Rap Music’s Effect on Our Kids
Posted on: May 23, 2008 7 comments so far (is that a lot?)As someone that has listened to rap music for their entire life, whose parents didn’t gave a damn what I listened to or what I watched for that matter, I am taken back by the parents who blame rap music for the negative effect it has on their kids. They argue their kids sell drugs, they have sex too early, they have babies, they disrespect their elders, swear, get into fights, all because they listened to rap music. They want the government to step in and ban or censor rap completely -even though rap music has been pretty much censored to death nowadays (more on this later). These parents need to understand that it’s their friggin’ fault your kid is screwed up, plain and simple. I remember seeing this single mom crying on TV, during the whole Don Imus situation which turned into a war against Hip Hop, saying “It’s so hard to compete with the influence the media and hip hop culture have on my child, I just can’t do it”.
You already know how I feel about people who say “I can’t”, if you say you can’t do something, you can’t. But my take is, it is 100% the parent’s responsibility to know what their kids are watching and listening to. Because it’s the parents who decide to order the BET and MTV channels. It’s the parents that decide to get internet or not. It’s the parents that can block certain websites as they see fit. It’s the parents that give their kids money to see certain movies. And it’s the parents that are the PARENTS! Not the kids!
A parent has every right to strong arm their kid every now and then to find out what’s going in their life, what their doing, what they are watch and listen to, and even what’s stashed in their bedroom. I’m not saying this is good parenting, but if you have a troubled kid, you are the one that has to take action, not the teachers, not the school board, and certainly not the government.
Now as mentioned my parent’s didn’t pay attention to what I listened to or watched, heck I watched “The Exorcist” when I was five years old. My parent’s never grounded me or searched my room. I listened to Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle when I was 10 years old, perhaps the most raunchiest rap album ever. And I somehow made it to graduate from a top university and start my own business without going to jail. And I don’t mention all this to boost, but just to point out that their are millions just like myself that didn’t have the best parents, but have done just fine.
There’s already too much regulation in hip hop as it is that it has killed the entire genre. I have no clue what “hardcore” music kids in grade 7 and 8 are listening to nowadays. If the Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip Hop is any indication, their listening to Lil Wayne’s Lollipop (Oh the horror!), Plies‘ Bust it Baby part 2 featuring Ne-Yo (Oh Lord have Mercy!), Keisha Cole’s Heaven Sent (I’ve never even heard this song, but I’m sure it’s not gangster rap), Jordan Sparks Duet with Chris Brown’s No Air (The very corruption of our dear children) and Mariah Carey’s Touch My Body (Oh no our young girls are getting pregnant!).
Even music videos have been regulated out the wazhoo. I always hear Mr.50 Cent, the guy whose become the scapegoat for socialist and conservatives to blame as the one responsible for the corruption of our youth, talk about the restrictions Viacom puts on music videos in terms of what can be shown and what can’t be shown. The restrictions are very strict that music videos can’t have anything in them anymore. All because parent-teacher groups cried and protested that they didn’t want their kids watching this anymore, thereby ruining my right to watch whatever the hell I want. All the parents had to do was turn it off in their house or explain to their kids what they are watching, but because they didn’t know how to be parents, they went and turned it off in your house and mine. Thanks, yall are like the parents I never had.
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May 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
damn straight
November 19th, 2008 at 7:34 am
yes mate to true and i also think that if a kid gets into a group or gang they listen and do what that group or gang does to get in their and then they listen to random shit thats not good for them at that age its definatly not the music thats the prob.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I think this correct!
November 29th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
rap music more the better chopped and screw
April 16th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
finally someone actually knows what’s going on. I thank you for your insight
June 4th, 2009 at 1:44 am
While I agree with you on the fact that it’s unfair for the government to enforce a law for everyone just to meet the needs of some, I have some more (hopefully) powerful input on the matter. They’re banning this not just to protect their children 24/7 (which they obviously can’t do), but to also draw a line of morality and civility in society (God willing); otherwise, we’re quick on our way to anarchy and furthermore social collapse. A rapper (as skilled as he/she is with words) is entirely capable of expressing themselves by other means than saying that “I had sex with someone I got drunk last night” or, let’s take a leap, shooting somebody just for the heck of it. The rapper should take it under his or her own responsibility to produce something that doesn’t speak of bad morals, especially when the song doesn’t conclude with a resolution to fix said bad moral (interpreting to the listener that the artist supports said “bad” moral/act). I love the right to freedom of speech, but I expect that a grown adult has the maturity to make the best decision of making a song that his/her 8-year-old son can listen to and still remain untainted.
To conclude, I want to mention that it shouldn’t necessarily be the parents’ fault if their child does something they don’t want him/her to do (especially when they tried to teach them otherwise to the fullest extent possible). If I accidentally buy bad lettuce at the grocery story, it shouldn’t be my fault for buying it; it should be the grocery store’s fault for having bad lettuce in the store.
July 16th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
You are seriously mistaken blaming it on the parents. What you fail to accept is that parents can only do so much; you can’t follow your child around town because kids don’t care anymore. It’s sad that I live in suburbia and all I hear from cars is kids blaring hip hop; I don’t hear Skynyrd or Zeppelin or anything. These kids want people to know so bad that they listen to rap music all in some sad fantasy where they just want to look cool and tough. To say that there is no serious effect on kids is a huge mistake on your part, because I have seen it with my own eyes; kids start dressing like a thug one day because they want to look tough, and then it’s a domino effect where the popular kids aren’t the smart athletes anymore, but these dropout losers who prey on younger girls.
You say parents killed the genre due to censorship? What the fuck are you talking about? They killed themselves; censorship isn’t what makes Lil Wayne horrendous; his stupid fucking voice, lack of lyrical talent and nonsensical style are what makes rap stupid. I swear all the time, but when you compare swearing to the message rappers promote, even if they don’t swear like Chamillionaire, it’s horrible. He deserves no credit for not swearing because people miss the point; his lyrics are still evil, and I don’t think the right thing is ever to promote evil things, and you cannot deny that they promote evil. Ridin’ Dirty? They try to perpetuate racist myths against their people to look like martyrs and to make them look like good people; get the fuck over it, whites were done with racism before the 70s, and it’s sad that we are taught today to trust every black person and that they are great people. Newsflash, it’s not racist to not trust black people, because it’s been proven again and again that they will rob and steal from you much more likely than whites; it’s a sad truth, but it’s a truth nonetheless, and rap music is the biggest reason to blame for this, because it gives black youth false reasons to act out violently. I understand that upstanding blacks exist, hell I disagree with our president Obama and voted against him, but he is still a great, intelligent man who happens to be black; I hope so bad that he can become the role model we want, but then he turns the other way and talks about how he likes “Fabolous”, which is an obvious lie and I don’t know why he won’t acknowledge the sad state of the black community.