Identity is defined as the individuality or personality of an individual, it is who and what a person perceives themselves to be. Its construction occurs throughout life but mainly in the formative years of childhood and adolescence and it is influenced mainly by environmental factors. Identities are not static; they are dynamic which means that they change over time. Today many young people consider musicians to be their role models and thus build their identity around them. A case in point is the effect of hip-hop music on black youth.
Hip-hop music emerged in the 1970’s among black people; it was used as a way of creating social consciousness about the problems that black people were facing especially poverty and economic oppression. However as time progressed hip-hop became mainstream in the late 80’s and 90’s and its themes evolved to crime, guns, women, cars and violence. “Early hip hop has often been credited with helping to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with dance and artwork battles With the emergence of commercial and crime-related rap during the early 1990s, however, an emphasis on violence was incorporated, with many rappers boasting about drugs, weapons, misogyny, and violence.”(Taylor 2005)
It is this progression of negative themes that has been blamed for the continued decline of the black youth in society, black neighborhoods today are characterized by violent crimes, drug dealing, a lot of drop outs and run ins with the police. This is because these rappers are now the role models of black young people and are rich and famous worldwide. Many supporters of hip-hop claim that this is just negative publicity for a form of art but experts beg to differ. Many black homes today are single mother homes, many of these children lack a father figure to look up to and this gap is filled by hip-hop rappers are who often looked up to as the role models. Youth need something to identify with, “in terms of identity construction and social consciousness, they have to master the art of being black” (Tanner 2003: 712). Rap music provides ‘definition’ by claiming that those black people who are serious about school and hold down regular jobs are sellouts. So as to keep up with this image many black youth today are not taking school seriously and are dropping out of school to pursue rap music so as to get the material riches like those of their rap idols.
Hip-hop music today is characterized by violence, glorification of the possession of guns and drive by shoot outs. Rap legends such as Tupac and Biggie died violent deaths due to shoot outs, in the rap world this is considered as some form of martyrdom and many black youth want to be part of this. In the movie ‘Get Rich or Die Trying’ which chronicles the life of a popular rap musician 50 Cent, the influence of rap music in his life choices cannot be underestimated. Marcus starts out as any other young boy but grows up listening to hardcore rap music and aspires to be a rapper; he quits school runs away from home and starts selling drugs so as to buy sneakers and look like his rap idols. He also buys a gun only because he has heard his idols rapping about shoot outs, at the end of the movie Marcus lies in a pool of blood having been shot nine times. The influence of rap music in the destruction of this young boys’ life is unmistakable. (Andrew,2008)
Crime and disregard for the law is another hallmark of rap music, today the ultimate rapper is one who has spent time in a correctional facility. Rappers such as Lil Wayne(Shawn Carter)and T.I(Tip Harris) have all spent time in jail for charges such as possession of firearms and marijuana, they both went ahead to release songs that say that the police have nothing on them. Rap music perpetuates the illusion of a world that has no rules where they run the streets and this affects adolescents. The effects of such music are visible as adolescents who have had exposure to rap music “were 3 times more likely to have hit a teacher; more than 2.5 times as likely to have been arrested; 2 times as likely to have had multiple sexual partners; and more than 1.5 times as likely to have acquired a new sexually transmitted disease, used drugs, and used alcohol over the 12 month follow-up period” (Wingood, et. al 438).
The glorification of drug use is another characteristic of rap music, rap videos are awash with images of the rappers smoking marijuana and the lyrics also have references to new types of drugs. Because young people are highly impressionable and they idolize these rappers, they also want to try these drugs so as to conform to this identity of coolness. Research has found out that youths who are exposed to rap music are more likely to abuse drugs and even deal in drugs.
In Kanye West’s sketches The College Dropout (2004) raps perception on education is quite clear; “I'm going to learn too. I'm going to get super smart, so I too can die without money. But I'll be the smartest dead guy. Who has that?” Education is of no value in the world of rappers and black youth are getting this message loud and clear, this is because employment is perceived as ‘service to the white man’ and cannot provide the income that is required to get flashy cars and bling which will in turn attract women. The influence of rap has led to the creation of young black youths who value the gangsta lifestyle more than getting a university or college degree, the school dropout rates prove this.
Rap defines the ultimate sign of success for a black person as the possession of a lot of material wealth in the form of luxury cars, big houses, designer clothes and expensive jewelry. Kanye West raps that, “It’s in a black person's soul to rock that gold/Spend ya’ whole life try’na get that ice.”(Diamonds From Sierra Leone, Late Registration). Where does this wealth come from in a culture that doesn’t value education? It comes from crimes such as stealing, pimping and drug dealing. Black youth have caught up on his because the rates of crime are very high in black neighborhoods and the majority of the people in correctional facilities are black.
All the foregoing arguments support the assertion that entertainment media especially music has a huge influence on identity construction. The fact that the identity of many black youth today is constructed around rap and hip-hop culture cannot be disputed as there is overwhelming amount of evidence to support this fact.
REFERENCES
Taylor, C. & Taylor, V. Rap music provides a realistic view of life. In J. Woodward
(Ed). Popular culture: Opposing viewpoints. Greenhaven Press: Thomson Gale.2005
Tanner, Julian, Mark Asbridge and Scot Wortley. “Listening to Rap: Cultures of Crime, Cultures of Resistance.” Social Forces 88(2): 693-722.2003
Wingood, Gina M., Ralph J. Diclemente, Jay M. Bernhardt, Kathy Harrington, and Et. Al. "A Prospective of Exposure to Rap Music Videos and African American Fe- male Adolescents' Health." American Journal of Public Health 93 (2003): 437- 439.
Andrew, Willoughby.Get Rich or Die Tryin' Analysis of Rap Music's Effect on Youth. Yahoo Voices. Web. July 10 2008.
