The Empowerment Of Hip Hop Music

Does hip hop music empower people?

Hip hop music, in-spite of the negativism and controversy that generally surrounds it surely has the potential to empower millions of people as well as make positive impact on it audience by opening up their consciousness and musical horizons.

Hip hop music has for a long time been perceived as a sort of music that features violence, sexual exploitation drug dealing, street warfare and negative attitudes towards women. One more idea common in society associated with rap music is the consistent profanity used in the lyrics. In spite of all of this, hip hop has attracted an incredible fan base all over the world largely among youths. In truth the negativity generally linked with rap music is not all there is to rap music; there are hidden sides to rap music that ought to be exposed.

Although hip hop has been perceived as largely negative, there are countless positive influences it bears on society as opposed to the way it is being portrayed by the media as been associated with some of the nation’s social ills and having a bad influence on citizens. Even though there are some aspects of hip hop that can be interpreted as negative, dismissing the whole genre as negative is unreasonable and a great injustice to the artists and the people who enjoy the music. To say the least Hip hop has been very crucial in advancing social and political consciousness among youths all over the world.

 It educates people from different perspectives and raises a lot of social issues as well as serving as a means for people to freely express their view on political or social issues of concern, hip hop also offers one of the best platform for youth to become express their ideas about important political decisions that affects them and the conditions they face in society and also ways in which they can effect positive changes in the society. The music has created awareness about some important societal issues including racial discrimination, individuality and the importance of education and believing in your dreams thus empowering many youth to strive towards reaching unimaginable height of success and academic achievements.

A great number of rappers rap about poverty and their challenges in inner-city America while being raised. As soon as they become successful, they speak of overcoming challenges and moving up to the top. This important message empowers and gives hope to many youths across who are living in very much the same circumstances. For instance, when a rapper raps concerning his difficult childhood days or about being successful in spite of living with a drug-addicted parent, a youngster in the same circumstance may be convinced that he too could possibly cope with his challenges.

 Hip hop music has encouraged social consciousness in communities it has become a tool to speak out against negatives of life like physical abuse and so on. A number of hip hop stars make use of their talents to advance the cause for peace and anti-violent acts by communicating messages about violence and discrimination and passing messages that’ll help youth make positive changes in their life. A typical example is the late Tupac Shakur lyrics which were often criticized, as they painted a bleak picture of urban America and also brought awareness to the country's social problems, such as violence, drug addiction and poverty especially those in the inner city.

There are a lot of hip hop music created with the purpose of sending a positive message to its audience. Most of them denounce violence and call for more peace and togetherness in the inner city so as to enhance the quality of life. One perfect example of a hip hop song that sends this message is a song by the East Coast All Stars entitled “Self Destruction”.