Relationship Between Rap and
Heavy Metal Music and Adverse
Behavior and Attitudes
Group 1
Members:
Daniel Murphy
Stephanie Wilton
Qian You
Sarah Zawistowski
Class: EDP 101 C
The power of music is a phenomenon that evokes emotions in us all. We know this because of the very different ways in which we use music: when people are depressed, they listen to sad music that reflects their somber mood or may tune into happy and upbeat music to liven them up and lift their spirits. As college students, we especially know the power of music and how it affects our life every day. We listen to our favorite inspirational song on our walk to go take an important test, dance music at the club to get into the groove with our friends, and calm music when we are studying to help us focus. Obviously, we know how music influences our emotions, but does it affect our behavior as well? And do certain genres of music like rap and heavy metal affect behavior more than other types of music? That is the idea that our group set out to investigate. We arrived at this question because the media always talks about how rap influences people to engage in deviant behavior, so we wanted to see if that claim is true. More specifically, the relationship is investigated between rap and heavy metal music and adverse behavior and attitudes. This paper will explore the relationship music has with violence, mood and aggression, alcohol abuse, and the treatment of women.
Violent Behavior
While music has been known to have “charms to soothe a savage beast” (Shakespeare), it also seems to have a connection with violence. Throughout history, music has been created and listened to in accompaniment to violence. These songs come about as war songs and protest songs. The more commonly thought connection between music and violence is that of the lyrics and message of songs inciting violence in its listeners and culture.
Music that is created to portray the emotions of violence has been present throughout most stages of history. From the times of World War I to the 9-11 terrorist attacks, artists have created songs that express anger, sadness, and passion. Johnson and Cloonan (2008) discuss that “in trench songs of the First World War, the dehumanizing burden and impact of military technology was ruefully contemplated in ‘Living in the trenches’:
You should see my blinking pack,
Rifle, sword and ammunition
All in the Alert position.
One smoke helmet, haversack,
Fourteen bombs inside my pack.
It’s the seventeenth bloody shell we’ve had.
Whizz-bangs, coal box, shrapnel soar
And a blinking mine underneath the floor.”
The detail in these lyrics gives everyone an idea of what it would be like to be there while also helping the soldiers deal with the violence and terror there were dealing with. During other wartimes and times of political hardship, artists have created protest songs to express their views on the current situation. An example of this is “War” by Edwinn Star which raises the question of whether there is a different way to solve conflict than war (About.com:Folk Music). These examples show a distinct relationship between general violence and music.
While music has accompanied violence through time, evolving lyrics and music genres have been linked to the creation and social acceptance of violence today. Turing on the radio for 15 minutes is proof enough that popular music in America is scattered with inappropriate language and stories of violence and fighting. Some of the most commonly blamed genres include heavy metal, rap, and hip-hop.
The culture associated with heavy metal and rock music is conducive to violence in itself. Frequent moshpit participators express their desire for the violence and danger involved in the act (Johnson, 2008). While not all heavy metal fans are subject to self-violence, Susan Baker came to the Parents Music Resource Center with claims that, “Some rock artists actually seem to encourage teen suicide. Ozzy Osbourne sings ‘Suicide Solution.’ Blue Oyster Cult sings ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper.’ AC/DC sing ‘Shoot to Thrill.’ (Weinstein, 2005).” Some listeners enjoy the music without taking the lyrics literally, but that doesn’t change the violent message the lyrics are sending to society.
“While there is no evidence of a cause and effect relationship between violent lyrics and aggressive behavior, studies do indicate that a preference for heavy metal music may be a significant marker for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, and suicide risk (Senate committee on the Judiciary, 1999).” Similar effects are seen in people who listen to hardcore rap and hip-hop music, which consistently contains a message of violence, gangs, and drugs. The media plays a huge part in these messages that are socially acceptable in our culture and make it difficult for America to reverse the trend. Many rap songs influence adolescents to believe that gang behavior is cool and that it is necessary to be tough and able to fight. To this point, it is not possible to look at a teenager and the music they are listening to and determine what their life will be like in terms of violence and delinquent behavior. As previously discussed, various types of music are deemed to influence violent behavior, yet there is no direct cause and effect relationship. Music can have such a profound positive effect on the mind and soul but also be detrimental if we get sucked into the negative message some artists insist on giving.
Mood and Aggression
When most people hear about heavy metal music, they subconsciously relate it to alcohol, drugs, lots of piercings, and craziness in general. Does it really affect one’s mood, and aggression? Is the effect of this music different than listening to rap?
A report called Psychology of Heavy Metal Music by Jennifer Copley, discusses the effects of the heavy metal music on mood, aggression, suicide, drug use and intelligence. In general, the stereotype that listening to certain musical styles causes a variety of behaviors problems is not found to be true.
As Copley discusses, there are plenty of evidences that support this claim. A study of a group of gifted students from middle school to high school found that heavy metal music is actually used to release pressure and to dissipate negative emotions, especially among students lacking self-esteem. The stereotype is that individuals become more aggressive after listening to some heavy metal music. However, the study shows that this is not necessarily true. Also, if individuals were angry to begin with, after their preferred heavy metal musical genre is played, they will become calmer and more relaxed. It is factual that heavy metal music fans have higher suicide rates, but the study goes on to show that there may not necessarily be a direct correlation between listening to heavy metal music and suicide. She also goes on to discuss how there is a study of a group of students who have psychiatric disorders who are heavy metal fans. This study turned out to show that students showed improved moods after the heavy metal music they listened to. Additionally, another study of a group of depressed students found that students use this music to help stop the depression.
