Overall, has Rap music had a positive influence on society? Taking into consideration the economic and sociological impact, and how it has influences other aspects of society, has Rap been a good thing? Has it been good for some, and not others? If so, in what ways?
Basically I would like to know your answer to the question, your opinion of Rap music in general, and what it’s based on. I have my own feelings about rap music but I would like to hear what other people think before I comment.
Oh, yeah, rap makes us all better human beings. It lifts our spirits and makes us soar and transforms us into a more evolved species.
Sure it does.
I take it you’ve been to a Jurassic 5 concert then?
The vast majority of Rap is trash that celebrates the many negatives aspects of human nature.
I’m sure that someone will try to defend it by citing a "song"or two with a positive message…but for every “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas, there are twenty songs like “I smell pussy” by G Unit.
Rap has had roughly as much a positive influence on society as Rock and Roll in the early 1960s.
Or Country and Western music, generally.
Rap, like almost any form of pop culture, has just about zero influence on society. It does give pundits and politicians something to bellow about when they need to loudly display their concern for Americas Greatest Resource, Our Children. Also when they need to blow smoke to cover the fact that they aren’t doing anything about any real problems.
Rap doesn’t do anything for me, but I’ve got nothing against it either. On the plus side it’s distracted the aforementioned bellowing pundits and politicians from hard rock, which is my music. On the downside you have to deal with wealthy little kids who think if they talk in a certain highly affected manner they are “street” or something.
Also, comedy writers should realize that a stiff white person rapping and/or talking in “gangsta” lingo was funny once, mildly amusing twice, very dead after the hundredth time. Even Herbert Kornfeld is getting kinda stale.
Thanks for providing such a careful and thoughtful analysis.
But wouldn’t the fact that politicians feel the need to address the popularity of rap music mean that it has a measurable influence? Of course they may use it was a scapegoat or red herring, but the fact that it can be used in that way means it is on a few people’s radar.
If wealthy kids are mimicking what they hear on rap albums, shouldn’t that be considered another thing rap music has influenced?
Do you have any evidence or argument to back up your assertion that pop culture has virtually no influence on society? I find it kind of hard to believe.
It means that it does outrage some people, who in turn get the politicians to respond. But in terms of a major impact, I kind of doubt it.
Does any kind of music have a positive influence on society? Popular music in general is mostly just a materialistic commodity.
Could you please describe the impacts you’re talking about here? What, specifically, are we to take inot consideration?
Ditto here. What influences has it had on other aspects of society? What aspects?
You first; it’s your OP.
Well, yes, so its influence has been to freak some people out. That’s not really a wide ranging societal influence.
47 years ago, it was not uncommon for teenaged girls to be expelled from their high schools for the sin of attending an Elvis Presley concert. No, really, that actually happened. Today, not so much.
35 to 40 years ago, many politicians, parents, church leaders etc. really, honestly treated the offense of a boy having long hair as being equivalent to smoking crack. I am not exaggerating; a lot of kids who grew their hair long were kicked out of their homes and pilloried by Congressmen in the press. Today, not so much.
Twenty years ago, politicians and church leaders actually said, with straight faces, that Dungeons and Dragons was driving children insane. Today, not so much.
In about 20 years, we’ll regard doomsaying about rap with the same amusement we regard the aforementioned examples.
Let me preface my post with the observation that the “C” in “Rap” is silent. 
As far as I can tell, the overwhelming majority of rap “music” is misogynistic, racist, violent garbage with not a single bit of redeeming social value. Therefore, it has absolutely zero positive influence on society. Very little popular music has had a positive influence…why should rap be any different?
silenus, I agree with everything you just said, almost. However, I believe/hope that many listener realize the statements made in most rap songs are (hopefully) not serious. However, personally, I see many black people as not being self confident enough, and assuming others see them as second-class citizens. Hopefully, the result of such much boisterous nonsense would raise the self-confidence level a little. P.S. I can appreciate the works of the Kleptones, but then again, they are British, aren’t they?
