There is no denying that hip hop has played an essential role in politics since its big debut. Hip hop artists have started organizations, movements, and used the genre as a vehicle to supply a voice to a marginalized community. Regardless of the successes or political attributes in hip hop, there is another argument that plagues the industry; hip hop is the force that leads youth to participate in negative/harmful activities such as crime, sex, and drugs. In a study, delivered by James Montgomery, he makes this connection reporting that:
“The results [of the study] found that almost 70 percent of the students who listened to music ‘daily or almost daily’ listened to rap and hip-hop, and when that data was compared with the students’ answers about alcohol, drugs and violence, the survey found that ‘substance use and aggressive behaviors among young people were significantly associated to certain genres of popular music,’ mainly rap” (Montgomery, 2006).
This study concludes that there is a high correlation between those who listen to hip hop music, and those who therefore are susceptible to crime or particular behaviors. More simply stated, hip hop is what causes people to participate in “gangster activity” or crimes. I would like to argue on behalf of the opposite viewpoint. In order to do so, it is important to understand the roots of the genre. Hip hop originated within the inner-cities that were predominantly populated with blacks (specifically males) who faced several obstacles including: unemployment, high theft rates, police brutality, and a plethora of other injustices within the legal system. These inner-cities became home to the blacks due to the availability of factory jobs that offered opportunity to them. The problems arose when jobs started to vanish, crime began climbing as a way to provide for one’s self and family, and police tactics completely changed to deal with the population. The race became oppressed and marginalized, with no tools to fight against the systems that prevailed. Hip hop became the voice for those who previously did not have one.
The genre began with honest intentions, though it may have portrayed this message in an aggressive light. As with all things, the genre did evolve and for a very simple reason: economic advantage. Hip hop artists and emcees rapped about their lifestyles and the things that they had to do to survive their circumstances. These things often included petty crime. When police brutality was on a rise, many artists took to gangsta rap and voiced their hatred in aggressive songs against officers that displayed their lack of respect for the unjust law enforcement agency. The songs that displayed these instances attracted listeners of all races, whether it be because of the bizarre content that seems like a foreign fantasy or one’s ability to relate. Ultimately, the white majority did and does control the media, which is an essential branch in reaping monetary benefit from musical masterpieces. Once it was apparent that gangsta rap was successful in drawing audiences, it was promoted religiously. It also helped create this stigma on black culture that constructed the stereotypes of blacks. This being said, hip hop could help create the “gangster,” but hip hop did not create the crimes. The gangster that hip hop helped create is just an image. It is a hollywood, media-constructed creature that embodies the stereotypes that have been forced onto the black-male culture. Hip hop in its authentic form did not cause the crimes that it portrays, it was simply the land-line call to give the oppressed a voice. It is a vehicle that has now been abused and manipulated by a majority-controlled media. Hip hop was not meant to be a celebration of crime, rather an opportunity to gain support and positive-change in the face of oppression.
PolsTalk 