"It always happens, all the niggaz that change the world die, they don’t get to die like regular people, they die violently”.
How and why does the media construct negative stereotypes of young black males, especially in UK grime/rap music videos such as those produced by Joe Black, and should censorship be used to protect audiences?
Current research made by ‘youth music’ suggests that all young black males are forced to think like the quote above, this is due to their upbringing which is often seen as being a hard life. For these black males ‘rap’ a genre of music that has been present since the early 80’s and late 70’s it is seen as an escape route for a better quality of life. Typically rap music has been stigmatised with violence, drugs and sex: “The message all too often is crime pays, and pays in a very big way. The problem lies in the fact that the get rich quick and easy life style is far too alluring to young people especially in a society which promotes individualism and looking out for number one to begin with.” In the past there have been beliefs that rap music is the cause of the stereotypes set. If is the case this essay will try explain why this is apparent and are rappers living up to the stereotypes on purpose or if it just comes with the genre of music.
This essay will examine the stereotypes constructed by society on the influence of rap / grime music and will aim to answer whether music videos could be censored.
Grime music roots from rap music and is seen as a sub genre from rap music. Grime music was made in 2000 and originates from Bow, East London. Artists such as Wiley and Dizzie Rascal were amongst those that helped push the movement forward and give it more popularity with teens. However the government were less in tune with this genre of music and former Home Secretary David Blunkett said that rap lyrics are "appalling" . In addition to criticism that this genre has faced former minister Kim Howells made a statement in 2006 that Grime artists were helping to create a culture "where killing is almost a fashion accessory." Rap music was made long before grime music and originates from the USA in the early 1970's in New York. Rap music was slow to make it to mainstream and made a breakthrough in the 80's with musicians such as RUN DMC & Grandmaster Flash. “ For many years there were very few images of black British people on television, and those images which did exist were of blacks as ‘problems’ or as ‘victims’’ this has shows the dramatic turn in the music industry as now it is seen as blacks that are those best of in the television, however it is still the white middle class, middle aged man that they are working for that set of these stereotypes.
It could be argued that Loren Coleman’s theory on the copycat effect has a huge influence on teens and how they interpret the music, music is said to be one of the most powerful ways of getting a message across there seems to be a fear that the message being sent from this genre of music is seen as negative. This is evident when Peckham rapper Giggs was refused to be singed as trident were worried about what could happen is Giggs was getting support grime and rap music are seen to have a negative impact on society this is due to the content of the lyrics used by artist. Connoting that all rappers/ MC's are a part of that life style of drugs violence and sex. As for teenagers it has been seen to have a major effect of them the most as they look at now days for a role models and someone to look up to.
In the past Young black males were stereotypically seen as being trouble and from a difficult background with single mothers and many siblings therefore making it easy for them to relate to what these rappers are saying and making the young teens almost brainwashed into thinking what’s right and what’s wrong. There are studies that suggest black people stereotypically black people are believed to follow the 5 D’s which stand for “dumb, deprived, dangerous, deviant, and disturbed” Typical stereotypes of rap music is that it is seen to be as always having negative impact on young teens, typical codes and conventions of rap music is; violence, drugs and wealth. “Stereotyping is the social classification of individuals, groups of people and places by identifying some common characteristics and universally applying them in an oversimplified and generalised way such that the classification represents value judgments and assumptions about the individual, group or place concerned. ” According to many most if not all grime/ rap videos should be censored. Chanel AKA is a music channel on sky TV which In June 2005 was fined £18,000 by Ofcom for a number of offences such as explicit videos with content of drug use and violence this had a huge affect on the channel as they had to rebrand. This shows that there is some restriction on what can be aired.
There is fear that rap music and grime is ruining the society we are now living in this for the reason that the rap and grime music is seen to be brain washing young people into doing what they think fine when really it is seen to be morally incorrect. This leads to society having moral panics on young people. "It is not that the music is so bad; actually it is good, because its rhythm and cadence puts people in a convergence state of mind. In other words it puts them into theta state of mind and that is where it is easier to suggest a new thought or to brainwash in sleep state" The Government Issue ASBO’s for young teens that are seen to have a negative impact on the public. “Elsewhere in the Midlands it was not the volume of the music, but its offensive nature that saw an Asbo served on one middle-aged couple. After upsetting staff and parents at a nursery near their Worksop home they were banned from playing gangsta rap or swearing in front of children.” This quote from BBC on asbo’s shows that rap music could be the reason as to why people act in certain ways. YouTube is seen to be the main cause of the moral panics as it is somewhat of a showcase of unsigned rappers to relive their talent. “YouTube has received a great deal of attention from traditional media institutions, particularly the press. Indeed, it has provoked something of a moral panic, with tabloid headlines warning that the site is promoting, among other things, violence, bullying, racism, homophobia and ‘dangerous/ life threatening pranks and stunts.’” Theorist Stanley Cohen believes that “moral panic representations tend to focus on conflict and fighting between different youth groups (e.g. mods and rockers in the 1960’s, skinheads against ethnic minorities in the 1970’s and 80’s).” This is now what seems to be apparent in the Morden day with rap and grime music.
Music is seen to have a hypodermic needle affect. This is because of the effect it has on people for example if rap star k koke was to rap about how crime pays it will lead to young teens that listen to this genre of music thinking the same, This is evident K Koke music video ‘I’m Ready’, K Koke is seen to be promoting drug dealing ‘Got me dealing ‘snow’ to try get dough’ this means that he is selling drugs to get money, this can be seen as the type of message that has put rap music in a negative shade to the press and public, hence why there is such a fear on this genre of music and weather what is being represented is seen as negative. “The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. Both images used to express this theory (a bullet and a needle) suggest a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head". With similarly emotive imagery the hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message.”