Rap music has the same impact on society as any other genre of music, regardless of whether it’s to your own personal taste or not.
And that impact has been sometimes good, sometimes not. It all depends on what particular song you’re refering to and how much of an impact you believe it’s having. The biggest hit, heard the most often, doesn’t necessarily mean the most impact. Some songs are just, you know, songs. The biggest media outrage doesn’t mean the most impact either. It’s not something you can generalise about.
And of course, as part of pop culture it has an impact. Like all pop culture it is a product of its time, for better or worse, reflecting society and playing a part in shaping it. If pop culture doesn’t impact on society, then what on earth does??
Personally I’d rather stick a coat-hanger through both ears than listen to most rap, but that doesn’t negate anything I’ve said above.
Well, rap music accounts for over a billion dollars in record sales, not to mention concerts, merchandising, etc. It also contributes to the informal sector in the form of bootleg CDs that are sold by street merchants. I would imagine rap music creates thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. Rap music has contributed to the wealth of many of the richest people (many black) in this country. People like P Diddy, Jay-Z, Master P, Damon Dash, Bob Johnson, Russell Simmons, Lyor Cohen, etc. who are all worth hundreds of millions of dollars, owe most of it to rap music. Having so many black people who created generational wealth is certainly a good thing for the black community and for America.
Socially, I think many of the ways rap music has influenced people/society is evident. The fact that rap slang and fashion has become somewhat mainstream is certainly due to rap music. I think it could be argued that rap music has initiated and/or exacerbated many changes in American culture.
Any aspects that you would care to talk about. For example, things like race relations, language, art, freedom of speech, societal norms, etc.
Well, I think it’s positive, for many of the reasons I mentioned above. While there are many negative things about rap music, I think its been a good thing.
I’m just reminded of [ulr=http://www.jargon.net/jargonfile/s/SturgeonsLaw.html]Sturgeon’s Law.
I see nothing in rap music that makes it particularly praiseworthy/condemnable than any other art form. If people like it, fine. If people don’t like it, fine.
Why do you think rap music is crap? I tend to think most people who espouse this belief really never listened to a lot of rap music. Many of the most talented artists and producers out there make rap music. Producers like the Neptunes, Kanye West, and Timbaland are great at what they do. Artists like Outkast, Jay-Z, Eminem, and others don’t make crap music (in general).
Where do you get the impression that the majority of rap is violent garbage? Have you ever really listened to a whole rap CD? I know a lot of the stuff you might hear on the radio might be described that way, but even most of the more popular artists’ albums have an overall positive message.
Take into account that I am a 50 year old white guy. As another poster noted, I’d rather run a wire clotheshanger through my ears than listen to rap. Or techno, for that matter. I am not their audience, and that is ok. Different strokes, and all that.
That’s still commentary from ignorance, and it’s insulting to people. I don’t like much rap at all, but I find the accusations from people who don’t know anything about it to be distasteful. And sometimes, though I’m not talking about silenus here, there are uncomfortable racist undertones in those remarks. I know next to nothing about rap, so I refrain from offering sweeping generalizations on the topic.
I’m a 45-year old white male, and my music tastes run to roots music (pre-War blues and early country). I’m about as far as you can get from the target audience of rap. I don’t care for it, but I realize that music tastes are subjective, and if people like it, I have no business telling them that they’re wrong.
I would simply like to opine that pop music can indeed contribute to a society.
One example: early rock and roll hastened the progress of integration. White kids wanted to hear this music predominantly created by black artists, and while it resulted in some tension initially, the net result was a less-segregated society . (One could counter that the music may have simply been a reflection of an already-changing society, and I suppose I can’t prove that wrong – this is just my two cents).
I know that rap is predominantly bought by white kids, so I wonder if a similar thing could be happening in this regard. I have no familiarity with the subject – can someone else comment?