Thus far in my discussion of the integration of hip-hop into high school classrooms, I have tried to focus on the positives of this tool (the educational tool being music) and not the negatives, which the media seems to focus on. However, I’ve had a negative response to my posts (which I’m not surprised by). So, now it is time to give the negative aspects of hip-hop some air time. No pun intended.
The article that I read for this week argues that hip-hop began as a positive outlet for young African-Americans to describe their daily lives and trials, but became increasingly negative in its chosen topics because it was “hijacked by major record labels.” This is an interesting point. The author of this article takes a radical stance against hip-hop (similar to the outrageous article we read about the censorship issue of the book Of Mice and Men), suggesting that a letter ‘C’ be placed in front of the word “rap” to more accurately describe what the music is. He suggests that listening to rap music is “rewarding crudeness, vulgarity, and brain-rotting filth, thus guaranteeing more of it.” However, if listening to this music is rotting our students’ brains, as he suggested, and apparently he does not listen to this type of music, couldn’t this man have come up with a more articulate statement than suggesting this music is crap?
Do I agree that this music is indeed “crap”? No. Are a great deal of topics that rap chooses to endorse negative in nature and should not be promoted? Yes. But the genre itself should not be ignored. The author blows by this point, seeming to suggest that this genre of the music industry should be boycotted as a whole. The author discusses Ludacris’ album, Word of Mouf, which is the chief recipient of his rage against rap music. This album does indeed promote the degradation of women, violence, and other misogynistic ideas in its lyrics. I strongly disagree with the ideas promoted here by Ludacris, agreeing with the author. However, I have to wonder- when was the last time this man caught up on the current topics that kids are into? This man is arguing against Ludacris performing at a family festival in his area with information that is over five years old! Word of Mouf was Ludacris’ second album was released in 2001. He has since put out Release Therapy this past year. I would suggest that this author work on researching what he is attacking before writing an article for the internet that the world can see.
While this third album by Ludacris is not perfect, it is a step up. His current song out on the charts, “Runaway Love,” on which he sings/raps with Mary J. Blige, is a song speaking out against child abuse. However, he reverts back to old language with other songs, lacing what would be clever lyrics with profanities and derogatory statements against women and others. So, while Ludacris may not be family friendly (as many hip-hop artists are), he and the rest of the bunch do have positive qualitites. BUT, their songs that promote sex, violence, homophobia, and degradation of women should NOT be promoted.
Click here to go to the Montgomery Advisor Article.
