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Rap music and culture
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2008
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Covering today's most current national and international issues, this series introduces the reader to all sides of contemporary controversies in an objective and comprehensive way by providing a wide spectrum of primary sources written by many of the foremost authorities in their respective fields. - (Baker & Taylor)

Presents articles both supporting and opposing issues involving rap music and culture, including if it is a significant American cultural movement, if it is a positive medium for young people, and if it perpetuates violence. - (Baker & Taylor)

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Table of Contents

Foreword 11
Introduction 14
Chapter 1: Is Rap Culture a Significant American Cultural Movement?
Overview: Rap Culture Is an American Social Movement
19
Todd Boyd
Rap is an African American expressive tradition that has enabled minority youth to critique mainstream American culture and develop a unique hip-hop version of the American Dream.
The limited vision of the civil rights era has given way to this new social movement that empowers young African Americans and Latinos to overcome obstacles in American life.
Yes: Rap Culture Is a Significant American Cultural Movement
Hip-Hop Graffiti Is a Significant American Art Form
32
Janice Rahn
Hip-hop graffiti is part of a larger hip-hop movement that includes hip-hop dancing, DJ-ing and MC-ing, and rap music.
Like any other art form, hip-hop graffiti culture is structured with its own language, worldview, code of ethics, and artist hierarchy.
Hip-Hop Dance Is a Significant American Art Form
43
Carla Stalling Huntington
Hip-hop dance is an African American art form that has been adopted by mainstream American consumer culture.
The commercialization of hip-hop music and dance threatens to reduce its recognition as an important art form.
Rap Music Foregrounds African American History, Hope, and Unity
48
Melbourne S. Cummings and Abhik Roy
Not all rap music promotes negative messages like gang violence.
Some rap helps black youth cope with oppression and foster African American pride and unity.
No: Rap Culture Is Not a Significant American Cultural Movement
Rap Culture's Influence on American Life Is Negative
54
Rebecca Hagelin
By allowing gangsta rap to become the most popular form of music for young people, Americans have allowed much of our culture to admire crime, selfishness, brutality, and indecency.
Hip-Hop Offers Nothing Uplifting to African American Culture
58
John H. McWhorter
Rap music promotes an image of "gangsta" hostility and recklessness that is a self-defeating model for young African Americans.
The multibillion-dollar hip-hop industry thrives on perpetuating a resentful persecution complex that glorifies violence and misogyny, and offers nothing uplifting to black culture.
Chapter 2: Does Rap Culture Provide a Positive Outlet for Young People?
Overview: The Emergence of the Hip-Hop Generation
72
Bakari Kitwana
The hip-hop generation that has come of age in the 1980's and 1990's is strikingly different from the generation of their parents.
Black youth culture now is characterized by its preoccupation with wealth, focus on individual achievement, and sense of the alienation between the sexes.
Yes: Rap Culture Provides a Positive Outlet for Young People
Some Rap Music Promotes Political Empowerment for Minority Youth
80
Yvonne Bynoe
The music industry promotes a narrow concept of rap music to make money.
Conscious rap music moves beyond the commercial model to promote political participation and personal empowerment for young minorities.
Teens Identify with the Broken Homes Portrayed in Rap Music
88
Mary Eberstadt
A consistent theme in contemporary rap music is the damage caused to children who grow up in broken homes.
Rap provides an outlet for the rage and pain of today's youth who experience parental divorce and abandonment.
No: Rap Culture Is Not a Constructive Medium for Young People
Young People Should Not Emulate Rappers
99
Canadian Press
In a 2005 speech delivered to Ryerson University in Ontario, Canada, filmmaker Spike Lee urges students not to buy gangsta rap music that denigrates women and presents negative images of African Americans.
Parents should not allow their children to watch gangsta rap music videos, and African Americans should make rap artists accountable for the damage they do by perpetuating stereotypes.
Violent Rap Lyrics Encourage Youth Violence
102
Brent Morrison
A recent study by the American Psychological Association may be problematic, but its basic conclusion that violent lyrics lead to more violent deeds is correct.
This is especially so when young people are bombarded by violent lyrics in rock and rap music.
Chapter 3: Is Rap Music Harmful to Women?
Chapter Preface
106
Rap Music Encourages Violence Against African American Women
108
Ewuare Osayande
Rap music that defines masculinity by degrading women teaches black men to mistreat black girls and women.
Lyrics about pimping and beating women eventually lead to more sexual assault and battering.
To heal the African American community, black men need to achieve manhood without dehumanizing black women.
Chicano Rap Is Hyper-Masculine and Misogynist
120
Pancho McFarland
Images of masculinity in contemporary Cholo rap revolve around violence, sexism, and materialism.
Chicano rappers need to create and consume a new concept of manhood that does not encourage young men to be violent and misogynist.
Women and Men Need to Take a Stand Against Misogynist Rap
128
Jenee Osterheldt
The prevalence of misogynist representations of women in rap music will not change until men and women together demand more respectful treatment of women.
Young people need to be taught to reject degrading lyrics and images, and to create and consume more positive rap music.
Sexism Is Pervasive Throughout Culture
133
Edward Rhymes
The mainstream media's preoccupation with sexism and violence in rap music is hypocritical.
White musicians rarely are held accountable in the same way that hip-hop musicians are for their equally sexist representations.
Women Can Be Empowered by Rap Music
139
Layli Phillips, Kerri Reddick-Morgan, and Dionne Patricia Stephens
Although they have been largely ignored, women have been central to the development of rap music.
Many female rappers utilize rap to challenge sexism and also to join male rappers in their opposition to mainstream racism and classism.
Some Rap Music Is Respectful of Women
143
Lornet Turnbull
Efforts are being made to encourage rap artists to create more music that is free of degrading images of women and sexual violence.
If music companies promote "clean" lyrics, young people will have alternative music to replace sexist lyrics that condone sexual assault.
Chapter 4: Does Rap Culture Perpetuate Violence?
Overview: The Complex Debate About Violence and Rap Culture
147
Michael Eric Dyson, John McCain, John Kerry, and Hilary Rosen
During a 2000 U.S. Senate hearing on violence and children, Michael Eric Dyson argues that rap music is an important voice of disenfranchised youth in America.
Senator John Kerry agrees, but cannot condone the expressions of violence against women in rap.
Hilary Rosen points out that violent rap music sells, compelling the music industry to produce it even more.
Rap Musicians Associated with Violence Should Be Banned
158
Associated Press
The civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton believes that an effective way to discourage violent rap music is to prevent rappers who engage in violence from getting airplay on radio or television.
Rap Listeners Are Prone to Violence
162
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
A study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) suggests that young people who regularly listen to rap music tend to also drink more alcohol, use more drugs, and engage in violence more often than those who listen to other kinds of music.
Stereotypes of Violent Rap Musicians Are Inaccurate
165
Sarah Benson
Rap musicians are stereotyped as violent criminals and criticized without taking into consideration the context of their music.
In truth, many rap artists defy the "gangsta" stereotype that is sensationalized in the media.
Violent Rap Lyrics Are Not a Significant Contributor to Violent Behavior
173
Pat Stack
Blaming rap lyrics for societal violence oversimplifies a very complex problem and scapegoats rap culture.
Rap no more contributes to violent behavior than do other representations of violence in popular culture.
Organizations to Contact 177
Bibliography 181
Index 185

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