‘Drugs, sex and violence sells’ this quote is something that is evident in all if not most rap/ music, this shows that there is a link between what the youths watch is how they act. "Violent music may possibly make a path for violence, but it does not and cannot cause violence. Violent music can only stir emotions in a person, and if that person commits a crime, then it is that person's own fault. For the song did not go into the street and rob a person or shoot a person opening a door." This quote could have the argument of saying that what teenagers listen to cannot have an effect on how they are or conduct themselves. Rappers are seen to be the ones to blame for the way they conduct themselves and for instance the MOBO’s which is one of the most watch music awards ‘reggae stars Beenie Man and Elephant Man were banned from attending The Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBOs) because they refused to apologise for homophobic lyrics in some of their tracks’ rappers such as beanie man are seen to be what to some is thought to be the cause of homophobic behaviour leading to people having moral panics and the thought that attacks can occur due to their state of mind.
Rappers such as Joe black seem to be living up to the stereotype given to him of being thuggish and an outlaw. This is for the reason that he has the image of being the ‘bad boy’ of UK rap. As a former convict it can be said that Joe black is thought to be glamorising his past to the youths of today he has been heavily criticise for making that lifestyle something appealing. Joe Black is glamorising his past to make money some would believe that this is a negative message as society, however this can be seen as being a positive thing to rap about as it could be argued that the more rappers talk about their past and their old lifestyle it could have an effect of society in a way that young teens would be put off the knife and gun crime lifestyle. Joe black was criticised for releasing a song called ‘Not Guilty’ in this song Joe Black talks about his time in prison, his views on the police and life in general inside prison, Joe Black talks about what most ordinary people try to avoid and see as a extremely bad thing, he was criticised by other rappers in the UK Rap scene as making life in prison and being a crock a normal thing that people want to hear about. When being interviewed by Paul Morley Giggs also stated that “ yeh it might be negative but it’s just everyday life to me and everyone else, so it’s not really negative it’s just what’s really happening, it might be negative it’s a negative situation but I’m just talking about what I see.” Most interviews are shaped and driven by the interviewer as s/he is asking all the questions and more or less has a idea of what the answer is for example Giggs could have been asked about his child hood or what he loves doing the most, however it is always questions like why do you send these types of messages in your music “Every news story is influenced by the attitudes and background of its interviewers, writers, photographers and editors" .
“So wouldn't it be better if Operation Trident invited Giggs to do an anti-gun concert? Or signed him up to tell people not to shoot each other? Right now, I can't think of a better spokesman against gun crime than somebody like Giggs, because kids are listening to him. Rather than shutting down his concerts, Operation Trident should sponsor them. They'd probably be able to pull in a few overdue-warrants as well on the way, I imagine.” Ofcom are seen to be the Regulation & Censorship body for music videos. “Censorship is the practise, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content by removing, suppressing or classifying elements deemed offensive or subversive for moral political, economical, social or religious reasons”
The problem with censoring music from rappers is that some would argue that it takes away the ‘freedom of speech’ that everyone would expect. This would therefore lead to the rappers looking for alternatives of making money leading to more moral panics affiliated with young black males. On the other hand if music videos produced by those such as Joe black and Giggs was fully censored and taken of TV this would lead to the target audience or the fans accessing there music through new forms of media technology. This could suggest that no matter how hard censoring body’s try to censor Rap music there will always be a demand of this genre of music meaning that no matter what it will always be a part of youth culture of today. Music is accessible very easily therefore if there was a governing body censoring music they would not be able to censor it completely as there will always be a way of viewing it.
In summation my inclination towards this argument is varied. This is for the reason that if rap music was censored it would take away what to some would be a huge part of how this genre of music is made and were it comes from. However some may argue that it should be censored to protect audiences from being exposed to this impropriate behaviour. On a personal level I believe that rap music should not be censored in order to protect the audience as it is up to them what they watch it for and as watching it they would already be aware of the content of the type of music it is.
Word count 2,062
Bibliography
Works cited
Books-
• Ainley, Beulah. Black Journalists, White Media. Staffordshire: Trentham Books, 1998. P. 101
• Black, Geoff. Revision Express Media Studies. England :Pearson, 2008. Print
• D.Probert, A, Graham (2008) Advance Media Studies AQA
• Dines, G. & Humez, J.M (1995) P.142 Gender, Race and class in media: a text reader. London
• Jewkes Y (2004) P. 138 The media studies reader. London
• Peter bennet, jerry slater and peter wall. A2 MEDIA STUDIES: The essential introduction. Oxon 2006 routledge. P.134
• Sulivan T (2004) P.176 the media studies reader. London
Internet-
• 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) Quotes. (n.d.). 2Pac Online - Keeping Tupac Amaru Shakur Alive Makaveli Deathrow Rap Outlawz. Retrieved February 3, 2011, from http://www.alleyezonme.com/tupacQuotes.html
• Black males stereotypes 5 D’s, retrieved 10 January 2011 http://www.siue.edu/SOCIOLOGY/journal/marchioro.htm
• Banning rap shows will not help gun crime retrieved 17th November 2009 http://xlrecordings.com/2010/02/23/banning-rap-shows-will-not-help-gun-crime
• David blanket on youth music. Retrieved December 29 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=David%20Blunkett%20on%20music
• HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY. Retrieved 25, November 2006 http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Hypodermic_Needle_Theory.doc/
• how much are violent lyrics to blame, retrieved 4th October 2005 http://www.headliners.org/storylibrary/stories/2004/howmuchareviolentlyricstoblame
• Music effect of teens (brain washing). Retrieved 08 January 2011 http://www.marijuana.com/music/144597-rap-music-brainwashing.html
• music- A Cause of Violence and Aggression, retrieved 04 December 2009 http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723
• The Influence of Rap Music Upon Youth - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com. (n.d.). Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com. Retrieved February 3, 2011, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/386184/the_influence_of_rap_music_upon_youth.html
• The war against hats.... retrieved Wednesday, 22 September 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3674430.stm
• The Business of Media Violence retrieved 30th October 2008
• http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/business_media_violence.cfm
Moving image
• Joe Black Not Guilty. Lockdown records, 2010 UK
• Link Up TV: Behind Barz - Krept & Konan (2011)
UK
• Paul Morley meets Peckham rapper Giggs 22 February 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6twvZ5Y6IHg
Work consulted
Books
• Gail Dines. "Second Edition. Gender, Race, and Class In Media. A Text Reader" (United States of America; Sage Publications, 2003)
• Dan Laughey. "Media Studies: Theories & Approaches" (Great Britain; Sparkford, Somerset: Kamera Books, 2009).
