Taking the rap?

Is it all too easy for politicians and the media to blame gangsta rappers for the fact that young people carry guns and knives? Could it be that the alienated youths that do so have been far more influenced by other factors such as poor education or family breakdown?

It is very easy for politicians to attack modern rap music; much of it is openly aggressive, materialistic and misogynistic. When British politician David Cameron launched into the fray, attacking BBC Radio 1 for playing gangsta rap, the inference was that the lyrics cause young people to become more violent, sexist and intolerant. Cameron is quoted as saying "I would say to Radio 1, do you realize that some of the stuff you play encourages people to carry guns and knives?"

The Daily Mail agreed, saying "aggressively violent lyrics by the likes of 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre do have an impact on young people and, deep down, the powers-that-be at the BBC know that. And yet they do nothing, frozen by their earnest, middle-class, middle-aged desire to be fashionable and in touch with what's happening on the street."

The BBC hit back, saying "As long as there have been turntables, rhyming and excessively baggy clothes, there have been politicians hammering hip hop's practitioners for inciting violence." The Sunday Herald agreed. "For close on 20 years urban music has been a favourite excuse for a moral panic among politicians. Cameron’s political forebears once believed that Elvis caused teenagers to have sex. He holds that 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg get folk killed. What if the Camerons of this world actually cause people to choose the music that, he says, causes crime?"

Grammy Award winner Rhymefest has written this response to David Cameron's comments on rap music.

"After reviewing the comments made by you on the state of hip hop and hip hop culture, I tend to agree with you more than not. I agree that rap music and urban music depicts a life in the inner cities and poor communities that is often violent. I also agree that by glorifying and promoting violence via radio, TV and videos, it does give an acceptance for that behaviour that is then negative for the community."

As a Grammy Award-winning artist, who has worked and written with many other rap artists such as Kanye West and ODB, I myself on occasion am guilty of contributing to the culture. I believe that the hip-hop community is definitely in a state of denial about our complicity with the glorification of drugs and violence. If I was a middle-aged politician who knew nothing about rap music and I turned on the radio, then I would understand exactly the way you feel about urban music. However, although I agree with you that we are role models that affect our community and our music does play a role in people’s behaviour, beneath the surface there are artists making changes and making the difference and there is more to rap than what you see. If you look closer and you examine beyond what is promoted to you as hip-hop, you’ll see artists such as Kanye West, Common, Estelle, Lupe Fiasco and myself, Rhymefest, who don’t make foul music at all. Myself and Kanye West won a Grammy for this and it is a song that is recognised worldwide. Common, who made an album called Be, conveyed that we can just be ourselves and be free to explore out own spirits and it has no negative connotation to it at all. I think it is very easy to explore the negatives and it is very easy to exploit the bad in rap music. What I think you need to see, Mr Cameron, is the other side to rap music. If you don’t like it then you can come out and say that you don’t but I know that you will like it. My challenge is to ask that you sit down and have a cup of tea with me. In fact, let me come and perform for you. I am sure you will see that rap music is more than murder music or knife culture. If you truly believe this is a democracy then sit down and discuss with me the issues that you see. And if you are correct, and your opinion of rap music is the same, then we should come together with the community; rappers, politicians and radio DJs, and have a wider discussion. I think this is a better way to convey a point and make change than to just be against what appears to be rap culture. Because, Mr Cameron, this generalisation is not all of us, it’s just a few bad apples that spoil the bunch. So I say to you, and to all of us, let’s have a real discussion. Let’s solve the problem of the rap community in a civilised way and in a way that music can still be entertaining. This way it can benefit everyone. Amen. I look forward to your response.

Comment…

"Myself, I am a hip hop and R&B fan to the core. I love the how the music vibrates through my inner-being when I dance or just sit back and listen. I love to hear the creative rhythms and rhymes and the measured disbursement of harmony and raw passion of the street and soul of the artist. But… What I don't like is the artists who are glamourized and popularized for nonsensical reasons. If you are an artist, you have a duty to the community in which you serve. And yes, you do serve a community. Your music doesn't serve yourself. Now, you have two choices; you can uplift that community with positive messages or you can disseminate negative messages that perpetuate violence, racism, disrespect, sexism and pure vulgarity. The bottom line is, music is a mirror into the inner soul. If this is your inner soul, when you become popular, this is what impressionable minds emulate. Young children and teenagers both are quite impressionable. Like it or not, they learn by watching and imitating the actions of the adults they most identify with. Think about the role models many inner city kids have? Common, many of these artists are from the streets. Do you not realize you position here? But what to some choose to do? This is the seriousness of the matter. Young kids dealing and taking drugs, deeply rooted in violent activities the lead down a one way path to destruction that strips away they moral fabric and the very survivability of society. From that standpoint I would say that artists like Sean Paul, EB40, Eminem, Lil' Kim, 50 Cent, Sean Puffy Combs and a host of others (this list could literally go on for pages) have a lot to answer for. But… This is not limited to Hip Hop. Country music has plenty of artists in the exact same scenarios, just a different cultural spin. So does most genres of rock music. When people say life is about choice, they don't get it. Our children are our precious resource in this world. Young and impressionable, they are not making choices, they are emulates what adults teach the. They represent the future of our society and our very existence of humanity. It is our duty to impress upon the minds of our child positivity that will help them mature into adults that can go on to leave this world in a better state in which they found it. However, as adults we are not helping that cause. As a matter-of-fact, we are all but extinguishing it. How many young people talk about say Princess Diana? Bill Cosby? Will Smith? Ghandi? Alicia Keyes? Mother Teresa? Common? KRS One? Usher? Mario? These people are seen as weak. Our young people do not want to emulate them. It's not cool, en vogue or even reality. Who has set that trend? Us, as adults. Many of our young children think it's cool or essential to carry guns, do drugs, sell drugs, serve time in prison, rob, steal cheat, lie murder, rob etc. They even think these things are necessary to survive. But rarely do these things insure survival. As best, they insure you will make enemies and eventually the lifestyle will catch up will you and the price one pays is with their soul and then eventually their life. But how many artists are really putting that message out there? Very few. So perhaps the old white politicians are not so far off. Perhaps they just lack the ability to translate their message into a language that can be understood by the common person, without the prejudice and stereo-types. Perhaps Rhymefest should write an album that does translate this effectively? Would it sell? If you save one child, you would have made more in return than 100 Platinum albums could ever buy." — Kenn

On other pages…

Tackling teenage knife crime
Young people are carrying knives without thinking about the consequences, which can include being scarred for life, maimed or even killed.
Read more…

The right start?
A recent report highlighted that Britain’s education system is failing to give black boys the start in life which they are entitled to expect.
> Read more…

Webcam danger: who's watching?
It appears that webcams are posing a danger to many young people. One story that I heard recently shocked me at how easily teenagers can get out of their depth.
> Read more…

Kids and drugs
One in five secondary school kids say they've tried drugs at least once in the past 12 months, according to figures from a survey on drug use, drinking and smoking in young people.
Read more…