Hip-hop lyrics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hip-hop lyrics - Research Paper Example The degree of influence varies from one child to another. Experts are not unanimous in their conclusions. The influence of rap music, which is synonymous with hip-hop music, is intense on the minds of children and it can have mostly negative or some positive effects. The worrying factor is, hip-hop has become part of the popular culture. It has made rapid strides since it originated 1970s. â€Å"It is a known fact that hip-hop has taken over, in a sense, the mainstream youth culture,† said Emmett Price, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston, who teaches hip-hop culture. â€Å"So, the young kids from the age of being able to speak to going on to high school are influenced by hip-hop culture whether they listen to music or not.† (Killion†¦) Researchers are busy analyzing and trying to prove that a correlation exists between rap music and increased criminal behavior, sexual activity and drug use. Tricia Rose opines, â€Å"A key aspect of much of the criticism that has been leveled at hip-hop is the claim that it glorifies, encourages, and thus causes violence. This argument goes as far back as the middle to 1980s—the so-called golden age of hip-hop—when politically radical hip hop artists, such as Public Enemy, who referred to direct and sometimes armed resistance against racism ‘by any means necessary,’ were considered as advocates of violence.†(p.34) Young kids have a tendency to believe what they see over and over again, as truth. The wise saying goes—a lie repeated from a platform a thousand times, becomes the truth.’ In the present times of internet revolution, it is necessary that the young kids should know many things, but is highly desirable that they should not know some things. Their minds quickly receive information that may prove intensely harmful in the long run. Kids interpret what they see from the level of their understanding and without the proper contextualization. The issue is, children take what