(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Rappers Seen in a Bad Light

            When you hear the names of rappers such as the Notorious B., Tupac Shakur, and Puff Daddy what thoughts cross your mind? Maybe you think of them as artists but most people think of them as thugs and hoodlums. Their names are associated with everything from drugs to drive-bys, murder to gunfights. There is a very negative stereotype surrounding rappers in American society today. We need to investigate why and how the rappers are given such bad reputations. We must also examine how the rappers' violent images affect their ability to market themselves effectively and sell records. Another important aspect of this argument that we must analyze is how all of this violence is affecting our society.
             Hip-hop artists have bad reputations mostly due to the violence that seems to follow them around. I believe the reason for this is the media's constant extreme focus on rap stars and their subsequent violent behaviors. The biggest story to date in the hip-hop world was the feud that went on between the east coast rappers and west coast rappers. The assumed leaders were Tupac Shakur representing the west and the Notorious B.I.G. headed the east coast. During the war, the only time that rap was mentioned in the news was to tell about someone getting shot or words that had been exchanged between the two sides. All a person heard about was the violence that was taking place in this rap conflict. It ended with Tupac and B.I.G. both dead, killed by gunshot wounds. In "Bang: Guns, Rap, and Silence" written Jay Nordlinger for the National Review he mentions another recent hip-hop headliner. Puff Daddy, a foremost representative of hip-hop music, recently had a run in with the law following a shootout in a New York nightclub (Nordlinger 620). Shyne Barrow, Puffy's protégé, supposedly shot a man after the man had poked fun at him and was later found guilty of first degree assault (620).


Essays Related to Rappers Seen in a Bad Light

1. Rap

The term rap emanated from sixties lingo, the word "rap" meaning conversation (1993). ... The music and lyrics held some promise as a medium that could shed light on race relations in the United States (1997). ... Rap music was not a quick fad like disco. ... The Black Crowes did it by bad mouthing commercialism; while they were excluded from a Miller Lite tour due to their outspokenness, they were rewarded by heightened popularity (1991). ... Rap music has become a catalyst for social change and integral to rap music is the music video. ...

  • Word Count: 2775
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Effects of Rap on Today's Youth.

I own 20 rap CD's. I became concerned about rap lyrics bad influence when Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG were murdered in the middle of the 1990's. ... Both types of sources have info on rap artists and rap it self. ... It is easy, sometimes without thought, to sit down, turn on the TV, and believe everything seen. ... With the television "boom" in the 1950's, American people began to view the world around them in a very different light. ...

  • Word Count: 5064
  • Approx Pages: 20
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Eminem And Influence

I own 20 rap CD's. I became concerned about rap lyrics bad influence when Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG were murdered in the middle of the 1990's. ... Both types of sources have info on rap artists and rap it self. ... It is easy, sometimes without thought, to sit down, turn on the TV, and believe everything seen. ... With the television "boom" in the 1950's, American people began to view the world around them in a very different light. ...

  • Word Count: 5064
  • Approx Pages: 20
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Subculture

This can be interpreted as a way of proving their existence, that by acknowledged for either good or bad, they get noticed and what they say gets heard".) (Hebdige,Hiding in the light). Rap lyrics in the hip hop sub culture are about the problems rappers have seen, such as poverty, crime, violence, racism, poor living conditions, drugs, alcoholism, corruption, and prostitution. ... The most important part of rap is rapping, fans want to hear the lyrics. ... In the 1950s, the target was rock 'n' roll culture, which at first was also seen as a sub cultu...

  • Word Count: 1291
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The East Coast, West Coast Rivalry

Death Row, Bad Boy. ... But to people deeply involved in today's rap music and hip-hop world, these are the reasons why two of the rap worlds biggest influences are dead (Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls), sparking a long stemming feud between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment. ... Diddy) is the CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment. ... The vehicle Puffy was riding in ran through a stoplight as it was turning red, forcing Small's Suburban to stop and wait for the light to change. ... A black man wearing a suit and bow tie seen by witnesses, rolled down his window and fired seven s...

  • Word Count: 1116
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Music And Eminem

I own 20 rap CD's. I became concerned about rap lyrics bad influence when Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG were murdered in the middle of the 1990's. ... Both types of sources have info on rap artists and rap it self. ... It is easy, sometimes without thought, to sit down, turn on the TV, and believe everything seen. ... With the television "boom" in the 1950's, American people began to view the world around them in a very different light. ...

  • Word Count: 10219
  • Approx Pages: 41
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Lyrics Insite What?

Could the lyrics of a rock band or rap group really give a person all the elements needed to step over the edge, past the point of rational thinking and give total disregard for social values and human life How could words be so powerful? ... Manson has since turned the controversial spot light over to rapper Eminem, whose lyrics have been said to have been the cause of hate crimes against groups such as feminists and homosexuals among others. "An artist's lyrics reflect violence and despair in their own imagination or in society - The artists that write these lyrics that "cause hate c...

  • Word Count: 762
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Eminem

A mediocre rapper couldn't say that he's collaborated with Dr. ... Yet the one solace he discovered was rap music. ... After all this is a life long rap fan who consumed thousands of songs and sorted them for reference, but who's never repeated another rapper's words (Mathers: pg.3). ... No matter how much he has been battered by bad press one thing has remained constant. ... "- "Sing For The Moment" from "The Eminem Show" One thing that can be seen more as time goes by is Eminem's desire to sing about something greater than himself. ...

  • Word Count: 2263
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Miss Applebottom's Baby Phat: Media and Black Women

I Do Love You While there is no disagreement within the African American community in regards to the treatment of women of color by mainstream media, it is divided on the issue of rap lyrics and the treatment of African American women by rappers. ... If a woman constantly sees images of herself in an adoring light, she will feel good about herself. This feeling is mostly associated with white women, as they are the majority of the women seen on television and in ads. ... Most rappers are brothers, cousins, friends or boyfriends/husbands to these women and understand how the lack of love h...

  • Word Count: 2580
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question