• Graeme Burton. "More Than Meets The Eye" (Great Britain; Euston Road: Arnold, a member of the Hoddler Headline Group, 2002)
• Alan Mckee "Textual Analysis" (Padshow, Cornwall: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003)
Websites
• Media.edusites , january 16th 2009 http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-regulation-and-censorship/
• Censorship of Music Videos, june 13 2007 http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/9/23/13748/8098
• Does rap put teens at risk, august 2006 ]http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030303/does-rap-put-teens-at-risk
• Is Rap Actually Music or is it a Bad Influence? , march 14th 2009 ]http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/51182/is_rap_actually_music_or_is_it_a_bad.html?cat=33
Moving image
• KONAN & KREPT (Play Dirty) Feat G FRSH - My Hood (2010)
UK
• Malik MD7 feat K Koke and Margs - Im Ready (2010)
UK
• Sincere feat. Joe Black, Propane, Benny Banks & Squeeks – Gunners (2010)
UK
Thursday 12 May 2011
Thursday 17 February 2011
Wednesday 19 January 2011
essay
"It always happens, all the niggaz that change the world die, they don’t get to die like regular people, they die violently”.
How and why does the media construct negative stereotypes of young black males, especially in UK grime/rap music videos such as those produced by Joe Black, and should censorship be used to protect audiences?
It has been suggested that all young black males are forced to think like the quote above, this is due to their upbringing which is often seen as being a hard life. For these black males ‘rap’ is seen as an escape route for a better quality of life. Typically rap music has been stigmatised with violence, drugs and sex. “The message all too often is crime pays, and pays in a very big way. The problem lies in the fact that the get rich quick and easy life style is far too alluring to young people especially in a society which promotes individualism and looking out for number one to begin with” in the past there have been beliefs that rap music the cause of the stereotypes set and if so why are rappers living up to it?
This essay will examine the stereotypes constructed by society on the influence of rap / grime music and will aim to answer weather music videos could be censored.
Grime music roots from rap music and is seen as a sub genre from rap music.Grime music was made in 2000 and originates from Bow, East London. Artist such as Wiley and Dizzie Rascal were amongst those that helped push the movement forward and give it more popularity with teens. However the government were less in tune with this genre of music and former Home Secretary David Blunkett said that rap lyrics are "appalling" . In addition to criticism that this genre has faced Former minister Kim Howells made a statement in 2006 that Grime artists were helping to create a culture "where killing is almost a fashion accessory." Rap music was made long before grime music and originates from the USA in the early 1970's in New York. Rap music was slow to make it to mainstream and made it a breakthrough in the 80's with artist such as RUN DMC & grandmaster flash.
It could be argued that Loren Coleman’s theory on the copycat effect has a huge influence on teens and how they interpret the music, music is said to be one of the most powerful ways of getting a message across there seems to be a fear that the message being sent from this genre of music is seen as negative. This is evident when Peckham rapper Giggs was refused to be singed as trident were worried about what could happen is Giggs was getting support grime and rap music are seen to have a negative impact on society this is due to the content of the lyrics used by artist. Connoting that all rappers/ MC's are a part of that life style of drugs violence and sex. As for teenagers it has been seen to have a major effect of them the most as they look at now days for a role models and someone to look up to.
In the past Young black males were stereotypically seen as being trouble and from a difficult background with single mothers and many siblings therefore making it easy for them to relate to what these rappers are saying and making the young teens almost brainwashed into thinking what’s right and what’s wrong. There are studies that suggest black people stereotypically black people are believed to follow the 5 D’s which stand for “dumb, deprived, dangerous, deviant, and disturbed” Typical stereotypes of rap music is that it is seen to be as always having negative impact on young teens, typical codes and conventions of rap music is; violence, drugs and wealth. “Stereotyping is the social classification of individuals, groups of people and places by identifying some common characteristics and universally applying them in an oversimplified and generalised way such that the classification represents value judgments and assumptions about the individual, group or place concerned. ” According to many most if not all grime/ rap videos should be censored. Chanel AKA is a music channel on sky TV which In June 2005 was fined £18,000 by Ofcom for a number of offences such as explicit videos with content of drug use and violence this had a huge affect on the channel as they had to rebrand. This shows that there is some restriction on what can be aired.
There is fear that rap music and grime is ruining the society we are now living in this for the reason that the rap and grime music is seen to be brain washing young people into doing what they think fine when really it is seen to be morally incorrect. This leads to society having moral panics on young people. "It is not that the music is so bad; actually it is good, because its rhythm and cadence puts people in a convergence state of mind. In other words it puts them into theta state of mind and that is where it is easier to suggest a new thought or to brainwash in sleep state"
The Government Issue ASBO’s for young teens that are seen to have a negative impact on the public. “Elsewhere in the Midlands it was not the volume of the music, but its offensive nature that saw an Asbo served on one middle-aged couple. After upsetting staff and parents at a nursery near their Worksop home they were banned from playing gangsta rap or swearing in front of children.” This quote from BBC on asbo’s shows that rap music could be the reason as to why people act in certain ways. YouTube is seen to be the main cause of the moral panics as it is somewhat of a showcase of unsigned rappers to relive their talent. “YouTube has received a great deal of attention from traditional media institutions, particularly the press. Indeed, it has provoked something of a moral panic, with tabloid headlines warning that the site is promoting, among other things, violence, bullying, racism, homophobia and ‘dangerous/ life threatening pranks and stunts.’” Theorist Stanley Cohen believes that “moral panic representations tend to focus on conflict and fighting between different youth groups (e.g. mods and rockers in the 1960’s, skinheads against ethnic minorities in the 1970’s and 80’s).” This is now what seems to be apparent in the Morden day with rap and grime music.
