How Does Rap Music Affect African American Culture?

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Today rap is going through a great epidemic where the messages behind rap music are becoming an issue. This issue is not containing adults anymore, but is effecting teenager’s personal and social development. “Rap music, is not in and of itself, a genre created solely for profit. Rap music, in this context, is merely another creative expression that is an outgrowth of prevailing entertainment practices “(Richardson & Scott, 2002). Rap music has undergone major transformations in the last two decades. The transformation includes a language change in teens every day vocabulary, them to think violently or negatively, dress differently, and most of all compare themselves to the rappers. Over the years have witnessed a comeback of sociological research on identity,…show more content…
This section of the article mainly focused on the original aspect of rap music and how it first originated. Its greatest significance derives from the fact that it has fostered a profound nation- alism in the youth of Black America. Hip-hop, or rap music, began in the early 1970s. The first synthesis of self-conscious poetry and music can be traced, most directly, to the Black Nationalist Last Poets. This Afrocentric rendering could help promote a national culture to replace the popular faddish culture of violence and sexism and both wed African Americans to the best in their culture and allow them to more directly profit from their cultural product (Henderson, 2014). Since its early pioneers were gang members, gangsta rap relates to the life experiences of the rappers themselves, and its lyrics portray gang and ghetto life from a criminal’s perspective (Kurbrin, 2005). Gangsta rap departed from earlier rap forms, which were often characterized as socially conscious and more politically Afro-centric (Keyes 2002:88, 158–59; Martinez 1997; Perkins

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