Controversy on violence tendencies from rap lyrics
Violence increasing tendency is another condemnation experts have on rap music in general. A professor in violent studies at Iowa State University, Dr. Craig A. Anderson wrote an article in Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology called “Exposure To Violent Media: The Effects Of Songs With Violent Lyrics On Aggressive Thoughts And Feelings” with his colleagues Nicholas L. Carnagey, and Janie Eubanks. One specific sentence from this article sparked my attention, “Repeated exposure to violent lyrics may contribute to the development of an aggressive personality.” (Anderson et. al., 969) The quoted content only pertained to long term effects on behavior. Rap lyrics were LIMITED to a possibility for contribution to developing an aggressive personality after a large amount of exposure. Can it be possible that instead of creating violent tendencies in adolescents, rap lyrics educate adolescents on how not to act? Of course it does, when Tupac raps about murder in his song “Hit ‘em Up” the only thing that I can think about is, “Is that lifestyle really the lifestyle that I want to live?”