Argumentative Essay On Rap And Violence

In the 1970’s, in the suburbs of New York, people began experimenting with a new form of music. At block parties, DJ’s would loop the catchiest parts of the latest disco and funk songs, and MC’s began talking over the music, matching their words to the beat. Popular hits like “Rapper’s Delight” using this style of music soon hit the top charts, and before long, that unique style, rap, had hit the mainstream. Born in America’s tumulous cities, rap was, and always has been, a form of escape from the darker realities of American life. However, only recently has it been so strongly connected with misogyny and violence. With a new form of music on the rise, the American public was unsure how to react, and thus fixated itself upon the most extreme examples in the genre. Regardless of whether or not rap is conducive to violence, the media’s excessive coverage of violent rap ultimately made it seem as if rap was a violent genre. Thus. the more profane songs were listened to the most, and artists were most remembered for …show more content…
When rap group NWA released its song “Fuck the Police”, it was pressured by the FBI for inciting violence against the police. However, as Ice Cube notes in his interview with Billboard, the FBI’s concerns “didn't make [them] bite [their] tongue. It just made [them] stand up even more” (“N.W.A Reminisce About Tangling With the FBI”). Ultimately, the FBI only made NWA release harsher lyrics as the group tried to “stand up even more”. In other words, as NWA got attention for its violence, it felt the need to increase its violence. Naturally, this increase in violence spread across the genre, as other artists copied the blueprint of successful ones. Soon, “gangster rap” strife with drugs, guns, and sex became a major part of hip hop, and artists like Snoop Dogg and Tupac gained popularity through largely violent