How does hip hop music affect black youth - Essay Example

Music became the distinctly identifiable symbol of African music culture deeply rooted in African tradition. Early forms of African music symbolized the determination of the generations to preserve a rich collection amassed throughout history. The collection of music demonstrated the determination of Africans to survive the conditions of the systemic social, psychological, and economical oppression thrust upon them. Music provided a documentation of a legacy of struggle. The myriad of music genre berthed throughout history continue in the tradition, demonstrating the significances of music in African culture.

Collective Struggle Through Music Perhaps most evident throughout the history of black music is the presence of struggle. In music, struggle is evidenced as evidenced as the social conditions of the people. In Blacks music, struggle surfaces as the conditions of economic oppression, racism, social and gender inferiority, violence, devastation, and despair (Taylor, 1997). Music provides social and psychological sustenance and emotional fulfillment in the midst of the struggle (Rose, 1999). Evident is a shared, fundamental common thread: the music genre provides social identification and group solidarity for the respective followers.

Music allows the individuals in struggles to share ideas, values, and belief (Titon, 1984; Rose, 1999). For groups silenced by mainstream constraints, music renders a powerful voice. Music is used to cast upon the consciousness of issues inherent in the mainstream relationship to the black community (i.e., injustice, prejudice, and oppression; Rose, 1999). Of further evidence is the youth influence on the evolution of black music forms. Black youth have historically struggled to overcome societal.

This "How does hip hop music affect black youth?" outlines the connection between listening to hip-hop music and teenagers behaviour. Rap is an integral component of the African oral and musical traditions. Rap artists have emerged as the modern orators, the present-day Black icons (Rose, 1999). The non-violent anti-establishment rhetoric of 1960s, has been swapped by the powerful defiant, hate-driven, aggressive, anti-establishment rhetoric of rap icons, which provide contentment for the 1990s generation of Black youth (Rose, 1999).

This often rebellious rhetoric speaks to the social, psychological, economic, political, educational, and cultural conditions and challenges of today's youth. Specifically, rap developed as a result of youth efforts to negotiate the often adverse conditions of their environmental surroundings. The lyrical images in rap music provide a graphic and spellbinding representation of the social conditions of the artists and the youth who embrace the music. The lyrics, delivered in an explicit and combative manner, seek to capture the austerities of urban life as youths encounter and experience them every day.

The connectedness of the lyrics to the social conditions of the youth enraptured by the music stimulates an impassioned embrace (Rose, 1999). The enraptured state of the youthful devotees is reminiscent of the fervent state often displayed during an emotional religious experience. Youths who immerse themselves in the music and with such fervor embody the youth oriented culture known as hip-hop.