What do people say about rap music?

THE word “music” comes from the Greek word mousike, which means “art of the muses”. There is no simple definition of music because music is whatever people think music is. According to  Wikipedia, music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound that is organized in time. The general definition of music include common elements, such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture.

Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers also defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Rap music is a genre of popular music developed in the United States by inner city African Americans and Latino Americans in the Bronx borough of New York City in 1970s. It is a type of music in which the words are not sung but are spoken in a rapid and rhythmic way. According to Britannica, rap is a musical style in which rhythmic and/or rhyming speech is chanted to musical accompaniment. Rap came to national prominence with the Sugar HillGang’s Rapper’s Delight in 1979.

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The late 1980s saw the onset of “gangsta rap “ with lyrics that were often full of hatred for women or that glamorized violence and drug dealing. This affected people’s perception of raps and rappers and they termed it as a negative influence. But in spite of the negativity and controversy that often surrounds rap music, it can have a positive influence on listeners and enlarge their consciousness and musical horizons.

Rap has long been the perfect example  for negativity in the society for a number of decades. Rap music has for long been known as a form of music that represents violence,sexual exploitation, consumption of drugs and alcohol, sex and negative attitudes towards women. It is also known for its frequent use of profane words in its lyrics. Despite all this, rap music has generated a huge fan base around the world with a wide demographic of listeners,mostly youths. This raises the question of whether the negativity commonly linked with rap music is not just one side of the coin.

Most artists today,even outside of rappers, write lyrics that praises violence, sex, consumption of drugs and alcohol, etc. But the media often only portrays rapmusic as negative and focuses on rap music more when it’s related to something that is undesirable. Most media houses write stories that identifies rap music as a catalyst in problems such as teen pregnancy, crime or some other negative issue that existed long before rap music became widespread.

What they fail to understand is the message the artist is trying to pass across thought the lyrics. For example, Nigerian rapper Olamide through his song “ Science Student “ was trying to send a message about the ills and effects of drug abuse. His message was addressed to youths but was misunderstood by majority of people living in the society .

Although rap music has been seen as largely negative, it has had a myriad of positive influence on the society. Many artists bring awareness to social and global issues through their lyrics. For example, after the devastation caused by the Haitian earthquake,foreign rappers like Lil Wayne and Kanye West collaborated with artists from various genres like Beyonce Knowles and Celine Dion to record a song titled “We are the World” for Haiti.

Through this, they were able to  raise approximately 8 million dollars for Haitians affected by the earthquake. The truth of the matter is there is rap music that is positive and also serve the purpose of improving social consciousness by increasing awareness of some of the issues that many residents of a country face. Rap lyrics are often emotionally intense and often spin a rags to riches tale.

It has  positive influence on youths as it serves as an outlet,both for listeners and artists,for understanding the hardships of growing up within the struggles of a deprived community. Rap lyricsspeak to their current reality and their fantasies of escape.Rap artists who became famous and escaped inner city life understand the sufferings faced and are an inspiration for youths to also escape the inner city. Olamide, a Nigerian rapper is a perfect example of one who escaped the inner city life and is also an inspiration to youths. Like all forms of music, rap offers a creative outlet and away to connect with peers.

Rap artists use their celebrity influence as a voice for other people to promote social and political change. Their music educates people from several perspectives and raises many social issues. It is a channel for people to speak freely about their views on political or social issues and by doing so, it engages teenagers to become concerned and aware of the issues. Nigerian rapper, Falz does so through his lyrics.

This is important in making the youth aware of the world around them and the conditions they face in the society, enabling individuals to discuss ways in which they can make a positive change within the society. According to oneworldeducation.org, rap music with positive messages are often overlooked by majority of the society becauseof the language involved in the songs they hear.

Although there are some aspects of rap music that can be said to be negative, blanketing the entire art form is unfair to the artists as well as the people who enjoy the song. Rap music is entertainment and should not be treated any differently than any other form of entertainment. Don’t just hear the music,focus on the lyrics.

• Paul writes in via ebikeniyepaul@gmail.com