Music And Violence
Music plays a big part of our everyday lives whether people are aware of it or not. We wake up, drive to work, clean the house, workout, take a shower, and go to sleep listening to music. Music is always around, and many Americans listen to a cornucopia of music, especially our youth. Presently, Hip-Hop music has grown very popular among teenagers of America. The amount of violence portrayed in this type of music concerns many adults, they worry Hip-Hop contributes to a rise in violence among teenagers. Rather than blame music, parents should pay more attention to their children's lives and realize it is not the music that causes these violent behaviors. Since the coming of Hip-Hop music, politicians, law enforcement, and many independent organizations have tried to convince Americans that Hip-Hop is the cause of violence among the youth. The belief of Hip-Hop or any type of music is the cause of violence is untrue. What is true about Hip-Hop music is it is a means of reinforcement for certain feelings and it entices emotions in the listener, which is what music is supposed to do. Music should not be blamed for acts of violence; music does not pick up a bat, or shoots students at a high school. The teenagers who show signs of destructive behavior are committing acts of violence.
There are several cases in which a person has sued a Hip-Hop artist or record company over an act of violence. Davey gives an example of this type of court case when a certain genre of Hip-Hop music called "gangster rap" became very popular in the early 90's. "Gangster" rap is a style of Hip-Hop music associated with urban street gangs and characterized by violent, tough talking, misogynistic lyrics. In 1993 an eighth grade dropout named Ronald Ray Howard was convicted of shooting Bill Davidson, a Texas State Trooper. The teenager had been listening to the song "Sister Soulja" by Tupac Shakur, a famous rapper. The songs' lyrics are: "Cops on my tail they finally pull me over and...
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