Paper Summary:

The music industry spends enormous amounts of money to create music videos that will make a profit, and the one ingredient they have consistently found that helps sell their products is violence; this violence is usually directed toward women. The AAP notes that there is a paucity of research concerning the impact of such gratuitous violence on children and adolescents. To this end, this paper demonstrates this relationship through a critical review of the literature, followed by a summary of the research and recommendations in the conclusion.

From the Paper:

"The definitions concerning what constitutes entertainment and what is protected by the 1st Amendment do not necessarily address the underlying problems of violence in the media and sometimes only serve to merely contribute to the statistical haze that surrounds an already complex situation. The recent appearance of national leaders on MTV attests to the importance and power of music videos in shaping the nation's conscience. Further, while many non-black observers feel that rap music is just "so much noise generated by angry black youths," rap music or simply "rap," is in actuality a reflection of the current affairs within the communities in which it is performed. Rap is a "genre of rhythm-and-blues music that consists of rhythmic vocals declaimed over musical accompaniment. The accompaniment generally consists of electronic drum beats combined with samples (digitally isolated sound bites) from other musical recordings" (Bowman, 2003). From this perspective, rap is an extension of the Black Power movement of the 1960s, and has embodied the essence of the young black culture. The first rap recording was made in 1979 and the genre rose to prominence in the United States in the mid-1980s. Although the term rap is often used interchangeably with hip-hop, the latter term encompasses the subculture that rap music is simply one part of. The term hip-hop derives from one of the earliest phrases used in rap, and can be found on the seminal recording "Rapper's Delight" (1979) by Sugarhill Gang. In addition to rap music, the hip-hop subculture also comprises other forms of expression, including dance methodologies, art, vocabulary (in the form of slang) and fashion affectations. Despite these contributions to the popular culture, many observers suggest a connection between the music and personification of violence evinced in music videos and rap as a factor contributing to the incidence of violence by young people in the United State today."

Visitors who viewed this Research Paper also liked these:

• Term Paper # 125650 : "Definition of Popular Culture"
• Analytical Essay # 136255 : "Music and Music Preferences"
• Essay # 143649 : "The Arrival Of Free Music"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: