Change for the better

    In the past, one could probably find junior Nomin Bayarjargal listening to rappers Lil’ Wayne, T.I., or Jim Jones-“I used to be in love with Jim Jones,” she says-but now her music choices have changed in accordance with her new lifestyle.

     “I am a Baptist Christian [now]. Ever since I got saved last August, I stopped listening to it. The lyrics contradict my religious beliefs,” she said. Bayarjargal changed her music so she could better live with her spiritual beliefs and find peace in her day to day life. She did not want to surround herself with the kind of negativity contained in rap music. “The things they talked about were sex, having all those girls, killing people, and cussing a lot,” she said.

    Bayarjargal, who converted from Buddhism, says she used to always listen to rap in middle school. “My sister used to listen to it. Growing up, I didn’t know the language they were using since I moved from Mongolia. I listened to it in middle school, and everyone I hung out with listened to it,” she said. That’s how she got into hip hop.
    Though she has stopped listening to most of the hip hop artists she used to listen to, she hasn’t given up on the genre, admitting that she still listens to Common and Kanye West while most of her musical selections consist of gospel and R&B. “Not all rap music is bad; there are differences between rappers.”
“Compare Common with some other rappers talking about shooting people or something. It’s completely different. It’s about what you listen to and about how easily you’re influenced.”

  Some believe that the spread of violent hip-hop is not just the fault of the artists. “I don’t agree with it, but people are going to listen to what they want to. As long as they put their music out there, people are going to listen to it regardless.” Bayarjargal is not just opposed to hip-hop; she does not listen to too much profanity regardless of genre.
Bayarjargal brings two sides to the story. Maybe it is not exactly hip-hop that gives teenagers the false perception that they can get money and reach fame by being like them, maybe it is the way hip-hop is marketed. “The media can have an impact [on teenagers]. It depends on how much media you’re exposed to,” said Bayarjargal.