Music is seen to have a hypodermic needle affect. This is because of the effect it has on people for example if rap star k koke was to rap about how crime pays it will lead to young teens that listen to this genre of music thinking the same, hence why there is such a fear on this genre of music and weather what is being represented is seen as negative. “The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. Both images used to express this theory (a bullet and a needle) suggest a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head". With similarly emotive imagery the hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message.”
‘Drugs, sex and violence sells’ this quote is something that is evident in all if not most rap/ music, this shows that there is a link between what the youths watch is how they act. "Violent music may possibly make a path for violence, but it does not and cannot cause violence. Violent music can only stir emotions in a person, and if that person commits a crime, then it is that person's own fault. For the song did not go into the street and rob a person or shoot a person opening a door." This quote could have the argument of saying that what teenagers listen to cannot have an effect on how they are or conduct themselves. Rappers are seen to be the ones to blame for the way they conduct themselves and for instance the MOBO’s which is one of the most watch music awards ‘reggae stars Beenie Man and Elephant Man were banned from attending The Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBOs) because they refused to apologise for homophobic lyrics in some of their tracks’ rappers such as beanie man are seen to be what to some is thought to be the cause of homophobic behaviour leading to people having moral panics and the thought that attacks can occur due to their state of mind.
Rappers such as Joe black seem to be living up to the stereotype given to him of being thuggish and an outlaw. This is for the reason that he has the image of being the ‘bad boy’ of UK rap. As a former convict it can be said that Joe black is thought to be glamorising his past to the youths of today he has been heavily criticise for making that lifestyle something appealing. Joe Black is glamorising his past to make money some would believe that this is a negative message as society, however this can be seen as being a positive thing to rap about as it could be argued that the more rappers talk about their past and their old lifestyle it could have an effect of society in a way that young teens would be put off the knife and gun crime lifestyle. “So wouldn't it be better if Operation Trident invited Giggs to do an anti-gun concert? Or signed him up to tell people not to shoot each other? Right now, I can't think of a better spokesman against gun crime than somebody like Giggs, because kids are listening to him. Rather than shutting down his concerts, Operation Trident should sponsor them. They'd probably be able to pull in a few overdue-warrants as well on the way, I imagine.” Ofcom are seen to be the Regulation & Censorship body for music videos. “Censorship is the practise, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content by removing, suppressing or classifying elements deemed offensive or subversive for moral political, economical, social or religious reasons”. “ Its only when I started doing music I realised how crazy our world is”
The problem with censoring music from rappers is that some would argue that it takes away the ‘freedom of speech’ that everyone would expect. This would therefore lead to the rappers looking for alternatives of making money leading to more moral panics affiliated with young black males. On the other hand if music videos produced by those such as Joe black and Giggs was fully censored and taken of TV this would lead to the target audience or the fans accessing there music through new forms of media technology. This could suggest that no matter how hard censoring body’s try to censor Rap music there will always be a demand of this genre of music meaning that no matter what it will always be a part of youth culture of today.
In summation my inclination towards this argument is varied. This is for the reason that if rap music was censored it would take away what to some would be a huge part of how this genre of music is made and were it comes from. However some may argue that it should be censored to protect audiences from being exposed to this impropriate behaviour. On a personal level I believe that rap music should not be censored in order to protect the audience as it is up to them what they watch it for and as watching it they would already be aware of the content of the type of music it is.
Word count 2,062
Bibliography
Works cited
Books-
D.Probert, A, Graham (2008) Advance Media Studies AQA
Internet-
http://www.alleyezonme.com/tupacQuotes.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/386184/the_influence_of_rap_music_upon_youth.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=David%20Blunkett%20on%20music
http://www.siue.edu/SOCIOLOGY/journal/marchioro.htm
http://www.marijuana.com/music/144597-rap-music-brainwashing.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3674430.stm
http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Hypodermic_Needle_Theory.doc/
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/business_media_violence.cfm
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723
http://www.headliners.org/storylibrary/stories/2004/howmuchareviolentlyricstoblame
http://xlrecordings.com/2010/02/23/banning-rap-shows-will-not-help-gun-crime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6twvZ5Y6IHg
work consulted
Dan Laughey. "Media Studies: Theories & Approaches" (Great Britain; Sparkford, Somerset: Kamera Books, 2009)
Key Quotes:
"Major Moral Panics in recent times have centred on fears about paedophilia, AIDS, knife and gun crime."
"Children and young people are seen as both the perpetrators and victims of anti-social behaviour - they become the excuse for politicians and policy makers to impose stricter laws and tighter regulations on new forms of media and popular culture."
"Subcultures are themselves apart from the rest of society - subcultures actually choose to rebel against norms and conventions"
"George Gerbner identified a 'Mean World Syndrome' that afflicted heavy TV viewers. Put simply, the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to view the outside world as a hostile, crime-ridden, ghettoised world where danger and vice lurk in every corner."
"In terms of this latter, Gerbner found that crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world."
"So, it would seem that TV addicts make a direct connection between what they see on the small screen and what they think is happening in reality. TV's cultivating power means that it guides certain individuals into ways of dealing with the world beyond the box."
"TV realism, is far removed from actual reality. Witnessing a drive-by shooting in the flesh would probably make us physically sick or scar us for life, whereas witnessing it every night on TV, we hardly bat an eyelid."
