It is hard to disagree that various types and directions of art are extremely powerful and can have a severe impact on the world and society. Artists, musicians, and activists can use music and other artistic means to express their ideas, spread awareness of different issues, and promote some values they believe in. However, while the promoted values can be positive and inspiring, some people believe that they can also be negative and destructive. For instance, societies often critique hip-hop for the perceived glorification of violence, drugs, misogyny, and crime.
Despite the popularity of hip-hop music, this genre is often referred to as violent and damaging. People still consider hip-hop to spread ideas about drugs, crimes, discrimination, and other adverse concepts that ruin the values of societies. The reason why individuals may think this way is the lyrics of some hip-hop songs and the ambiguous messages behind them (Davies, 2021). Since this is an acute issue that makes bars, clubs, and ordinary persons discriminate against hip-hop artists and culture, there are many studies exploring this concern. Thus, “research shows that Hip-Hop was no more associated with violence than many other music genres, including country and even karaoke” (Reece & Stoecker, 2019, para. 3). While the ‘white music genres’ are not considered any violent or promoting crime, there is actually no difference in the messages of punk and hip-hop songs. Consequently, this fear of the latter is simply a reason for being racist and trying to limit black artists’ and musicians’ creativity and talent.
To draw a conclusion, one may say that it is not relevant anymore to discriminate various types of art. People need to have the right to self-expression, and even if some hip-hop artists refer to violence, drugs, and crime in their songs, the latter does not become more dangerous than the country or punk music. Instead of fearing songs and hip-hop culture and blaming them for the rise of violence, it is better to pay attention to other, more evident and realistic causes of these concerns.
References
Davies, S. (2021). The controversial music that is the sound of global youth. BBC News. Web.
Reece, K., & Stoecker, R. (2019). Evidence shows that live Hip-Hop is no more linked to violence than country music or karaoke. Phelan US Center. Web.