The Influence of Hip Hop Music on The Black Community

Hip Hop music and the people involved in it have received a lot of bashing in the past, and they continue to receive it, and will continue to get blamed for every bad thing that happens in the society. The question is if rappers should be blamed for all the ills of the society. Music of all sorts greatly influence the people that listen to it. Music motivates, uplifts, entertains; and since hip hop is just another genre of music, it does the same. Now, talking about its influence on the black community; I would recognise the positive more than the negative.




I would like to focus on the positive, then we can now observe the negative, that is if it really can be considered negative. There are a diverse number of rappers out there, and all of them seem to carter for their particular niche well enough. You have the gangsta rappers, you have the ones that kick knowledge, you have the ones that make music for the ladies, and you also have the politically inclined rappers. There are many other niches, but I think this can serve as a major classification.



All these niches treat the music as an art; so, whether they are trying to make people feel good, or educating people on their political rights, or educating young black men on how to live good lives, they all are making a living one way or the other. There is a great influx of people from the streets making that transition to rapping.  This, I see as a great positive of hip hop music. Hip Hop music continues to create an avenue for young black men to make a living without being illegal about it.



You have rap moguls like Sean "Diddy" Combs, Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, J.D...these black men started from the streets, and used hip hop music as an avenue to achieve greatness. Now, you have them being idols and models that the young people of today can look up to and say- "I want to be rich and successful, but i don't have to go through with the drug game, cos i know i can do it with music." I see this as a positive influence.



The negative that is blamed on rappers is the influence that their lyrics might have on young listeners who don't know any better. Well, the way I see it is that kids will gravitate to anything that feeds a desire in them. What i mean is that the kid is already who he is, lyrics don't really make people do what they do. They do what they do because that is who they are, and the work really falls back on the parents and how they raise their kids. Rappers tell stories of the community they live in; so, if they are talking about sex, or gang banging and selling drugs, it might not really be that that is what they do all day, that might just be a way they depict what they see all day. Why don't movie directors like Quentin Tarantino get blamed for the violence of the society? If you have watched any of his movies, you would know that they show more violence and blood than any rapper can depict with words. I think visuals have more effects on humans than words.



And, as I said earlier, there are different rappers in the industry, with their different niches. A Talib Kweli who is more conscious with his rap can't be tagged along with a young Chief Keef who is the direct opposite. As I said, the work lies with the parents, and also on the community itself, and not just hip hop music. I remember back when I was in high school, I listened to a lot of Puffy and Mase music; they were really feel good music. And if you ask me what influence they had on me, i would say they made me want to look good, and have and enjoy the good things of life. I really don't think this is a negative influence.



All those years, i was just listening for entertaiment. But then, one day when I was 18, i was sitting in the living room just listening to the radio, and a song came on that just changed everything for me. I had always loved writing stories, and the song i heard that day was Nas's Undying Love off his I Am album. The way he depicted that story was just so vivid. And then, after that, the same year, I heard New World, and the way he educated me on the future of humanity without being a bore, I knew i had to listen to more of his music. This illustration is just to stress on the point i made earlier; kids will gravitate more towards what they already are, than being influenced by whatever is one the radio. The hip hop music they listen to only make them more of who they already are.