Gail Dines. "Second Edition. Gender, Race, and Class In Media. A Text Reader" (United States of America; Sage Publications, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Rap music is by no means the only form of expression, especially heavy metal, have recently been the target of increased sanctions and assaults by politically and economically powerful organisation, such as the Parent's Music Resource Center, The American Family Association, and Focus on the Family." (page 399)
"Rap artists articulate a range of reactions to the scope of institutional policing faced by many young African Americans. However, the lyrics that address the police directly-what Ice Cube has called "revenge fantasies"-have caused the most extreme and unconstitutional reaction from law enforcement officials in metropolitan concert arena venues. (page 398)
Graeme Burton. "More Than Meets The Eye" (Great Britain; Euston Road: Arnold, a member of the Hoddler Headline Group, 2002)
Key Quotes:
"Audiences are an integral part of the whole process of communication through out the media. In many ways they are the raison d'etre for the media industries, because no audiences means no profit means no reason for running the organisation. It is the audience that makes sense of the communication and this becomes of all the more important because of the size of the audience, given the potential for influence, and the part the media play in the socialisation of that audience."
"Repetition of messages tend to enhance their effects. People tend to believe something if its said that often enough (provided it isn't too outrageous)."
"In terms of output, the media are almost entirely self-regulating. There is the Video Standards Council, for video distributors."
Alan Mckee "Textual Analysis" (Padshow, Cornwall: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Everyone loves children, children need to be protected from the dangers of the world, including representation's of violence and sex."
How and why does the media construct negative stereotypes of young black males, especially in UK grime/rap music videos such as those produced by Joe Black, and should censorship be used to protect audiences?
It has been suggested that all young black males are forced to think like the quote above, this is due to their upbringing which is often seen as being a hard life. For these black males ‘rap’ is seen as an escape route for a better quality of life. Typically rap music has been stigmatised with violence, drugs and sex. “The message all too often is crime pays, and pays in a very big way. The problem lies in the fact that the get rich quick and easy life style is far too alluring to young people especially in a society which promotes individualism and looking out for number one to begin with” in the past there have been beliefs that rap music the cause of the stereotypes set and if so why are rappers living up to it?
This essay will examine the stereotypes constructed by society on the influence of rap / grime music and will aim to answer weather music videos could be censored.
Grime music roots from rap music and is seen as a sub genre from rap music.Grime music was made in 2000 and originates from Bow, East London. Artist such as Wiley and Dizzie Rascal were amongst those that helped push the movement forward and give it more popularity with teens. However the government were less in tune with this genre of music and former Home Secretary David Blunkett said that rap lyrics are "appalling" . In addition to criticism that this genre has faced Former minister Kim Howells made a statement in 2006 that Grime artists were helping to create a culture "where killing is almost a fashion accessory." Rap music was made long before grime music and originates from the USA in the early 1970's in New York. Rap music was slow to make it to mainstream and made it a breakthrough in the 80's with artist such as RUN DMC & grandmaster flash.
It could be argued that Loren Coleman’s theory on the copycat effect has a huge influence on teens and how they interpret the music, music is said to be one of the most powerful ways of getting a message across there seems to be a fear that the message being sent from this genre of music is seen as negative. This is evident when Peckham rapper Giggs was refused to be singed as trident were worried about what could happen is Giggs was getting support grime and rap music are seen to have a negative impact on society this is due to the content of the lyrics used by artist. Connoting that all rappers/ MC's are a part of that life style of drugs violence and sex. As for teenagers it has been seen to have a major effect of them the most as they look at now days for a role models and someone to look up to.
In the past Young black males were stereotypically seen as being trouble and from a difficult background with single mothers and many siblings therefore making it easy for them to relate to what these rappers are saying and making the young teens almost brainwashed into thinking what’s right and what’s wrong. There are studies that suggest black people stereotypically black people are believed to follow the 5 D’s which stand for “dumb, deprived, dangerous, deviant, and disturbed” Typical stereotypes of rap music is that it is seen to be as always having negative impact on young teens, typical codes and conventions of rap music is; violence, drugs and wealth. “Stereotyping is the social classification of individuals, groups of people and places by identifying some common characteristics and universally applying them in an oversimplified and generalised way such that the classification represents value judgments and assumptions about the individual, group or place concerned. ” According to many most if not all grime/ rap videos should be censored. Chanel AKA is a music channel on sky TV which In June 2005 was fined £18,000 by Ofcom for a number of offences such as explicit videos with content of drug use and violence this had a huge affect on the channel as they had to rebrand. This shows that there is some restriction on what can be aired.
There is fear that rap music and grime is ruining the society we are now living in this for the reason that the rap and grime music is seen to be brain washing young people into doing what they think fine when really it is seen to be morally incorrect. This leads to society having moral panics on young people. "It is not that the music is so bad; actually it is good, because its rhythm and cadence puts people in a convergence state of mind. In other words it puts them into theta state of mind and that is where it is easier to suggest a new thought or to brainwash in sleep state"
The Government Issue ASBO’s for young teens that are seen to have a negative impact on the public. “Elsewhere in the Midlands it was not the volume of the music, but its offensive nature that saw an Asbo served on one middle-aged couple. After upsetting staff and parents at a nursery near their Worksop home they were banned from playing gangsta rap or swearing in front of children.” This quote from BBC on asbo’s shows that rap music could be the reason as to why people act in certain ways. YouTube is seen to be the main cause of the moral panics as it is somewhat of a showcase of unsigned rappers to relive their talent. “YouTube has received a great deal of attention from traditional media institutions, particularly the press. Indeed, it has provoked something of a moral panic, with tabloid headlines warning that the site is promoting, among other things, violence, bullying, racism, homophobia and ‘dangerous/ life threatening pranks and stunts.’” Theorist Stanley Cohen believes that “moral panic representations tend to focus on conflict and fighting between different youth groups (e.g. mods and rockers in the 1960’s, skinheads against ethnic minorities in the 1970’s and 80’s).” This is now what seems to be apparent in the Morden day with rap and grime music.
