Eminem

Eminem, born as Marshal Mathers has caused controversy with his lyrics. Born in Kansas City, Eminem became famous for his offensive and disturbing lyrics. With his lyrics containing drugs, alcohol, death, homosexuality, sex and suicide doesn't usually attract many fans. Because of all Eminems lyrics towards homosexuality, the gay and lesbian protestors have arguesd to get his records changed or for his lyrics to be heavily censored. Dr. Dre, Eminem's producer tells people, "It's working, we are creating controversy, this means record sales,if you don't like this record, wait for the next one, if you don't like this one then you aint going to like the next one much better". Turns out Dr. Dre was right, Eminem's next album caused even more controversy. "From the day Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP was released last May, GLAAD has worked toward a singular goal: to increase public awareness by initiating a high-profile national dialogue about the impact of hate lyrics and the continued glorification of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people," said GLAAD News Media Director Cathy Renna. The GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) have tried their best to to rid Eminem's lyrics.

Posted By: Kelsey Oler

Renna, Cathy. "GLAAD Puts Hate Lyrics Debate Center Stage at the Grammys". Progressive Newswire. 22 Feb. 2001
http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/0222-08.htm

Tupac Amaru

Named after an Inca Chief, meaning shining serpent, Tupac was born June 16, 1971. His mother was a section leader in the Black Panther Party, which was a movement to re-open the New York Public Schools, feed the school children breakfast, and gain equal civil rights for African Americans. His mother taught him the value of gaining knowledge and encouraged him to do so. As a child he was known as the "Black Prince". Growing up without a father really tourmented Tupac and he said he didnt feel "manly," so he wrote love songs and poetry in a book, where he kept his private thoughts. In this book he wrote what he wanted out of life, saying that he would be famous and that he wanted to be an actor. He said, "The reason why I could get into acting was because it takes nothing to get out of who I am and go into somebody else." After several successful acting careers and his very successful rapping career, in November of 1994, Tupac was shot five times in a robbery. He miraculously recovered and produced his most impressive artistic accomplishments, which sold nearly 3 million copies. After this his career began to take off and then he was shot again and this time did not make it. His death was a shock to his fans and the community, but he often had said that he expected to die before the age of 30.

2Pac Legacy.com. (2008). Retrieved April 3, 2008, from http://www.2paclegacy.com/2pachome.asp.

Written by Lauren Welch

Many people today find themselves arguing about the connection between drugs and Rap music. Some studies have been done to determine really how much Rap music actually influences drug use by young teens. Denise Herd, associate dean of students at the School of Public Health, "analyzed 341 lyrics from the most popular rap songs between 1979 and 1997" and found that "references to drugs increased sixfold, and there was an increase in songs featuring positive attitudes toward drugs and the consequences of drug use, and an increase in references of drug use to signify glamour, wealth and sociability" (Rap Music Glorifying Drug Use). Rap artists are definitely a key role model to young teens theses day. Therefore, getting negative messages from music media is putting them at a high risk of using drugs. Denise Herd also found that "what is discussed in rap is in code. The kids understand, but parents don't" and now it should be helpful for the parents to learn these meanings and start to monitor what their teens are listening to (Rap Music Glorifying Drug Use).

Rap Music Glorifying Drug Use. (2008). Retrieved April 2, 2008, from U.S. News and World Report site: http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080401/rap-music-glorifying-drug-use.htm

Written by: Morgan Hinson

Christian Rap

Not all rap music has a bad influence on society. There are many christian rap artists present in the hip hop world today. One Example of this is a pair of rap artists from Tennessee known as Grits. They rap about struggles that they have overcome without using vulgrity and violent terms. In addition they tend to rap about girls in a positive way. Portraying the beauty of the girl's heart as opposed to how "hot" she is on the outside. Overall Grits is an uplifting rap group that has meaningful lyrics to go along with their outragous beats.

About us. (2004). Retrieved March 28, 2008. http://www.grits7.com/web/about.htm

Rap has several effects on people nowadays. Depending on the artist and what they say in their lyrics, determines how some people, especially young teens, live their lives. The number of teen suicides has gone up dramatically due to such violent music; as well as, violence against others. “Two young women were caught stabbing a man to death in Detroit, MI. One of the girls admits that she had thought it would be fun because that is what ‘the rappers’ do”. (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/31199/the_effects_of_violent_music_on_teens.html).
I think music plays a large role in our lives and how we deal with certain things. Unfortunately, some don't necessarily know how separate their lives from what is not real.

Written by: Lauren Welch

The Effects of Violent Music on Teens, Including Suicide. (2006). Retrieved March 28, 2008. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/31199/the_effects_of_violent_music_on_teens.html.

Should rap music really be blamed for teen pregnancies? Some researchers agree, but it mainly depends on how closely parents are monitoring what their children are listening to. There is really no way to completely stop the production of dirty lyrics. Therefore, it comes down to limiting what teens listen to. On the other hand, does it influence teen’s thoughts about sexuality? Of course it does because “Rap stars are encouraging early sexual activity among teenagers by promoting a degrading view of women” and portraying men as “sex-driven studs” in their music videos. On top of the appalling lyrics, the gestures in Rap videos allows teens to view things that they might think is appropriate and “cool” because their favorite artist is doing it. Parents can try as much as they want to protect their teens from sexuality being exposed at such a young age, but they will be exposed sooner or later and it’s up to their childhood morals to steer them away from engaging in sex and risking another teen pregnancy.




Written by: Morgan Hinson

Rap Music Blamed For Teen Pregnancy. (2006). Retrieved March 27, 2008, from Daily Mail Web site: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401684&in_page_id=1770