Rap and Race: Its Got a Nice Beat but What About the Message?
This reading, titled Rap and Race: Its Got a Nice Beat but What About the Message?, as all about modern day rap music and how it is viewed by, and effects different ethnic groups. The article opens up with a brief history of rap music itself, saying that it originated and had its roots in New York City. This type of music emerged in the mid 1970’s and has currently spread to be a national, and international, phenomenon. Since its creation, rap music has always had a connotation with civil disobedience and political unrest. This genre, while lacking vocal pitching and tone, focuses much more heavily on the message than some of the other genres of music which, arguably, are solely for instrumental and vocal pleasure. Often times, rap music has a very distinct connection to African Americans. Due to this, it has been scandalized countless times by politicians and bureaucrats. Prime examples of this were Vice President Dan Quayle, President Bush, and President Bill Clinton. To make these matters worse, these politicians were often found to have little or no knowledge about the given rapper or album! The article then proceeds to tell how the author, Rachel Sullivan, conducted a series of hypothesis driven experiments to test certain stereotypes circling rap music. Among these implications were…
- Black adolescents would have a stronger preference for rap music.
- Black adolescents would be more likely to agree with the statements, “Rap is a truthful reflection to society,” “I find myself wearing clothes similar to rappers,” and “I find myself using words and phrases similar to rappers.”
- Black adolescents would listen to a wider range of rap artists.
- White adolescents would be more likely to say rap music has affected their opinions toward racism.
Of these implications, the author found all were largely true except for the last.
Reading this article got me thinking about my own opinions and views toward rap music. Personally, I am quite biased on the topic because I am an avid opponent of rap music. I think generally speaking, with the exception with certain given artists whom can either talk exceedingly fast have a keen grasp on the English language, rap is a genre of music that takes very little talent. That being said, I do agree with a lot of the things Rachel stated in the article. First off, I agree that rap music is often attributed to a very specific ethnic group. Even though there is a quite large number of white adolescents whom listen to, and enjoy rap music, I agree that it is predominantly directed toward, and thus generally viewed by, African Americans. Next, I also agree that the genre of music itself probably has different meanings to different ethnic groups. I feel that most African Americans take a certain level of pride in rap music as it clearly has its roots entangled in their own. This possibly causes some to attribute certain life lessons to the music. Caucasians on the other hand, might simply listen to the music because it has a good beat, catch melody, or good tune. Finally, I feel the study Rachel did at the mall further proves and validates both hers and my views about the specific genre of music and its affects on different ethnic groups.