. However, I do have a decent sense of rhythm, and for that, more props to hip-hop, and a sense of drama, to which I owe heavy metal a trunk full of drop-d power chords.

[fluxONE]

To understand the violence in Hip Hop music you have to understand where it came from. Hip Hop originated in poverty stricken communities, invented by the youth as a way to deal with and eventually get out of the ghetto or projects or whatever you want to call it. This is very similar to the origination of blues(black slaves singing about the troubles of daily life).

 

A good artist in any genre of music writes about what he experiences in his daily life. These kids deal with guns, drugs and violence on a daily basis. Thats what they will write about. Its natural.

 

Now heres where it gets tricky and most people who complain that hip hop is sending the wrong message seem to get this part confused. When a good mainstream hip hop artist (jay-z, 2pac, biggie, nas, 50, eminem) talks about the guns drugs and violence they are NOT promoting it. They are simply stating that it exists and trying to make people AWARE of what is going in their communities.

 

I will quote 2pac, a writer who had more relevant and important things to say then, in my opinion, any other artist who has ever lived.

 

"I know I cant change the world, Im not trying to change world. But I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, someones gonna clean it up." - 2pac

 

When tupac rapped about the guns and the violence he saw almost everyday he was not trying get people to participate but rather make people aware so that something could be done.

 

I know that this is not the case for ALL hip hop artists, and not the case for all the songs by the true artists but hip hop is abused just like any other artform.

 

For the kids who witness the things heard in rap songs, they dont need to be told whats happening as they can see it for themselves. Your not gonna influence them in anyway with stuff they see everyday. The problem comes when people who are not subject to the everyday life of people in drug ridden, poverty stricken communities, take the music to literaly and begin to imitiate what they hear in a song. For people who are so easily influenced I feel sorry.

 

Furthermore, not ALL hip hop is violent. Granted battle tracks will always be violent but they are not meant to be taken seriously. It is only a display of lyrical skills and a true hip hop battle never approaches the physical level, it is kept on records only.

 

There is a massive community of underground artists, many of whom do not live in the ghettos, who focus purely on lyrical skill. Many of them discuss important social and political views and have very strong appropriate opinions with facts to back them up, never mentioning murder once.

 

On a final note, Hip Hop as a culture is not sending the wrong, but rather a truthful message. Nothing more nothing less.

[TrancedelicBlues]

Originally posted by LawrenceF:

Before someone calls me a racist, I'm a black man. With that said...

 

Yes. It sends the wrong message.

 

The messages I get from the hip-hop artists in my studio are...

 

1. Most have a surprising talent for remembering words and phrases but never use that to convey a poisitive message.

 

2. When asked to write lyrics about something other than the "me bad, kill you" style, it takes a very long time. I asked this rapper with a great vocal tone to give me an 8 bar rap in the middle eight of a up tempo love song. It took him 45 minutes to come up with something. Had I asked for eight bars about killing someone it would have taken about 5 minutes.

 

3. Some young men in the black community actually try to live what these songs portray. When listened to constantly and mixed with drugs and or alcohol it can have a very negative effect. An example of that is an experience a buddy of mine had a couple of years ago.

 

He's a nice guy not prone to violence. He was spending some time with his young nephew and a couple of the nephews buddies just cruising around getting a buzz and listening to hip-hop music. He stated that having the buzz and after listening to that music for an extended period of time had he encountered a percieved threat he would have responded much more violently than he normally would have. To be exact his words were "After four hours of drinking and listening to that music, I wanted to kick somebody's ass!"

 

Conclusion:

 

Many young black men with no male role models will take from hip-hop what the artist idea of "being a man" is. That means getting a gun to solve their problems Not entirely the artists fault but they do have some responsibilty there. If there was a greater percentage of positive messages I could more easily tolerate the entire art form.

 

Lawrence

Yeah, there's some talent at work there, all right...

 

They all seem to think if they have talent the world owes them something...

 

Not realizing how many others have just as much talent, and maybe something more original to say...

 

BTW--has it been very hard in your life, being a black man named "Lawrence"??

 

Pardon my asking...

[aliengroover]

I think these threads are quite "dumb" to start, and usually there's some kind of personal issue behind it (not necessarily racism, but who knows). I'm tired of hearing this pathetic argument. Do I like some...I repeat...SOME of what's said in some Hip Hop/Rap songs? HELL NO!! But do I like some of what's said in some Rock songs? Hell NO!! Are those songs truly representative of the entire genre? Hell NO!!

