Advanced Essay #3: (Music On Society)

Introduction:

My goal for writing this paper was to bring up a topic that not many really think of. We don’t realize how much it could be affecting us and this topic is how violent music can be influential to society. I’m proud of the research I found and how it worked really well with what I was trying to get across. Music is such an important part of who we all are as people. It is used for many different aspects of life and knowing that it could be doing no good to society is important to pay attention too.

As humans, we don’t think about how influential music may be in society. Music is a form of art. It is a positive outlet for people and a way for people to express their feelings. These feelings can be good or bad and this is where we need to look deeper. Music can dig deep into someone’s emotional status and can lead to certain thoughts or feelings. Now the question is, is violent music influencing our society? This is important to be mindful of because children and adolescents are so into music nowadays. Hip hop, R&B, and Rap are genres that are so popular and there are the ones that can infiltrate violent messages into society the most. Not knowing what is right in front of you isn’t an option. Music can be a part of the reasons why violence is such a problem to society and why people may act the way they do.

Rap is a creative way to form and pair words together to create a hit. Rap music is what most teens listen to today and rap music can often emphasize the idea of violence. An article by, Nakia Jackson, called What Influence and Effects Does Rap Music Have on Teens Today? talks about different ways Rap music can be effective in positive and negative ways. “Rap was born in poor urban communities where violence may be poorly controlled, but social and economic factors can play a much greater role in the prevalence of violence.” This quote is mainly focusing on the idea of how rap music was already created because of the violence that was spread around into society. As mentioned before, music can be used to express feelings and this quote basically says the area where rap was born was just a way for people to explain what they were facing in their community. Also, how she mentions that social and economic factors take a bigger toll in the society which can be true. Lower class communities are where violence takes place the most because as said in the quote, it is “poorly controlled”. There are bigger issues to be aware of that violent music affecting society, especially where the origins of rap music came from.

Some people may view music as nothing harmless. It isn’t something physical but something that means much more in a emotional, intellectual, and spiritual way. A study was done by researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human services. The study was published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and it proved that violent music lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and feelings. This necessarily does not have to do with crimes nor creating violence throughout society. This has to do with the fact about how thoughts and feelings can form negatively within a person, leading to physical action. A person who knows someone in a vulnerable place should take this into consideration. Violent music can cause someone to make choices they will later regret in life and knowing these type of facts can prevent that in the future.

Music can be used as a coping method for those who want an escape from the world. In these times, females can be more driven into letting music affect them negatively than men. An article published by the American Academy of Pediatrics goes into depth about how music and all of its aspects can have an impact on children and adolescents. “Female adolescents are more likely than male adolescents to use music to reflect their emotional state, in particular when feeling lonely or “down.” This proves females are more likely to lean on music in their rough times because of their emotional status. As we look at adolescents, it is more important to pay more attention to them since they are still trying to figure themselves out. At times they might feel like no one is truly there for them because they are going through the changes of life and becoming adults. They might feel like music is the only way to uplift them and sometimes even bring out the worst in them.

As a society, we should begin to realize what is right in front of our faces. Certain genres are what bring this trait to music and music artist should see that it won’t always do good for the society. They probably aren’t aware of what they are actually doing to their community. Most violent music is songs about the struggle and the horrible things they had to do to survive. If we don’t want our people to be under the impression then a change has to be made. Science and the Medicine field are giving out proven facts as well. We don’t want our children and adolescents to be mistaken that some of these actions are okay by the music they are listening to. Creators, listeners, viewers, and bystanders need to step in and see violent music does have an impact on society.