Music is seen to have a hypodermic needle affect. This is because of the effect it has on people for example if rap star k koke was to rap about how crime pays it will lead to young teens that listen to this genre of music thinking the same, hence why there is such a fear on this genre of music and weather what is being represented is seen as negative. “The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. Both images used to express this theory (a bullet and a needle) suggest a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head". With similarly emotive imagery the hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message.”
‘Drugs, sex and violence sells’ this quote is something that is evident in all if not most rap/ music, this shows that there is a link between what the youths watch is how they act. "Violent music may possibly make a path for violence, but it does not and cannot cause violence. Violent music can only stir emotions in a person, and if that person commits a crime, then it is that person's own fault. For the song did not go into the street and rob a person or shoot a person opening a door." This quote could have the argument of saying that what teenagers listen to cannot have an effect on how they are or conduct themselves. Rappers are seen to be the ones to blame for the way they conduct themselves and for instance the MOBO’s which is one of the most watch music awards ‘reggae stars Beenie Man and Elephant Man were banned from attending The Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBOs) because they refused to apologise for homophobic lyrics in some of their tracks’ rappers such as beanie man are seen to be what to some is thought to be the cause of homophobic behaviour leading to people having moral panics and the thought that attacks can occur due to their state of mind.
Rappers such as Joe black seem to be living up to the stereotype given to him of being thuggish and an outlaw. This is for the reason that he has the image of being the ‘bad boy’ of UK rap. As a former convict it can be said that Joe black is thought to be glamorising his past to the youths of today he has been heavily criticise for making that lifestyle something appealing. Joe Black is glamorising his past to make money some would believe that this is a negative message as society, however this can be seen as being a positive thing to rap about as it could be argued that the more rappers talk about their past and their old lifestyle it could have an effect of society in a way that young teens would be put off the knife and gun crime lifestyle. “So wouldn't it be better if Operation Trident invited Giggs to do an anti-gun concert? Or signed him up to tell people not to shoot each other? Right now, I can't think of a better spokesman against gun crime than somebody like Giggs, because kids are listening to him. Rather than shutting down his concerts, Operation Trident should sponsor them. They'd probably be able to pull in a few overdue-warrants as well on the way, I imagine.” Ofcom are seen to be the Regulation & Censorship body for music videos. “Censorship is the practise, exercised by elite groups in authority, of monitoring and controlling media content by removing, suppressing or classifying elements deemed offensive or subversive for moral political, economical, social or religious reasons”. “ Its only when I started doing music I realised how crazy our world is”
The problem with censoring music from rappers is that some would argue that it takes away the ‘freedom of speech’ that everyone would expect. This would therefore lead to the rappers looking for alternatives of making money leading to more moral panics affiliated with young black males. On the other hand if music videos produced by those such as Joe black and Giggs was fully censored and taken of TV this would lead to the target audience or the fans accessing there music through new forms of media technology. This could suggest that no matter how hard censoring body’s try to censor Rap music there will always be a demand of this genre of music meaning that no matter what it will always be a part of youth culture of today.
In summation my inclination towards this argument is varied. This is for the reason that if rap music was censored it would take away what to some would be a huge part of how this genre of music is made and were it comes from. However some may argue that it should be censored to protect audiences from being exposed to this impropriate behaviour. On a personal level I believe that rap music should not be censored in order to protect the audience as it is up to them what they watch it for and as watching it they would already be aware of the content of the type of music it is.
Word count 2,062
Bibliography
Works cited
Books-
D.Probert, A, Graham (2008) Advance Media Studies AQA
Internet-
http://www.alleyezonme.com/tupacQuotes.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/386184/the_influence_of_rap_music_upon_youth.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/?q=David%20Blunkett%20on%20music
http://www.siue.edu/SOCIOLOGY/journal/marchioro.htm
http://www.marijuana.com/music/144597-rap-music-brainwashing.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3674430.stm
http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Hypodermic_Needle_Theory.doc/
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/business_media_violence.cfm
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1723
http://www.headliners.org/storylibrary/stories/2004/howmuchareviolentlyricstoblame
http://xlrecordings.com/2010/02/23/banning-rap-shows-will-not-help-gun-crime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6twvZ5Y6IHg
work consulted
Dan Laughey. "Media Studies: Theories & Approaches" (Great Britain; Sparkford, Somerset: Kamera Books, 2009)
Key Quotes:
"Major Moral Panics in recent times have centred on fears about paedophilia, AIDS, knife and gun crime."
"Children and young people are seen as both the perpetrators and victims of anti-social behaviour - they become the excuse for politicians and policy makers to impose stricter laws and tighter regulations on new forms of media and popular culture."
"Subcultures are themselves apart from the rest of society - subcultures actually choose to rebel against norms and conventions"
"George Gerbner identified a 'Mean World Syndrome' that afflicted heavy TV viewers. Put simply, the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to view the outside world as a hostile, crime-ridden, ghettoised world where danger and vice lurk in every corner."
"In terms of this latter, Gerbner found that crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world."
"So, it would seem that TV addicts make a direct connection between what they see on the small screen and what they think is happening in reality. TV's cultivating power means that it guides certain individuals into ways of dealing with the world beyond the box."
"TV realism, is far removed from actual reality. Witnessing a drive-by shooting in the flesh would probably make us physically sick or scar us for life, whereas witnessing it every night on TV, we hardly bat an eyelid."
