Violence in Language: Is Rap Music Causing Violence in America?

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110 Dr. Amal Saleeby Malek Society reacts to rap themes with fury and condemnation; however, the plots and devices in Western movies are not less violent or profane. In addition to criticizing the violent lyrics in rap, rap is criticized because rappers are known to “sing of guns with almost lascivious glee”. They talk about their “pieces” or “glocks”, “ninas” or pistols as “the object of their affections”. (Nordlinger, 2001). The rapper Notorious B.I.G. says: “Somebody’s gotta die. Let the gunshots blow…Give them bullets room to breathe” (Appendix 4). It is obvious that, contrary to their objections, Americans have shown that violence as a theme is not the problem, since it is so well received and even appreciated as a great moral value in Western movies. So, what is the real reason for their condemnation? I agree with Keonna Carter, when she says that rap music is being criticized, not because it is too violent, too explicit or too offensive, but because of who is using it as a medium. (2002). If violence is to be considered a threat to society, then she says, it “should be consistently defined along non-racial lines” (Carter, 2002). Violent language dealing with crime, death, sex, drugs, profanity, should be condemned regardless of who is expressing it. III- Can violence be blamed on rap music? Rap music is the black community sharing their culture and telling their stories in their own special way. For example, “Runaway Love’ is a powerful song demonstrating the plight of three, nine, ten and eleven- year old girls who are “forced to think that hell is a place called home” (Appendix 5). The song tells stories of drugs, rape, prostitution, hunger, abuse and lost childhood. This shows how the violence and pain in rap music “is merely a reflection of the violence that many urban dwellers deal with daily in America”. What should be addressed are “the true problems that grip urban American cities”. (Should Gangsta Rap Take the Blame for Violence in America?). Thus, rap is not only music; it is a story. Rap music illustrates “life in the hood”, and portrays the rappers true experiences and feelings. It depicts poverty and homelessness, unemployment, and destitution, gang ties and cruelty, bad, violent, home life and feelings of being persecuted by the police. Rappers and members of their communities have to deal with these issues everyday of their lives. This is not an imagined or imaginary world they fantasize about, this is their everyday reality. Through their songs, rappers have been demonstrating what goes on in their lives, the misery they experience and the despair they feel when they think about suicide and about having a worthless future (Poggioli, 2005).
Violence - Realities and Concerns If this reality (the conditions in which rappers live) is dealt with, then rap, as an art form or expression will naturally cease to exist the way we know it, and a gentler more perfect art form will emerge to depict the new realities of life. If we agree that “art imitates nature”, we realize that rap music illustrates “some of the most complex social, cultural and political issues in contemporary American society”. (Should Gangsta Rap Take the Blame for Violence in America?). Rappers usually live in the American ghetto, which is characteristic of poverty, violence, crime, “the ugly reality of the streets”. For many young black youths, this kind of music “is the only way to escape from the pain in which they live”. (Should Gangsta Rap Take the Blame for Violence in America?) It is a lament, a cry for help, a way to vent their frustrations. Rap music “paints an ugly picture” of their daily life, but when audiences hear their idealized or idolized artists experience their pain and identify with their plight, it becomes more bearable for the rappers to deal with their situations and more possible for them to hope for a better future. These are the real issues that should be dealt with. The source of the problem should be the main concern, not the manner in which the issue is expressed in songs. It is said that language and culture go hand in hand, and words should be understood in their context. Words are sometimes used to make people behave in a certain way. It may be that this is what lyrics and other literary expressions attempt to do. Rapper, Ice-T explains for instance, that within his community, rap is considered “verbal combat” (Sieving, 1998). The “fighting words” illustrate “angry verbal disputes”, sometimes including “insults and threats”. Thomas Kockman (1981) in his book Black and White Styles in Conflict, explains “fighting words” and says that violent language among blacks “can be maintained by blacks at the verbal level without violence necessarily resulting” (in Sieving, 1998). Rap is certainly not understood by everyone. It is not a familiar art form, which may be one of the reasons it is feared and perceived as a threat. Thus, when rap is labeled as evil and as inciting violence, it is mostly ignorance that is at play. Rap should not be considered a cause of violence. Rap talks about violence, lays it out in the open, is not shy about exposing it, is explicit and raunchy, but by no means does it create violence. When teenagers listen to violent rap lyrics, evidently they may be attracted to them, or want to imitate them, without knowing the reason behind the words. This is why their parents object to the lyrics. But merely listening to foul or offensive language does not mean that we will become offensive and violent ourselves. What the parents can do is explain the bad conditions in which many of the rappers live and thus, give the children a more comprehensive and educated perspective on the issues at hand. This is not to say that parents are to condone 111
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Violence in Language: Is Rap Music Causing Violence in America?

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