Personally throughout my life(21 years) i've gone from liking it, to being indifferent, to completely despising it. I see too many black people, especially my own age trying to imitate and live by the thug mentality that alot of rappers preach about in their lyrics. It's especially annoying because alot of them who feel the need to imitate this lifestyle of flashy clothes, obnoxious behavior, degrading attitudes towards women, and making money the easy way instead of getting an education are from the suburbs. I'm not going to completly blame it all on hip hop of course but I think it's definetely a huge factor in the way that alot of blacks are behaving. I had black friends who would wear some extremly nice designer clothing but would beg me for moneybecause they couldn't affordfood during lunch. I honestly do not have that much respect for the "gangsta" rap "artists" . Out of all of them what % do you think actually goes on about how important it is to get an education?? Not alot. I'd just like to get some other views and opinions on this. Because i'm seriously hoping that hip-hop will eventually fade out of mainstream society.

i like very little of the new stuff....but i am an old school junkie

but don't think that hip hop will die...it has influenced the world...everyone is trying to get that "hip hop" look the lingo...and anything else they think is hip hop....

really it is a culture...not something that u can just put on like a shirt..

I think the hip hop that they are playing now is taking the fun out of what it was meant to be. But the beautiful thing is that it is still here and isnt going anywhere. I would like for it to get back to fun. The guns and the the degrading of my black queens and the bragging of the street slanging isnt necessary. But you have to blame the the powers that be that allow the crap that is played now. The execs are to blame. I grew up with a very well known hip hop icon and I'm glad that he marketed himself in a positive light and not to disgrace himself.

I am 55 years old and I appreciate all types of music. From Coltrane to the classics. There is a time and a mood for them all for me. There were rappers in the 60's and 70's in the coffee houses. The Last Poet's come to mind.

The hip hop thing today has gotten out of hand. Some many children have bought into it and are trying to play it out. I don't have to tell anyone what the theme of 'hip hop' is. This no shame in my game crap boots respect out of the game.

Bluehoney may well be right, that it will not go away and this is probably rigth because of the amount of money involved. This type of music is doing 100 times the harm to our race than good. Kids are giving up in pursuit of an education, killing and being killed, ruining their lives because they are trying to immulate these money hungry, selfish people. If there is a good side to hip hop I have yet to see it.

It is basic filth, disrespectful filth that has a strangle hold on young impressionable blacks.

It is so sad.

This is a parents letter that was published in Allhiphop.com:

I am truly interested in making our community a better place, therefore I do use rap music to inform me of the lives of the unfortunate youth that are being deprived in the Black community. The problem I have with rap music is the manner in which this information is delivered. The lyrics are laden with vulgar profanity that is offensive to the ear. These lyrics become a roadblock to any type of effective communication. When my now 14-year-old son was too young to care about rap music, I avoided it for this reason that I’ve stated.

You are right about rap music crossing over into various demographics. My son began to seek out this genre of music. Once I allowed my teenage son to listen to rap music and view the rap videos, I knew that I had to listen to the messages in the lyrics even though the vulgar profanity makes me cringe. The reason I listen now is so that I can continue to educate my son. We discuss the messages given via the lyrics and he understands why there is anger, crime and disrespect within these lyrics.

Children should be raised with love and security in order to feel safe. They need to be guided and their self esteem protected. With this in place they have a chance to blossom and utilize that special talent they were born with.

You mentioned that White and Asian youth listen to rap music and forget to form actual gangs. No, they don’t forget, they probably have no desire. Gangs are formed because deserted youths are searching for love and attention. White, Asian and Black youths from caring homes receive their love and attention from within the home. The parents of these youth need to remind their children that the gangsta rap lyrics are not their lives and there is no reason to incorporate this way of living. What I teach my son is to have empathy for the inner city children who rely upon the streets for survival. We discuss ways that we could be of help. We definitely don’t look down on them.

The problem I have with most of the rap stars is, after putting their message out there, they gain monetary success and instead of purchasing property to build centers for the youth to prosper, they waste money on material things. Don’t get me wrong, its good to have and buy for yourself, but there is such a thing as waste. One person having 100 pairs of tennis shoes when the children of the ghetto often have one pair or none seems to be a bit on the selfish side. Wouldn’t you think that Black people would care about their own more so than Whites. We cry out for help but what about the help that we can give, especially the rap stars that are making millions. And don’t think because one has given to a charity here and there its all good. To one that much is given much is expected.

