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A new report from the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, released yesterday, claims that "Young people who listen to rap and hip hop music are more likely to have problems with alcohol, drugs and violence than listeners of other types of music." The study surveyed 1,000 people between the ages of 15 and 25.
Now, I'm not going to deny that rappers have a tendency to glorify the use of drugs and alcohol and violence in their lyrics. The first rap song I ever heard dealing with drugs was GrandMaster Flash's White Lines, which actually spoke about the negatives of drug use. After that, though, it was mostly downhill for the rap game's war on stimulants. From the Beastie Boy's Brass Monkey to Dre's The Chronic to Three Six Mafia's Stay High, every generation of rap has had songs devoted to getting drunk or high. There are occasional voices of dissent, such as Chuck D. who went so far as to sue St. Ides, but these are few and far between. The violence in hip hop began with Ice-T's 6 In the Mornin' and N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton and continues to be fairly prevelant in mainstream rap. I don't think there is any more violence in hip hop than what you see on primetime television, though, and I have a hard time believing that the lyrics of any song can cause someone to act out in a way that they are not already predisposed to.
It seems to me that this study is looking at this from the wrong end of things. The study focused on survey respondents between the ages of 15 and 25, an age demographic that is buying more hip hop albums than any other genre of music. I'm no statistician, but I would think that the tendency for any specific behavior is going to be highest for the largest group being surveyed.
4/18/2006 7:57:08 AM posted by Fresh