Has Rap Music Gone Too Far? - Comments

well im a huge Rnb Hiphop fan, and that influences me so much, and i do listen to Lil wayne, buh there also promoting to stop gang violence. Their songs okay some are about sex and that but listen to 'tie my hands' Lil wayne and robin thike or 'my Life' the game and even 'changes' by probably the greatest rapper ever 2pac. there all about something quite important, and their lyrics do show how hard life can be, and shows that to young people who are going through hard things that there not alone and how the rappers have come from such hardships and got so far shows that everyone can , for example 'Runaway love'. I understand how some people might think it promotes violence and the lyrics are sometines inapropiate. But as a huge hiphop fan, the lyrics help me, and I don't think they've got anything wrong with them. But everyone is entilted to thier own opinion =)

alright, im not gonna go through here and read every damn comment, so imma answer the questions at the end of the post. its both the rappers and the listeners fault. the rapper gives the listener the ideas, and the listener decides to follow through. personally, i hate all new day rap.id rather rock out to My Chem or Disturbed then sit there and try to understand what the hell these people are saying

oh and draco_familiar, that rapper that did 'walk this way' with aerosmith was Run DMC :)

"The message of a song can be very influencing and may lead listeners to do what is proposed in the song"

this article isn't very well written, is your first language english?
aside from that, i cant think of many songs that tell people what to do with the lyrics, and the listeners go out and do it.

Anyway, rap music has been like this for a long time, these artists go in and out of fashion, and that's all there is too it. It's something to get people to listen to their music. It's what a lot of todays kids look up to and aspire to, so it's really no wonder that they're doing this. Artists will come and go, but the principal of objectifying woman won't go away. Get used to it, I have (I just ignore it :P)

I have to say, yes it's the person who's pergnat that's responsible for thier actions, but some people just aren't smart, and do think in the way adults think we adolescence do. Though that doesn't mean that the rest of us can't think for ourselves.

The rappers can rap about what ever they want to rap about, that's their freedom as lyricits.

Parents can let thier kids listen to what ever, because that is their freedom.

BUT I, for one, AM TIRED OF HAVING TO LISTEN AND SEE THIS KIND OF SHIT EVERYWHERE BECUASE THE CENSER ON RADIO EDITS AND MUSIC VIDEOS DON'T WORK!

I relise that where the princible will let some dick play "Lollipop" (which isn't spelled correctly by the way, there's a diference between style and ignorance) over the intercom at a school operated function, the same princible wouldn't let me suggest "I'm Not Okay" at an eclusive eigth grade dance becuase of the mentioning of the word (not term) "fuck" all the way at the end of the song. Does not anyone else see this?

The radio edit of "Holiday" (which is spelled right) has a very large portion of it's bowels missing, becuse of censorship. But the radio edit of "Lollipop" doesn't even lack the cussing and valgar terms (i.e. pussy).

Rap dominates MTV, which, last time I checked, was created for alternative music. (Remember those days, wheren't they nice?)

Rock is just as bad as Rap in a lot of places in it's lyrics. I understand that much.
But I still believe that Rap is getting special treatment because "it's the craze" appearantly. I just want songs like "Lollipop" to get just as swiss cheese-like as "Holliday" on the radio; and to not have to listen to that every where I go becuase some people don't understand comon curticy. (I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong)

And if you think I'm just another roker mudsligging on the Rap music, I'll have you know I am a very big fan of 1980's rap.

Querstion, have you ever heard "Walk This Way" Aerosmith? Well the band does aother version where they bring in some rapper (I'm sorry for not knowing his name) to the mix. That mix is still very popular. I'd look it up on Youtube if I where you and just listen.

Rap and Rock don't clash like people want them too. It just seems that no one can seems to understand that in the way of music, nothing is perfect in every way. SO STOP GIVING RAP SPECIAL TREATMENT! Please, I'm begging you!

Ehh,
rap/rock is really what I listen to.
I don't think rap is all that bad. It's not all about sex, money, etc. Think about the "Rock and Roll" era thing. That was sex, money and drugs. Not all rap is bad. There are some good songs. You're just listening to the wrong ones.

Also. If all you people are going to be like "ALl rap is about drugs and sex" then what do you say about the beatles sond "Lucy in The Sky WIth Dimonds"? That whole thing is like...about LSD.

I love the beatles like you don't know, but they wrote a crapload about drugs and sex.

Also. If you ban explicit rap music, that won't keep poeple from feeling what they feel.

Another thing.
the kind of music you listen to really depends on where you live. For instance

If you have lived in Alaska you're entire life, you are less likely to listen to country, because you probably have never really seen "Amber waves of grain with a cowboy tilting his hat at you"

And for one more thing. I think it's EXTREMELY important to respect an artist.
( I know I may sound hypocritical to a few of you, because of that idiotic journal I wrote bashing the joe-bros. Which I deleted withing 3 hours of making )(I think.)

This took me a wile to really get, but.

Just becuase you can't relate to some of the rap out there doesn't mean that someone else can't.

Just like how peopel who have never been depressed have a harder time listening to hard rock./metal.

And please. The Author isn't bashing Rap. She/he's simply saying that some poeple think that Rap is to blame for some problems with young people.
(Oprah (a rap lover herself) even had a show on it sometime last year).

Nice article.

i read a few of the other comments about how rap is going downhill and stuff, but the thing is.
Whne a person writes a poem, or a song they normally write about things they can relate to, or that has happened to them or a person they know.