Because some of these rappers are former drug dealers, thieves, robbers and even murderers they should be helped by the ones that are not (such as the rappers with college degrees or the ones that dodged the drudgery of the streets). They should also be helped by the White executives that share in the wealth of their success. These rappers may not know how to say what they want to communicate minus the vulgar language. It can be done. And don’t worry, the records will still sell because the music and the melody are jamming, especially when they sample and mix their music with the R&B singers. In fact this is what helps draw the people to rap music.

You want critics to address the issues rappers rap about, maybe if the lyrics are cleared of the plague of vulgar profanity critics could concentrate on the message. And speaking of the message, a lot of these lyrics are harmful to the youth of the Black community. I don’t know the number, but I can imagine that a lot of these children rely upon the words from these famous rappers. “I wanna live good / so s**t I’ll sell dope / for a three finger ring / one a ‘dem gold ropes� (50 Cent, “Hate it or Love it�). Selling dope not only brings money, it also comes with violence, crime and death. This is the message that should be given and the youth should be warned of these consequences.

Are these lyrics pondered upon or do they just pop out from the top of a rappers head? Do they ask themselves how will these lyrics help our youth? Do these lyrics educate our youth in a way that can help them? Rappers can make a major change in the ghetto. They have the attention, the audience, and the power of marketing. Let us begin to help ourselves, instead of being so angry and blaming others. And by the way, how about searching within and finding the love that we all possess and replacing the anger with some of it.

Kimberly Peaks
Parent Advocate
Author, Flashcards For Parents

Why is it every time a disscution about rap and hip-hop culture occurs people, immediatley talk of banning things and censorship. I too dislike some of the material out there and I stay clear of the stuff that does not relate or I consider inappropriate. I would not however expect an artist of any discription to cenor themselves.Regardless of our feelings they have a right to express what they say they see around them or reflect the society they live in.We must ask ourselves if rap music disappeared today, would drugs also disappear, would guns not exist, would it be peace and good will to all men in our communities? We must not get away from the real issues of historic inequalities that leave us in this situation. Parents, friends relatives must balance the messages that some young people choose to take from some forms of rap music. To quote 50 cent "Get rich or die trying" is this not the message of a modern capitalist society, rather then just a form of rap music?

newstyle wrote: live and learn..

I haven't heard anyone say anything about banning rap music. Although I would not mind at all if the vulgar forms of rap and what ever other music would be eliminatedfrom the scene. No one has said anything about blaming rap music for the ills of society and black life in particular. You are ablsolutely right that many are looking for something to blame their short comings on.

But no sane person can say anything other than rap music is not a good influence on black youth. That is a fact.

No drugs would not disappear, guns would remain, and we would still have bad people roaming the streets. Rap music certainly has contributed to these things and the license that our youth seem to have these days.

As far as a music form, I have a difficult time listening to it although like the poster above I listened to some with my sons to explain to them what was being said and why these things are not "kool". I would also take clippings out of the paper that dealt with the lyrics to show them that society does not tolerate the lifestyle that is 'spoken' of in much of hiphopdom.

Say what you may, it is harmful to black youth. I know plenty of parents who raised their kids the right way and yet they still gravitate to this trash. And trash is what this vulgar junk is albeit reality in certain stratas of society.

It does not help. It does cause harm to black youth.

dave all rap is not bad...have u heard of

common

mos def

a tribe called quest

talib kweli

outkast

guru..

even... kanye west

just to name a few...all of it is not garbage..

kids tend to go for what is current and what gets themost radio air play..not even knowing the history behindthe music

everything repeats itself in a different way...aint no different than

marvin gaye talking bout sexual healing..

strokin, by clarence carter..

as we lay, shirley murdock..

oh and lets notforget about prince...

just a few that come to mind...



in addition...rap music is purchased by mostly white kids...

when i am riding in my car..and i hear someone pull up next to me blasting their music...i look over and what do i see?

white youth...blasting..tupac..jay z..50 cent...snoop...wu tang...etc

mad, bad and dangerous to know

This isn't a discription of a rapper, rather a discription of the poet Lord Byron. In his day his actions and works caused controvery and were not to the taste of his society yet to day they are in the cannon of English literature. I am not suggesting that some of the things rappers rap about now will one day be the bedrock of academic study, but I believe trash or not it does inform our society and so is of some value.

I like hip hop. It is unfortunate how many people world wide are impacted by it. It's like B-ball though if you grow up poor, drop out of school at 16 and rap your way to $1 million dollars what are you going to do. Education in the minds of most MC's isn't getting people paid enough, people want the stardom, the money and that lifestyle.

bluehoney wrote:
You are 100 percent correct Bluehoney. As a matter of fact if you go to most hip hop concerts, you are going to see an awful lot of white kids in the audience. More white than any...