Gail Dines. "Second Edition. Gender, Race, and Class In Media. A Text Reader" (United States of America; Sage Publications, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Rap music is by no means the only form of expression, especially heavy metal, have recently been the target of increased sanctions and assaults by politically and economically powerful organisation, such as the Parent's Music Resource Center, The American Family Association, and Focus on the Family." (page 399)
"Rap artists articulate a range of reactions to the scope of institutional policing faced by many young African Americans. However, the lyrics that address the police directly-what Ice Cube has called "revenge fantasies"-have caused the most extreme and unconstitutional reaction from law enforcement officials in metropolitan concert arena venues. (page 398)
Graeme Burton. "More Than Meets The Eye" (Great Britain; Euston Road: Arnold, a member of the Hoddler Headline Group, 2002)
Key Quotes:
"Audiences are an integral part of the whole process of communication through out the media. In many ways they are the raison d'etre for the media industries, because no audiences means no profit means no reason for running the organisation. It is the audience that makes sense of the communication and this becomes of all the more important because of the size of the audience, given the potential for influence, and the part the media play in the socialisation of that audience."
"Repetition of messages tend to enhance their effects. People tend to believe something if its said that often enough (provided it isn't too outrageous)."
"In terms of output, the media are almost entirely self-regulating. There is the Video Standards Council, for video distributors."
Alan Mckee "Textual Analysis" (Padshow, Cornwall: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Everyone loves children, children need to be protected from the dangers of the world, including representation's of violence and sex."
Sunday 9 January 2011
essay plan
1. Introduction
Description of my investigation and why i have chosen this topic to study.
2. Rap/Grime Music Industry
history of grime and rap
what sort of Media Impact it has on socitey
3.Moral Panics Created By Rap/Grime Music Videos
4. Music & Violence.
is there a link between what is seen in music videos and how youths act?
why do rappers continue to make these types of songs when there is such negative sterotypes about what they do
do rappers add to the sterotypes given to them?
5. Regulation & Censorship Of Rap/Music Videos
what type of regulation or censorship is made over music videos.
who is in charge of censoring music videos on the internet and TV
6. Audience Theories
Cultivation Theory -
Hypodermic Needle Theory -
7. Conclusion - not sure?
Description of my investigation and why i have chosen this topic to study.
2. Rap/Grime Music Industry
history of grime and rap
what sort of Media Impact it has on socitey
3.Moral Panics Created By Rap/Grime Music Videos
4. Music & Violence.
is there a link between what is seen in music videos and how youths act?
why do rappers continue to make these types of songs when there is such negative sterotypes about what they do
do rappers add to the sterotypes given to them?
5. Regulation & Censorship Of Rap/Music Videos
what type of regulation or censorship is made over music videos.
who is in charge of censoring music videos on the internet and TV
6. Audience Theories
Cultivation Theory -
Hypodermic Needle Theory -
7. Conclusion - not sure?
task 3 - HISTORICAL TEXT ANALYSIS & RESEARCH
The notourious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997) was an American rapper. He was popularly known as Biggie Smalls
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
this is a music video from one of the first gruops of rap to ever be known as music artist. N.W.A is short for 'Niggers With Attitude' this gruop was formed in the 80's by four rappers all from compton california.
They were widely considered one of the seminal acts of the gangsta rap sub-genre.
Active from 1986 to 1991, the group endured controversy due to the explicit nature of their lyrics. They were subsequently banned from many mainstream US radio stations and even at times prevented from touring. In spite of this, the group has sold over 9 million units in the US alone.
Straight Outta Compton (1988–1989)
N.W.A released Straight Outta Compton in 1988. With its famous opening salvo of three tracks, the group reflected the rising anger of the urban youth. The opening song "Straight Outta Compton" introduced the group; "Fuck tha Police" protested police brutality and racial profiling, and "Gangsta Gangsta" painted the worldview of the inner-city youth. While the group was later credited with pioneering the burgeoning sub genre of gangsta rap, N.W.A referred to their music as "reality rap."[9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.W.A
This can be seen as were hip-hop/ rap has come from. watching video from then and contemporary videos there is a link in which much has not changed from then till now with this genre this could be for the reason that in rap everyone is trying to keep it 'old school' that would mean watching rappers such as N.W.A and 2pac and trying to copy them to an extent where its exactly the same but no one realises.
task 2 ADDITIONAL BOOK READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY (SO FAR)
Dan Laughey. "Media Studies: Theories & Approaches" (Great Britain; Sparkford, Somerset: Kamera Books, 2009)
Key Quotes:
"Major Moral Panics in recent times have centred on fears about paedophilia, AIDS, knife and gun crime."
"Children and young people are seen as both the perpetrators and victims of anti-social behaviour - they become the excuse for politicians and policy makers to impose stricter laws and tighter regulations on new forms of media and popular culture."
"Subcultures are themselves apart from the rest of society - subcultures actually choose to rebel against norms and conventions"
"George Gerbner identified a 'Mean World Syndrome' that afflicted heavy TV viewers. Put simply, the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to view the outside world as a hostile, crime-ridden, ghettoised world where danger and vice lurk in every corner."
"In terms of this latter, Gerbner found that crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world."
"So, it would seem that TV addicts make a direct connection between what they see on the small screen and what they think is happening in reality. TV's cultivating power means that it guides certain individuals into ways of dealing with the world beyond the box."
"TV realism, is far removed from actual reality. Witnessing a drive-by shooting in the flesh would probably make us physically sick or scar us for life, whereas witnessing it every night on TV, we hardly bat an eyelid."
Gail Dines. "Second Edition. Gender, Race, and Class In Media. A Text Reader" (United States of America; Sage Publications, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Rap music is by no means the only form of expression, especially heavy metal, have recently been the target of increased sanctions and assaults by politically and economically powerful organisation, such as the Parent's Music Resource Center, The American Family Association, and Focus on the Family." (page 399)
"Rap artists articulate a range of reactions to the scope of institutional policing faced by many young African Americans. However, the lyrics that address the police directly-what Ice Cube has called "revenge fantasies"-have caused the most extreme and unconstitutional reaction from law enforcement officials in metropolitan concert arena venues. (page 398)
Graeme Burton. "More Than Meets The Eye" (Great Britain; Euston Road: Arnold, a member of the Hoddler Headline Group, 2002)
Key Quotes:
"Audiences are an integral part of the whole process of communication through out the media. In many ways they are the raison d'etre for the media industries, because no audiences means no profit means no reason for running the organisation. It is the audience that makes sense of the communication and this becomes of all the more important because of the size of the audience, given the potential for influence, and the part the media play in the socialisation of that audience."
