Change for the better

Does hip-hop affect the way one acts, dresses, or thinks?

    “Yes,” said senior Chris Brosnan, “because the people who hear the lyrics want to be just like [the artists] and do drugs.” Hip-hop, which has always been a culture of the youth, has changed dramatically since its beginnings in the 70s and 80s.

    Brosnan does not listen to rap anymore “because it really made no sense whatsoever; every song was the same, it’s all about sex, drugs, and getting girls.” During the time that Brosnan listened to hip-hop, it had an effect on him mentally and his on actions.

    “I thought about [being aggressive] when I was younger because I wanted to be rich like them and have the things they had,” said Brosnan. The influence of the media is key in fermenting the opinions of teenagers, where the things rappers boast about, like money, diamonds, and girls are the only images of rap they see, sucking them into that lifestyle because they see their favorite artists glorifies these types of things. The media only shows this side of rap because it catches the attention of teenagers like Brosnan, who as a result of seeing these images on television and hearing about them on the radio, strive to achieve these goals, which are praised in the media.

    Brosnan admits that he used to think of women in terms of the derogatory words that many of rappers refer to them as. His negative thoughts towards woman were an effect of his listening to the kind of rap music that boasts about degrading woman.

     “I used to listen to [rap] music because all my friends were listening to it, and doing drugs. I wanted to fit in; I just never did drugs though. Then one day I realized what am I listening to. Every song was the same and I got tired of it, so I started listening to rock and liked it,” said Brosnan. He shows that many teenagers are pressured into liking types of things in order to be looked at as popular or to fit in, which is a form of peer pressure. Brosnan grew out of his stage of listening to violent rap, and has made up his mind about what he enjoys listening to.

Brosnan later revealed that he would go back to listen to rap, “but not the rap [he] used to listening to” where violent and derogatory words are prevalent in the lyrics.