In today’s generation, the majority of entertainment contains messages that target gender and aid in the development of adolescent’s social norms. The producers are able to cover up messages by smothering them the beat in a song or the setting in a video. Currently, hip-hop/rap is a controversial topic, and it has been for many years. The reason is that rap has vulgar lyrics that degrade women and sends messages that are frowned upon in society.


The most popular genre of music among teenagers is hip-hop/rap. What allows this music to be dangerous among teenagers is that they are ethically and socially underdeveloped, making teenagers mentally weak. Since teenagers are mentally underdeveloped, they are easily manipulated into thinking the way rappers do. There is currently one artist that is very popular in the hip-hop/rap community, and his name is Big Sean. He is most known for his ability to create erotic lyrics, and of course the erotic lyrics pertain to women. In his song “My Last”, he raps about his night out partying. He does not explicitly state how he views women, but he does describe how they look and what he thinks about their looks. Some of the lyrics go like this, “I just want the I just want the baddest b-tch in the world right here on my lap, And I’mma hit this drink up like it’s my last I’mma hit this night up like it’s my last I’mma I’mma hit that ass up, like it’s my last”. He goes onto say “Ok, now where that alcohol You aint even got to ask Cause I’mma drink it all like, like its my last, She a 7 in the face, but a 10 in the ass, She even look better by the end of my glass” How do women feel when they hear this song, knowing that two grown men are talking about them like this? In the music video, the main female in the beginning is a voluptuous, dark skinned woman who is seen as a sex object. As stated in the beginning, teenagers are mentally underdeveloped; therefore, young women of this generation emulate what they see in this music video. If one were to analyze this video, he or she would see that women must be pretty and willing to partake in sexual activities if she wishes to keep her “man”. Teenage girls are highly affected by this because they have a reputation to live up to, one that the music industry gave them. It is not fair to women that they must fit someone else’s idea of the perfect female. However, teenage girls and grown women want to fit in so that they can be accepted. Women that strive for acceptance know what other people look for in the perfect girl. Thus, these young women talk, act, move, and think in a certain way in hope of finding their “man” who is wealthy and filled with “swag”.

Similar to Big Sean, successful rapper Tyga made a song called “Snapbacks Back”, it is by far one of the worst songs I have ever heard. In this song Tyga “raps” about snapbacks and how much “swag” comes with them. According to Tyga and Chris Brown, you must own a snap back if you want to have respect. Essentially a snapback makes you a man. “I brought the snapback back, snapback back, Man all these n-ggas foul like hack-a-Shaq”, “don’t give a f-ck if none of yall don’t rap, I could pull a b-tch just turning my back”, “I could pay your rent all year boy, Yo mama know, your cousin, sister brother, and your granny know n-gga”. Supposedly, Tyga is a lyrical genius, hopefully society begs to differ. In the case of this song it seems as if teenage boys are affected more since the song is primarily about respect among the male population. Taking trips down to public high schools really shows how hip-hop/rap has influenced teenage boys. The majority of the boys have snapback hats and wear trending clothes. Not only does the music reflect physical appearance, but it also shows in a young mans behavior. Just like females, the boys have a reputation to live up too as well. However, the boy’s reputation is a bit more dangerous. It is not only Tyga and Chris Brown who rap about solving problems through violence, it is every current rapper. When teenage boys listen to this music they feel that they must confront their issues in a violent manner. For years people have argued how hip-hop/rap promotes violence, this never really proved to be true until this violent theme started to become a popular theme in the hip-hop/rap.

All of these messages have become cultural norms that teenagers are ignorant to and parents are enraged by. The only reason why these messages have become normal is because the majority of hip-hop/rap artist are told what to wear, they are told what to sing/rap about, and they are told to how act. It is not right to blame just one person for this problem; it is a network of people who are influencing the young adults. If society wants to make a stand against media corporations then they will take initiative and do what has to be done. It will take more than a handful of people to make this stand, but then again the problem does not have to be taken to any court system. Parents and other adults can teach teenagers right from wrong and promote their morals to the public. Educating the public about why this is a problem is the first step cleansing the music industry, and thoughts of young adults.