I was striating out my closet one week and by accident ran across some old CDs from my pre-college days. Instinctively, my spring cleaning came to an abrupt stop and I sat Indian style on the floor shuffling through disc after disc of old music. As I took this nostalgic trip down memory lane, I couldn’t help but crack a smile as rap artist, and songs long forgotten, reintroduced them selves to my memory. I even dusted a disc off and popped them in the CD player to see if they still provoked the same emotion that they did when I was younger. But after listening to them for a few hours a funny thing happened, I started to realize how negative most of the music was and how little things have changed from now to then. I still admired the beats, the flow and the commanding voice of the MCs. I admired the wit of the lyrics and remembered how I use to recite them to my self over and over again as if they where the pledge of allegiance. But at the same time I couldn’t help but feel conflicted over how this music seemed to be at odds with every thing I had come to associate with being a good man. I heard lyrics about violence, degradation of women, glorification of the drug world and worship of material things. Upon hearing these things, I asked myself a painful question, a question painful only because of my long love affair with rap music. The question was; “Did this music hamper my development as a man?” If their never was such a thing as rap music, would I have grown to be a better man or perhaps matured to be a man quicker? It was a painful question to ask but an even harder one to answer. I know plenty of black men who have listened to the same music I listed to and ended up leading disappointing lives, filled with incarceration, drug abuse and slothfulness but then their where others who it didn’t seem to affect. Can music, if listed to long enough and admired deep enough, actually change who you are as a person and if so what damage is rap music doing to us.
At first, I decided YES rap music was dangerous to a young man’s mind or even a mature man’s mind for that matter. If your thoughts eventually become actions then how could listening to this much negativity possibly take your mind anywhere but down a path of destruction? But as I took this thought a bit further, I began to realize that the only way to truly judge rap music was to put it in context with other genres of music. Take Rock Music for instance. There are many forms of this genre that promote drug abuse, general rebellion from society and in some cases even Satanism.
This music could be perceived as being just as negative and detrimental to a young, impressnable mind, but these artist are not tagged with destroying an entire generation of young minds like rap artist are so often blamed for doing. The true answer to the question, after giving it some thought, is NO. Rap music, or any other music for that matter can not influence you unless you let it, but the conversation does not stop here. There is a two part answer to this question. No it can not influence you if you don’t let it, but it will influence you if you do let it. But isn’t this the nature of life in general? I look at rap as a temptation brought about by the constitutional make up of our country. In this land that we live in, speech is free and thoughts are free, but freedom is the ultimate test of one’s responsibility. If you are free to listen to what you want and read whatever you want then you must learn not to become a slave to that same freedom you enjoy. Rap is like all the other forms of temptations. It is no different than gambling, alcohol, cigarettes, or prescription drugs. There will be some that may fall victim to its influence and try to live in vain, the fantasy world that most rappers preach about but this is why it is important to be your own man. If your mind is so weak as to be warped by the lyrics of a few music artist then you where always doomed anyway. If it was not rap that led you astray then it would have been any of the dozen other temptations that lay waiting for the weak minded.
Rap music should be put in its proper perspective. It is entertainment and should not be taken any more serious than that. Don’t let anybody, any art form, any literature get in the way of who you are as a person. Don’t let anything define who you are. It must be realized that in this world there are many pitfalls that you will experience on your way to manhood, some subtle and some not so subtle. I look at rap music as a subtle potential pitfall to manhood but potential being the key word. It can be listened to, enjoyed, even admired but it should not be initiated.
Rappers spend a great deal of time building a false image of manhood. Their imagery is attractive because it feeds into popular myths of what we perceive a man to be: arrogant, brash, fearless, adored by endless supplies of women and devoid of self reflection and empathy. But realistically, no one can maintain this persona forever. It is a façade that will eventually eat away at the soul of any man who chooses to wear it. This is why the imitation of today’s typical rapper is an unachievable goal. You could no more successfully imitate this person than you could imitate the feats of your favorite big screen action hero. In short, what you normally hear over your CD player, MP3 or IPOD is pure fiction and should be treated as such. As a young man, you have a responsibility to put things in their proper place, and know where and what to invest your mind in. How well you make this decision will have a huge influence on how successful you are as an adult.