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Rap music
The role of the media propagating America’s fears
The media institution is known to be the author of the stories that are disseminated and passed on to people hence making the society to be consumption oriented and mediated society (Well 23) Many things people know and care about is mainly based on the images, symbols, and narratives in televisions, film, radio, among other Medias. For instance, people tend to construct their social identities such as male, black, white or an Asian through the texts modified by the media. This leads to having a society that is increasingly segmented by the social constructions of gender and race.
Media is therefore the cause of what represents the social realities inclusive the perception of people in different types of music with rap music included. Generally, rap music has been represented in a negative way by mainstream media outlets thus influencing the perception of the people in the music. The way in which rap music has been represented illustrates an oppositional category that creates much fear in the moral fabric of the society as a whole unlike it is with other music genres, which have less negative coverage. For instance, media’s news reporting concerning the rap artists never leave out any past secrets, thus enhancing the negativity about the rap music and the artists.
Most newscasters focus more on the negative side of the rap music such as promotion of violence and sexism in rap lyrics hence propagating fear in the American society. This overrepresentation of negative information is mostly based on African American societies. The most important thing that lacks from the coverage is the recognition of the role played by the rap music, which is the political voice particularly for the African-American urban youths. This is because this group of people rarely gets an opportunity to express their views in mainstream media. Therefore, the prejudice reporting of activities associated to rap music and artists is particularly troubling because the mainstream media in a democratic post-industrial nation represents the collective conscious of the American nation.
According to Glassner (1999), rap has grown to become a cultural movement with basically fixed values that are assumingly based on a rebellious spirit, aggression, and materialism. It has been noted that the rap music’s content ranges from interesting songs that motivate individuals to dance to political information that incites violence against the establishment of the police force. However, further studies reveal that rap music has also tried to include positive information that leads to the promotion of self-enhancement and safer sex (Glassner 56). Unfortunately, the media continuous to selectively exclude news that are positive when reporting on rap music hence creating or propagating more fear among the Americans.
Research shows that rap music is not responsible for promoting negative representations of the African American youth culture. Nevertheless, the media especially the television and print media keeps on framing the news piece concerning the rap music in particular hip-hop culture in a crime discourse. According to research, the crime discourse is not new but it existed even before the beginning of the rap music to take the center stage in the spotlight. Media outlets such as newspapers among others assist in promoting a distorted view of crime through their frequents reporting on violent crimes disproportionately hence propagating fear in American society. In reality, there are a few number of violent crimes committed in the united states of America on a daily basis, but the distorted media representations worsens people’s perception.
It is noted that the typical violent criminal is influenced by the representations of the media. Thus, it is the young marginalized males who are normally the minority who are feared most by the public and considered the most dangerous criminals. To some extent, I agree with the idea that hip-hop culture or rap music is associated with the black cultures because it is difficult to demonstrate the recent history of without considering the culture of the African Americans. This is because they are noted to be the major influence of rap music within the country. This is proved through the artists of the rap music maintaining theirs roots as the production of the black culture as it functions on an international scale and appropriated by various cultures very easily.
The media has propagated fear through its association of African Americans with criminal behaviors. Media depiction acts in away that intensify this belief through the constant coverage of crimes involving blacks as the major perpetrators and victims of crime. This relation is enhanced even more when the artists of rap music are reported because a crime has been committed. The media coverage have the tendency to insinuate that fans for rap music and artists behave in a criminal manner even though the percentage of rap artists involved in criminal activities may just be a small percentage of the entire number of criminals.
The rap artists experience a good number of social and political issues such as employment issues, housing, and education among others. However, these issues are never part of the common discussions in media because of the general view that African Americans are perceived to be the problem especially in the American reducing moral values (Keyes 34). Therefore, with this kind of portrayal of the blacks, the rest of the country may develop fear or encounter moral panic because of the existence of the blacks in the country.
The increasing negative views of the minorities African Americans in particular the rap artists does not base only in the music and the reports of the media, rather they also lie in the reaction of ideas of the officials within the African American society. This is because the effects of the rap music are most cases ignored in particular those lyrics that deal with gritty and other negative issues. For instance, parents or grown ups may choose reject rap music because they do not identify with the content of the music.
However, despite the fact that rap music contains both positive and negative influences on the generations, it continues to exist. These negatives views on rap music and the black communities by the media coverage’s propagate fear in the American community. Thus, this is a clear indication that the media plays a big role in creating fear in America through overrepresentation of some issues to the public. I agree with this because the media has the tendency of creating a moral panic to the public through their reporting in television, radios or other specific Medias.
In conclusion, the media coverage tends to distort the information by exaggerating their reporting concerning certain issues such as violence. Therefore, due to this kind of information, the public gets or develops a moral panic due to fear. Thus, despite the fact that rap music is known to promote violence and other crimes, to a small extent it also creates positive impacts. Therefore, the media should not take advantage of its negative sides to over represent it because it only enhances fear to the American society. The negative representation leads to having a society that is increasingly segmented by the social constructions of gender and race.
Works Cited
Glassner, Barry. The culture of fear: why Americans are afraid of the wrong things. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1999. Print.
Keyes, Cheryl. Rap music and street consciousness.Boston, MA: University of Illinois Press, 2004. Print.
Well, Alan. Mass media & society.New York, NY: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997. Print.
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