SO when rap artists write about women being treated as toys, and people like it. Chances are, it's a reflection of what's going on in our own reality.

Like if an artist writes about hitting a women, it may be relating to hopw the artist dad hit his mom, or something to that degree.

I think that some of the music does go a little far, but also, I think that most music is simply a reflection of thigs around us. They are just showing the public what goes on where they are.

SO if more explicit music is what it takes for people to realize that life in America(or any other place) is not all rainbows and daisies, I say bring it on! Thatway, maybe we will try to fix the problem.

I think rap is a bad influence, and rap music isn't that good anyways. I think they, or the artists that make rap, should have less cussing or less nasty talking in their songs. Punk may have a few cuss words, but you can't really catch them because most punk is really fast. I don't even listen to rap or hip hop, but I have read some lyrics and it's basically talking. They're narrating something with a beat of music. Like I read one, where this man was talking about him finding this reporter on the streets, and they automatically run to his place to have intercourse. Yeah...that's a creative song...They should definetly change the lyrics!

I think that if you are a person who says that My Chemical Romance isn't too blame for teenagers commiting suicide than you are being hypocritical by saying that rap music causing people to do things. I don't think My Chem is the cause of suicide and I don't this rap is the cause of certain things, therefore, yes I think rap is being wrongly blamed, I don't however like or agree with rap music at all. It has no meaning it it's all just a bunch of womanizers trying to get famous for the sake of making money.

I liked this article, and I just have to say, to all who have made negative comments about it, can you please read the entire article?

Don't just pick out words/phrases, and not keep them in context.

Yes, there are other genres which include explicit lyrics, etc.

But, those other genres have gotten there "time" I guess you can say.
Rock music had its "time of shame" where it was publicized and hated
by some of the public, where it was on the news for influencing negative
behaviors from the youth of that time.

Teenagers to the end, just wrote about the genre that is having its "time of shame"
at the moment, where it is being criticized and...well...made fun of.

Like, Teenagers wrote, or at least hinted at, not all rap is the like the ones that play on the radio today. There is Old School rap, which included inspiring lyrics.

I own a couple of rap CDs, well actually I own one, Eminem's and it was a collection of just some of his hits, and a couple of new songs. Some of his lyrics are inspiring, and I actually listen to them at times when I need a pick-me-up, but, some of the lyrics are explicit and derogatory, but, I just SKIP over those songs.

All in all, thank you for writing this article.

If you really want to read about how the other genres are being portrayed,
just look them up, I've seen a couple of them here on Mibba.
There was recently one writing about Marilyn Manson.

Yeah, rap can be AWFUL, but so can rock (as the_Ascension mentioned) and other genres. And, really, it's up to us what we hear and see. If you really wanna see change, be change. That's why I don't listen to those such as Buckcherry or Lil' Wayne.

You only pointed out the fact that rap music can be degrading at times, but you forgot to include that rock and country is degrading as well, thus making your point quite biased, you may not agree with that statement though.

I agree with you on some parts, rap music can be a bit much at times, but rock can as well. I've heard a lot of lyrics from artists such as brokenCYDE, Bring Me The Horizon, Buckcherry, and even The Red Hot Chil Peppers that could be questionable. Maybe even worse than these songs you mention; Tip Drill and Lollipop.

Sorry if I seemed like I was trying to attack you, because it's not what I intended, I just felt that you were being a little one-sided about this issue. I don't think covering one genre of music will make people realise that all musical genres can be degrading.

Other than that, it was a well-written article and it was enjoyable to read. :)

Hey,it used to be rockn roll that had that same issue back in the day.So theres all that sex drugs and bitches shit every genre.
I know one rapper who is the complete oppisite of MTV rappers.
Lupe Fiasco is his name.

I don't like some rap because alot of the same old shit is getting repeated. and some of it doesn't sound original. But that being said, I do love some rap and hip-hop. Yeah, that Lil' Wayne song is disgusting, but I'm also a fan of Afroman, who has a song all about getting stoned. And I listen to a lot of rock bands that have lyrics just as explicet as some rap songs. It's not rap's fault, really. All types of music can have bad lyrics/bad messages. And all types of music can have good messages in their songs. So it's not fair to totally disregard rap as the entire genre being foul/sleazy, etc.

And btw, I'm not talking about you, this is my opinion on the issue. Good article. =]

I don't think rap music has meaning or requires skill, but then again, neither do many of the metal lyrics I listen to. Oli Sykes' famous "Why don't you fuck yourself you stupid fucking whore?" is hardly deep.
It's personal opinion to whether someone likes it or not. I hate people that say "rap is shit" because that's your opinion, it's not a fact.

i grew up listening to rap ,so i like it alot.

I hate rap, and never liked. I always hated about the things they talked about. Rap is pointless. Ughh. I ALSO hated how it took over MTV2. MVT2 was meant to be a place for rock music, not rap. That's why they made it, and then rap had to take over. Ughh.

Like BeautifullHime said, these lyrics aren't only in rap. Look at the song Shake It by Metro Station. All that song is-is about getting the girl to have sex with him. Although this article had a nice message, it shouldn't be just about rap. Alot of the rap artists buy songs off of people. But I think the ones that are all about sex are the ones the rappers write themselves.

I acually love rap, i even wanted to be a rapper. Sometimes the lyrics are just not what i want to hear because i don't have the same point of view as the artist.

-Teenagers to the end.