 

The last three rappers I've worked with have all been in that mainstream-style of Rap, and all three have simply made party songs. One of them did five songs, and two of them were socially conscious songs, while one of the party songs had little positive messages thrown in. I've recorded most styles of music for over 13 years, and I've only had the "blessing" to work with less than a one-handed count of those that sang or rapped some craziness.

 

If you want to say Mainstream Hip Hop, or any genre, sends a bad message, then look at movies. There is not just violent "imagery", there are violent "images". For discussions sake, if this stuff is that influential, then guaranteed movies have killed more people than music.

 

However, I believe that it has ZERO to do with the movies or music or books or anything. If YOU have the inclination to walk into a building and kill people, then you will do that whether or not you saw the Matrix. If you were anti-Semetic, you were that way BEFORE you saw the Passions. I don't care how easily swayed you are, there are very few people in this universe that will do or feel something so extreme simply because they heard it on a CD or saw it at the movies.

 

Mainstream Hip Hop doesn't send a bad message. Mainstream Humans are a bad message.

Peace

[the.circular.motion.rub.it]

to quote the afore-mentioned chuck d,

 

rap is the black CNN

 

seriously, this topic always comes up once in a while, and no ones minds are ever changed

 

there is lots of hip-hop music (underground AND mainstream) that doesnt have a negative message

 

and yes i will acknowledge that alot of hip hop (mainstream AND underground) does have negative themes

 

just like all music, basically

 

i mean cmon, (this is directed at the oler forumites who hate hip hop), dont you remember being young and being told rock and roll was the devils music? dont do the same thing to hip hop

 

as harsh as it may sound, many/most/some peeps just dont get hip hop... and thats fine, i guess we cant help that

 

just make sure you repect it, even if you dont neccesarily understand it

 

PS-that poll was f****n sickly biased so i didnt vote

 

PPS-good (or at least IMO) underground(ish) stuff: black star... digable planets.... a tribe called quest... the roots

 

good (or at least IMO) mainstream stuff: outkast... luda... twista... kanye west...

 

yea,

 

whatever

 

peace

 

[the.circular.motion.rub.it]

wheres Nawledge at?

 

come drop some science bro

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by the.circular.motion.rub.it:

PS-that poll was f****n sickly biased so i didnt vote

Even while I don't agree with the way you talk about the poll, I DO agree it was biased.

[kylen]

Well - I don't know much about hip hop so I'm not really qualified to discuss it.

 

hehe, that doesn't stop me from having an opinion though - does it

 

I don't like most of it that I've heard - is that what it was - hip hop ? Well I don't know - whatever it is it's got lot's of big bottom, people talkin an cussin at me - ME - what the hell did I do anyway. I was just trying to get home from work and there's something comin out of the airwaves that's pissin me off, makin me angry, from the car next to me - is that the hip hop attitude ? Argry, posing, muscles flenched - yeah then I got it - I'm hip hop OK, hehe yeah

 

I guess I could record my ole version in the hip hop style - Boom-thicka-boom-thika "Hey there car sittin next to me, I gonna blow a whole in your ole CD player-ee" hehe does it have to ryhme - I guess. Yeah watch the signal going from red to green - whew, another hip hop experience over with...

 

hehe- then there's the one where a country chick pulls up next to me and the most trebly nasaly honkin known to man came out of that young lady, arf the things people do to me from their cars...have mercy what I done to U

 

Ya'll got any sense out there in those cars

[Cozmicslop]

The answer to the question is...

 

no

[Dasher]

Hip hop, as a rhythmic concept, is a wonderful, cool, powerful extension to the basic art of music. Great dance grooves, unique 'music concrete'-style sounds, great fun.

 

The lyrics, on the other hand, have to be evaluated individually. There are some good rap lyrics, with a positive message. But the vast majority of top selling acts are conveying messages of hate, violence and disrespect for others, especially women.

 

I see kids with headphones on, their iPods blasting hate lyrics into their heads 16 hours a day. And in answer to a previous question: Yes, it is absolutely necessary to blast hip-hop hate lyrics out of your car with all windows down and the amp at full bray - that's the POINT, to annoy and intimidate the rest of the world.

 

These kids are being desensitized and turned into amoral, psychotic machines by repeatedly hearing and seeing (and thereby learning) that people with a lot of money (see the gold they're wearing?) and power (see the cars they drive, the bitches on their sleeve getting punched around?) think it is a GOOD idea to kill cops or members of other gangs, use drugs and beat up women.

 

That's not music, that's just hate, and should be dealt with accordingly.

 

There is a place for violent lyrics, and calls to revolt against the established order. Gangsta rap is a cry for help, from those who feel disenfranchised by mainstream society. But shooting a cop for pulling you over for speeding is not political justice, it's just being the nastiest schoolyard bully you can (my gun's bigger than yours...)

