Rap Music
Rap music is essentially a mix of poetic lyrical verses that rhyme, and are set to a beat. The poetic rhythmic music that is called rap often talks about different things such as relationships, sex, socio-political issues, crime, violence, race and life in the streets or the hood. Rap music had its beginnings in South Bronx during the 1970s. From the South Bronx, it then spread to west Bronx and now, it is a phenomenon that is swiftly sweeping the world off its feet. Why is rap music so important, and what effect does it have on those who listen to it, and the society as a whole? This is the question we seek to answer in this discussion.
The popularity of rap music can be said to be driven by a number of factor. One factor that enhances rap music has to do with the fact that people can relate to the issues talked about in the music. As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, rap music talks about a host of different topics. These topics correlate with people’s daily lives, and thus when they hear issues that they go through being addressed, they tend to want to listen even more. Another reason why rap music is so popular is that the rappers themselves are portrayed as people living the American dream. Rappers are generally wealthy, and can be able to get any woman they want, or own whatever dream they want. Young people aiming to live this kind of life then tend to look at the rappers, in order to garner some sort of insight. Thus rappers tend to be idols of young people, and this enhances the popularity of rap music. Another factor that makes rap music so popular is the marketing it gets. Rap music is well marketed especially when it comes to air play. Radios are always playing the latest rap song, thus the more people get to hear it, the more they tend to listen to it. The music being so well marketed makes it popular and not just in America, but also around the world.
One has to remember though that rap music has its effects on society. Rap music can be said to have both negative and positive effects. On the negative aspect, some of the content found in the rap music is not good and has a negative effect on the youth. An example is rap music that talks of doing drugs, smoking, and street gang life. When the young people hear these things depicted in song/rap, they tend to emulate them and it gets them in a host of trouble. Additionally, the rappers themselves are not a good influence to society and especially the young people for every now and again you hear that they are in some kind of trouble with the law. These are all negative aspects of rap music. On the other hand, there is wholesome rap music which talks about wholesome life issues and from this, one is able to garner one or two things that can maybe help them in life. Also, the fact that the rappers seem to live the good life, gives morale to young people who emulate them to work hard, and achieve a good life for themselves. In conclusion, rap music has come up in the few years of its conception and has taken over the world, and from trends and patterns, this is likely to be so for years to come.