The study found that adolescents who listen to heavy metal music tend to have lower grades in school, but as the study mentions, this is more likely due to aspects of personality and environment instead of direct effect of the heavy metal music itself. This can be extremely surprising to many people since it is a very materialistic genre of music. Everything has to do with money and valuables and rap artists are all about their image. Most of them grew up in bad neighborhoods and had never really experienced luxuries and having money to spend on non essentials. This is what makes their egos flair. They talk about how much money they spend in all their songs and what they spend it on, such as jewelry, cars and even houses. This does not paint the best image for those who listen to their music. Their audience consists of mostly people who are in school. They realize that rappers didn't do much in school and they think their lives are great. This portrays the message that you can slack off and still make a lot of money and live the life that a rapper does without doing any work. However, while this probably does not send the best message to America’s youth, personality has more of an effect—not music.
It is also believed that people who prefer rock or heavy music tend to be more reckless sensation seekers who take risk. Again, this is more likely due to the personality type rather than a direct effect of the music because the adrenaline seekers have less reactive nervous system and so it takes more intense stimuli to generate a sensation of happiness or excitement.
Listening to rap or heavy metal “has not been shown to increase suicidal ideation and anxiety or adversely affect self-esteem among college-aged men and women” (Copley). Rap songs are more inclined to generate angry emotions than heavy metal songs, however. These findings are a bit surprising; one would think that with all of the angry and violent lyrics, it would translate into the moods of young people. A lot of rap songs, however, have lyrics pertaining to going out and having a good time, so it is understandable why people have positive feelings toward rap music.
This phenomenon that there is a higher rate of negative behavior among heavy metal listeners than other types of music is misleading. There are many other reasons why students may be depressed, use drugs, or perform poorly in school—it cannot be directly related to the type of music they listen to. Some people just love the music, they feel better when they listen to it. It is just a musical genre that suits certain people more than others. People have a certain level of comfort with the music they grew up with. As discussed earlier, many people enjoy the music because of the sound and feel of it rather than paying attention to the literal meaning of the lyrics.
Alcohol/Drug Abuse
According to a recent study done by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, California, young people who listen to rap and hip-hop are more likely to abuse alcohol. This is not surprising, considering songs like “Pass the Courvoisier” by Busta Rhymes and “Blame It” by Jamie Foxx. In the song “Blame It,” Foxx describes how a girl “open[s] up like a book” when she is drinking a “couple more shots”, doing things that she normally would not do with a guy, but it is more excusable since she can “blame it on the alcohol.” Lately, there has been a very strong increase in the amount of alcohol in rap music. Interestingly, “early hip hop music was not an alcohol-soaked music … [with] practically no alcohol references”. Today, drinking alcohol is seen has being highly glamorized in rap songs. The study done investigated “343 of the most popular rap songs recorded between 1979 and 1997” (Parker) and found that rap songs have “increasingly portrayed alcohol in a positive light over the course of the study period, with positive portrayals appearing in 45% of songs initially, and 74% of songs by the end” (Parker).
According to an article by National Public Radio, “marketers have shown a correlation to the release of these tunes and increased sales of alcohol beverages mentioned in these songs”. This is definitely not surprising. “Blame It” peaked #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, so with a song that popular, the alcohol brands mentioned in song like Grey Goose and Patron were bound to get more attention by listeners of the song. Researchers say that this alcohol marketing, which is particularly targeted towards young black people, has become very prominent. In fact, mentions of “alcohol brand names increased abruptly in the mid to late 1990s, with 68% of alcohol-related songs including mention of a brand name by the end of the period” (Parker).
Musical artists and especially rappers talk about doing drugs and they all say how they are fine after they've done them. This doesn't help the academic performance of those who listen to these songs. Some people hear about how good things make you feel through rap music and they think that it is perfectly fine to try. Little do they know that this is not the case. There are even songs that directly talk about how school is unnecessary and you can go to college and just party the entire time. Take Sam Adams for example. Just recently he has become popular and he wrote a song called "I hate college". This is a perfect example of the bad message that is being sent about how drugs and alcohol is seen as more important than going to class. "I hate college but love all the parties/ finishing kegs and crushing bottles of Bacardi/ king of the class, I’d rather lay up with a hottie/ single doesn't mean I’m looking for somebody/ some say a drink blaze up a hardly/ puffin' PK, ski a little bit of mali/ am I out my mind most people say probably/ but I’ve been on my grind puffin' nugs of that Cali" In this excerpt from the song he directly mentions not going to class and the use of drugs. Is this really the type of music that people should be listening to? It sets a bad example for us and generations to come and how people should value drugs and alcohol.
Treatment of Women
There is a relationship between rap music and societies negative view of women. When someone listens to rap music it is most likely about money, valuables, and most commonly, women. Every artist that is making a song somehow finds a way to sneak in a lyric that degrades women in some way. Most songs can be deciphered even by those with no experience when it comes to rap music. Rap artists are very sexually driven towards women and it definitely has some affect on those who listen to them. When a child growing up hears a lyric that has to do with women they remember it. This lyric does not directly affect them, but it paints an image in the back of their minds that will stick with them for many years. These musical artists use foul language and, more often than not, refer to women as "bitches" or "hoes". This alone is so degrading that it is most likely bleeped when it is played on the radio and on television. Like described above, these negative lyrics encourage deviant behavior, but do not directly cause it.