"Repetition of messages tend to enhance their effects. People tend to believe something if its said that often enough (provided it isn't too outrageous)."
"In terms of output, the media are almost entirely self-regulating. There is the Video Standards Council, for video distributors."
Alan Mckee "Textual Analysis" (Padshow, Cornwall: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Everyone loves children, children need to be protected from the dangers of the world, including representation's of violence and sex."
Key Quotes:
"Major Moral Panics in recent times have centred on fears about paedophilia, AIDS, knife and gun crime."
"Children and young people are seen as both the perpetrators and victims of anti-social behaviour - they become the excuse for politicians and policy makers to impose stricter laws and tighter regulations on new forms of media and popular culture."
"Subcultures are themselves apart from the rest of society - subcultures actually choose to rebel against norms and conventions"
"George Gerbner identified a 'Mean World Syndrome' that afflicted heavy TV viewers. Put simply, the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to view the outside world as a hostile, crime-ridden, ghettoised world where danger and vice lurk in every corner."
"In terms of this latter, Gerbner found that crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world."
"So, it would seem that TV addicts make a direct connection between what they see on the small screen and what they think is happening in reality. TV's cultivating power means that it guides certain individuals into ways of dealing with the world beyond the box."
"TV realism, is far removed from actual reality. Witnessing a drive-by shooting in the flesh would probably make us physically sick or scar us for life, whereas witnessing it every night on TV, we hardly bat an eyelid."
Gail Dines. "Second Edition. Gender, Race, and Class In Media. A Text Reader" (United States of America; Sage Publications, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Rap music is by no means the only form of expression, especially heavy metal, have recently been the target of increased sanctions and assaults by politically and economically powerful organisation, such as the Parent's Music Resource Center, The American Family Association, and Focus on the Family." (page 399)
"Rap artists articulate a range of reactions to the scope of institutional policing faced by many young African Americans. However, the lyrics that address the police directly-what Ice Cube has called "revenge fantasies"-have caused the most extreme and unconstitutional reaction from law enforcement officials in metropolitan concert arena venues. (page 398)
Graeme Burton. "More Than Meets The Eye" (Great Britain; Euston Road: Arnold, a member of the Hoddler Headline Group, 2002)
Key Quotes:
"Audiences are an integral part of the whole process of communication through out the media. In many ways they are the raison d'etre for the media industries, because no audiences means no profit means no reason for running the organisation. It is the audience that makes sense of the communication and this becomes of all the more important because of the size of the audience, given the potential for influence, and the part the media play in the socialisation of that audience."
"Repetition of messages tend to enhance their effects. People tend to believe something if its said that often enough (provided it isn't too outrageous)."
"In terms of output, the media are almost entirely self-regulating. There is the Video Standards Council, for video distributors."
Alan Mckee "Textual Analysis" (Padshow, Cornwall: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003)
Key Quotes:
"Everyone loves children, children need to be protected from the dangers of the world, including representation's of violence and sex."
task 1 - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
MALIK MD7 FT MARGS AND K KOKE
I’m ready is one of the music video’s I will be analysing. The video starts off with a close up of the main rapper; this is show who is the leader as there are two other rappers in the song. We are then shown quick cuts from scene to scene this is done to match with the tempo of the music. The rapper is seen as a stereo typical black male, this is connoted by the clothes worn in the music video and also the lyrical content of the song. Such as drugs money and lifestyle. Malik MD7 is seen to be powerful this is clear as he is seen standing with powerful jesters and also having a large group behind him as if they were there to protect him. Margs is the next rapper we are introduced to he is also seen as a typical negative stereotype of black males this is for the reason that when the camera first goes on him it is a medium shot from the waist up as it pans up his body we the audience see a joint of weed in his mouth showing he is involved in drugs and gang activates. As one hand is used for pointing the other is holding a cup of alcohol it is clear through his lyrical content he is not hiding the fact that he is a stereo type and it is apparent that he seems to play along with that and it could be seen as a way of selling his music as this is what ‘teens’ are looking for when buying or downloading their music. The use of the word ‘nigga’ is over used in ‘margs’ verse this connotes that not only is he acting up to the stereo type but he is also making people believe it is ok to be this stereo type which could be the reason there is a moral panic over rap songs as it will be seen as a excuse people will use when carrying out offences. The third member of the song is a non stereotypical rapper. K koke is seen to be breaking the bridge in UK rap as long as white rappers are involved. However he is seen to be stereo typical as a rapper as like the other rapper the lyrical content is revolved around the same issues; guns, knives, drugs and gangs. The first shot of k koke is one in which he is in a car on his way to meet the rest of the gang.
PAGE FT MISKI - MY LIFE
This is a music video that was made by the artist 'page'. the video starts off with a close up of his face where the background is all black creating a sence of enigma. this is done so tthat tha audiance are not awear of what is going to happen. we then see a blackout during the blackout there is a the sound of footsteps marching leading to more enigma for the viewers. the first time the camera is showing both artists we see the back of the feature and the front of the main artist this connotes that the main artist 'page' is supiriour to the the female artist. the costume for the artist is all black this connotes Danger were as the featuring artist is wearing white as she is a female this connotes innocents and purity. at the start of the video the location is set in what looks a allyway, this is seen to be typical of the sterotypes in rap/grime music. there is then a change of loction we then go on to see the main artist on a balcony with a bottle of alchol this can be see as a negative image as drunk people is not somthing that is seen positivly. the chorus is when we see the featuring artist for the first time we see 'miski'. she is the only part of the song that can be seen in a posotive light this if for the reason that the artist is female, she is not singing about violance, drugs or sex. but more about life. where as the 'page' is talking about drugs and violance.
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