Does Rap Have an Influence on Us?

By: Eleni Svourenos

Music is a part of every culture. Whether it’s for holidays, traditions, events or whatever the case may be. Rap music, however, is thought of as the devil’s music. What you don’t know is rap is also part of someone’s culture, it originated form hip-hop.

Rap music does not influence teenagers to do bad things just like Bible verses don’t influence us to be good.

Adults are constantly yelling at their kids, warning them to lower the music. They tell us we should listen to their music instead because “that’s real music”.

Adults don’t take the time to really listen to rap music, assuming it’s just random words without any meaning. Contrary to their belief, rap music, just like any other type of music. It has a lot of meaning behind it. Instead of dragging the song along, the rapper gets straight to the point. He/she addresses the issues at hand immediately but with more power.

A country and rap song could have the same message but only one will be criticized due to its choice of tone.

“I don’t believe rap influences us to do bad things but I do believe that people tend to act as if they’re ‘thugs’ when they listen to it. Some people just strongly enjoy the lyrics and really get into them,” says Virginia Zimianitis.

Rap music, for the adults reading this, calms us down. After a long day, we like to know that well-known celebrities such as J. Cole and Eminem are just like the rest of us, dealing with their lives as best as they can. They had to fight for their spot onstage, they weren’t just handed that opportunity (not all of them anyway).

If teenagers are so easily influenced nowadays, a few hash lyrics are the least of their worries. There are worse things out there than the music we listen to, but because most of us do listen to it, it’s a “bad thing”.

Watch a movie with the same goal and everyone’s okay with that. Listen to an R&B song with the exact same lyrics and nobody says anything. Talk fast, add a few vulgar words and it’s the end of the world. If we can watch the words, we can listen to them without anyone having a problem with it.

Rap doesn’t make us thugs or gangsters. It doesn’t make us turn from little innocent children to killers, we do that ourselves. The words don’t make us devil worshipers, just like going to church doesn’t make us saints.

It’s one things to listen to it and put on our imaginary “thug masks” to seem cool and it’s another to be influenced. We grow up with good intentions as people, the music we listen to doesn’t change our decisions.

A rapper doesn’t pick up his microphone and decide to say random words to make a living. They rap for a reason, there’s always a story behind every song. By taking the time to actually listen to the words instead of the beat, we learn to appreciate and admire what these artists have gone through, just like every other artist.

“Rappers rap about these subjects for a reason. Yes, rap music explores some topics that are negative or even vulgar, but it isn’t just for fun,” one of the many comments stated on debate.org.

Rappers also get in trouble because of the videos that go along with the song. Sex, guns, gang violence and discrimination existed in videos long before rap was even thought of. Unfortunately, it’s easier to blame the music than to face the truth.

Instead of blaming the child for letting themselves get to where they are, they blame the easiest thing: the music they listen to.

Rap music doesn’t influence teenagers to take on bad roles as human beings. Those kids are brought up to be who they are by their own doing. Don’t blame the music, blame the kid. You are in control of your own actions. Disagreeing with this would be useless because nobody can control you, especially not music.

Does music influence you?