 

Hate breeds hate. Don't hate gangsta rappers (that just makes you into one of them,) but don't trust them either. They have no ethics, no soul, no sense of wonder or beauty. The sooner they kill each other off, the better off the world will be...

 

Music is love. Hip-hop is music. Gangsta and its offshoots and derivitives are not.

 

Dasher

[the.circular.motion.rub.it]

Originally posted by Gus Lozada:

Originally posted by the.circular.motion.rub.it:

PS-that poll was f****n sickly biased so i didnt vote

Even while I don't agree with the way you talk about the poll, I DO agree it was biased.

oops

 

pardon my language

 

i DID use the little stars tho....

[RobT]

Originally posted by shniggens:

- (prepare for gross generalization) - RAP IS NEGATIVE!

 

Personally, I'm sick of it. Oh well, take a vote.

1) I think the keyword is SOME. For every 50 Cent or what ever rapper of the month there is a Roots, a Common or Chuck D.

 

2) Yeah. I think we all are especially threads like this one. I usually avoid threads like this one. I just couldn't pass this one up.

 

3) As with the rest of life. If you don't like it don't listen to it. Don't watch it. Sometimes its hard when there is a car boomin' the sounds from half a mile away. Curteous behavior where did it go?

[Rog]

I don't get it.

 

Do computer games make youths take guns into school or shoot at people driving by?

 

No.

 

Do some films encourage people to commit murder?

 

No.

 

Does hip hop make some people violent?

 

No.

 

We're a violent bunch. Always have been, always will be. We were just as violent, if not more violent, hundreds of years before anyone ever dreamed of a Playstation, CD or DVD.

 

We've just got to accept that twenty-something males of all colours can be sadistic little fuckers and stop blaming what's in their CD player or playstation ... even if they themselves seek to blame it to save their own asses.

 

"50 Cent made me do it, it's not my fault"

 

- you pulled the trigger didn't you?

[LawrenceF]

Originally posted by TrancedelicBlues:

BTW--has it been very hard in your life, being a black man named "Lawrence"??

 

Pardon my asking...

Now THAT'S entertaining...

 

No. Only females call me that to everyone else I'm "Larry".

 

Very funny question though.

 

Lawrence

[Franknputer]

I've never believed that art could be a root cause of violence, but what do y'all about the question of being a contributing factor?

 

I used to dig rolling around & listening to hardcore rap, but it definitely had an effect on my behavior as far as jacking up the adrenaline & putting imagery in my head that wouldn't be there otherwise. Now, to make the case that I was getting 'educated' about what was going on in neighborhoods I didn't live in, I believe that - but what if you live in that neighborhood? Just hearing about violence, pimping, etc. really isn't 'news', is it?

 

What then, if there is no solution or 'moral to the story' offered? One of the things I respect most about Ice-T was that he was honest about the consequences of being a Playa - but a lot of cats don't seem to broach that angle, but concentrate on how bad-assed they are.

 

(Some) Rappers aren't the only ones that are guilty of this, either, and neither are musicians. How about shows like the "Law & Order"s, which I enjoy - but I've noticed that they tend to open with graphic footage of dead bodies, which ultimately seems to add nothing to the story (but does cause me to occasionally shoo my daughter out of the room as she's going up to bed).

 

Now, we're adults here (most of us) and certainly we're entitled to our tastes. But, the reason why we indulge in this stuff is precisely for the effect. Would you drink whiskey if it didn't give you a buzz?

 

What I'm getting at here is the idea that wallowing in such stuff could certainly have a negative effect. Actually the whiskey analogy works pretty well, I think: there are certainly good arguments that people should be able to drink it; yet, we don't pretend that it's completely innocuous; and, if one spends a majority of their life indulging in it, without some healthy balance, then the long-term effects are negative, possibly with some short-term consequences as well.

 

Oh, BTW - I didn't vote in the poll, either. I agree with the "sometimes" answer.

[shniggens]

Originally posted by fluxONE:

To understand the violence in Hip Hop music you have to understand where it came from. Hip Hop originated in poverty stricken communities, invented by the youth as a way to deal with and eventually get out of the ghetto or projects or whatever you want to call it. This is very similar to the origination of blues(black slaves singing about the troubles of daily life).

.

I call bullshit on this one. The genre has set a precedent for itself. I see little teenage kids in my middle class neighborhood standing outside of 7-11 performing their "pseudo rap" in the same style of 50 cent. Robbing, smacking bitches, and loading the gat are the usual theme.