For my Composition and Rhetoric class, we all have to analyze a piece of text for the class and discuss the text. Today there was a presentation on the lyrics of the stereotypical "Gangsta Rap."The presenter argued that this type of music degrades women, promotes and glorifies drug and alcohol use, and influences the listener to be a bad person.
I think this is relevant because the odds are that many of our future students will enjoy (how that is possible I don't even know) rap music. How do you guys think that this will effect the students in our classroom? How do you try to help students who maybe struggle with drug or alcohol abuse? Do you guys think that rap makes a person bad? Comment!
PS, here are a few examples of some rap songs that the presenter in my class used...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic7KH1PpbMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa5B22KAkEk
*BE WARNED, EXPLICIT LANGUAGE IN THE SONGS!!!!
I think that rap music definitely has a negative impact on people. I am surprised by the number of people that actually think that listening to rap music is enjoyable. Unfortunately, we have grown up in a generation that promotes drugs, alcohol, and sex to be the cool things to do. I think that it is definitely our job as teachers to look very closely at each of the students in our classes. Not to find out which ones are listening to wrap music persay, but rather get to know our students personally so that we have a more comfortable relationship to talk about our personal lives. High school is a time of experimentation for a lot of students and I think, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure that each student is safe.
ReplyDeleteI've been talking a lot about media literacy as i grade papers and read blogs, and it saddens me that I was unable to implement a week to talk about the subject. But I think that while students have a right to enjoy rap music, they really need to learn about it's production and the messages it sends. I think they need to view it critically, and doing a project like you did in your Comp and Rhet class is a good way for them to begin to deconstruct the messages and the meanings of rap and other texts. (I wouldn't advocate using explicit lyrics in the classroom, though.)
ReplyDeleteBut often times students passively accept rap because it's "what's in." I think it's important for students to express themselves, and that means sharing their likes. I think engaging in dialogue about the creation of these texts is a healthy and meaningful way to start to explore them.
I really had mixed feelings about that presentation. My confusion just concerned the specific target of rap. Of the top of my head, I could name dozens upon dozens of songs from other genres that treat women as sexual objects and nothing more. These songs also include getting wasted, smoking weed, etc. If genres such as pop, rock, and country also sing about “bad” behavior, why are we only targeting rap, and going so far and claiming it makes someone a “terrible person”? Painting rap with such a broad brush completely disregards talented artists who rap about more intellectual subjects. Not to mention..if our students heard us make a claim that rap made you a "terrible person", I think we'd just alienate ourselves from making a real connection with them. However, I do think it's important to be critical about all genres of music and their messages, and maybe it'd be cool to analyze songs with our students in class.
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