Effects of Hip Hop Music

TOPIC: Effects of hip hop music on Daystar university students
THESIS: Hip hop music has a negative effect on Daystar University students
THESIS STATEMENT: Although a source of revenue, form of political and social awareness and a form of breaking down cultural barriers, hip hop Music has negative effects on Daystar University students such as, it affects their language, men’s world view towards women, and the student’s world view towards luxury, money and drugs / drug abuse and it also affects the students social relations with each other.

OUTLINE I. Introduction. II. Positive effects of Hip hop music A. Breaking down cultural barriers. B. Source of revenue. C. Form of political and social awareness. III. Hip hop music negative effects on Daystar University student’s language. A. Use of curse words. B. Use of slang. C. Changing the meaning of words. IV. Hip hop music effects on men’s world view towards women. V. Hip hop music effects on Daystar University student’s world view towards money, luxury, and drugs. A. Influence by music videos. B. Influence by the lyrics. C. Influence by the celebrity’s life style. VI. Effects of Hip hop music on Daystar University student’s social relations. A. Judging of peers. B. Increased cases of low self-esteem. VII. Conclusion. VIII. References.

Introduction
Music is defined as an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. Music can also be defined as the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. Music can also be accompanied with musical instruments that are struck, strum or beaten in a rhythm that is harmonious with the music being sung.
Hip hop music is defined as an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music. Hip hop music is said to have originated from Bronx New York but it was most dominant among Latin Americans and African Americans. It is believed to have been pioneered by Jamaican born artist Kool Dj Herc at a Halloween party organized by his younger sister. Hip hop music has evolved since the 1970’s with the coming of new hip hop artists with new styles of hip hop. Hip hop music is now in the mainstream industry as it can be found anywhere in stores that sell music.
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF HIP HOP MUSIC
BREAKING DOWN CULTURAL BARRIERS
For most chroniclers, the hip-hop scene's ability to transcend boundaries and language barriers is the most positive aspect of all. Some hip hop artists use their music to encourage oneness in the society and shunning tribalism. These hip hop artists also make aware to the people that no culture is superior to the other, this goes a long way in breaking cultural boundaries. A lot of hip hop artists have also started charity organizations that bring together people from all races in the world and they teach them how to live together despite their cultural back grounds. There are also gospel hip hop artists that encourage the breaking down of cultural boundaries as we are all one in Jesus Christ.
SOURCE OF REVENUE
Hip hop music provides jobs for the hip hop artists, their managers, the sales men and women who sell their CD’s. Hip hop music also is a source of employment to writers of the vast numbers of periodicals the focus in the hip hop scene in the world. Governments also earn revenue from the hip hop artists as they pay taxes from their payments and their concerts. Hip hop artists are also a source of foreign revenue to the governments as some of the hip hop artists get to perform on international stages. Hip hop music also provides a source of income for the hip hop artists as they get endorsements from companies that use musicians to publicize their brands or even publicize the companies themselves.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL AWARENESS
Hip hop musicians use this genre of music to make aware to the people of the social and political ills in the society. Conscious hip hop or socially conscious hip-hop is a sub-genre of hip hop that focuses on social issues. Like several cases within many genres of music, the umbrella term was originally coined by audiences and music critics rather than the actual artists themselves. It is not necessarily openly political, but it discusses social issues and conflicts. Themes of conscious hip hop include religion, aversion to crime and violence, culture, the economy, or simple depictions the struggles of ordinary people.

HIP HOP MUSIC EFFECTS ON DAYSTAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS LANGUAGE.
USE OF CURSE WORDS.
Curse words are words that are vulgar and offensive. In the former years curse words have been used in private or to back stab enemies but with the recent rise and rise of hip hop music curse words and vulgar language have found their way into hit songs and television shows making them more easily accessible to the youth in general and to the Daystar University students. The accessibility to curse words has affected the Daystar University student’s language in that they are used by the students to abuse and degrade other students.
USE OF SLANG.
Slang according to the oxford dictionary is defined as a type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. Slang is mainly used to disguise the real name of an object or activity it is very similar to the ‘sheng’ of Kenya. Slang is used largely in hip hop music this affects the language of Daystar University students as they more often than not use these slang words to express themselves even in formal venues. Slang, when used in formal venues affects the language in that slang is not a constant language, meanings of a word change from time to time. Slang also contributes to the detriment of the English language in that students who are used to speaking in slang end up translating it into formal venues such as classrooms and even using slang when writing official documents. This effect can cause a lot if Daystar University students to miss out on job opportunities since they are unable to express themselves in the official language of English. Slang’s characteristic of changing the meanings of words constantly makes it an inconsistent language that can not be depended upon on official matters. Slang destroys the English language because when students get used to speaking in slang it becomes difficult for them to express themselves in any other language but slang. CHANGING THE MEANING OF WORDS
Hip hop artists have a common characteristic of changing the meaning of words to mean what best sits them at a particular time. For example because of the hip hop culture words such as bitch which means a female dog has been changed to mean a female person, nigga, which was an offensive word used by the whites to refer to a black person has been changed to mean a male person who is true to the hip hop culture and the word crib which means a baby’s bed has been changed to mean a person’s house. Changing of the meaning of words makes an individual who is used to listening to hip hop music to believe that the words as used in the hip hop context is the actual meaning of the word. This makes the hip hop fans venerable to using the words as in the hip hop music in official matters which could cost them job opportunities. Changing of the meaning of words also disconnects the communication bridge that is created by English as an international language since a person who is not a hip hop fan or is not familiar with the hip hop culture would not understand a point that the hip hop fans are trying to put across. Daystar University students who are used to listening to hip hop music therefor find it very difficult to converse with other people who are not conversant with the hip hop culture especially lecturers and other staff members.

Hip hop music on Daystar University men’s world view towards women.
Hip hop music lyrics always refer to women as bitches which is a degrading term considering the word bitch means a female dog artists like Lil Wayne often degrade women in their lyrics for example Lil Wayne in the song ‘Pop That’ says “I fuck a bitch and am gone” this line shows lack of respect to two sacred creations of God, sex and women most hip hop rappers show that sex is better than commitment in their lyrics they shun relationships and uphold one night stands some rappers go to the extent of even upholding date rape. This affects the world view of men towards women. Men who are die hard hip hop fans tend to see women as objects of sex and they tend to shun commitment and relationships. This has a negative effect on society in that it increases the rate of the spread of the deadly virus, HIV/AIDS, increases rape cases and increases the number of single mothers. On Daystar University students it affects the male students as there are a lot of men indulging in pre-marital sex with numerous sex partners. Students who are in serious committed relationships are mocked and segregated this is because the hip hop culture has affected the students and they shun commitment and relationships.
Hip hop music effects on Daystar University student’s world view towards money, luxury, drugs, and crime.
INFLUENCE BY MUSIC VIDEOS.
Hip hop music videos depict the hip hop artistes living a luxurious stress free life style with Porsche cars and Porsche houses. The videos show the artiste throwing money in the air, the artistes taking drugs, selling drugs robbing banks and some of the hip hop music videos show the artistes killing their enemies. These videos affect the minds of the Daystar University students as it depicts that anyone who gets into the hip hop genre of music is going to live a luxurious lifestyle with lots of money and can get away with crime despite the degree of the crime. Music videos like 50 Cent’s “many men” and Akon’s “Snitch” show the artistes taking revenge on the people who have wronged them by killing them. This sends a negative image to the growing mind of the Daystar University student as it shows that anyone who has wronged one, one should take revenge upon the person even if it means killing them.
INFLUENCE BY THE LYRICS
Hip hop artistes often depict violence in their lyrics they also show that money and luxurious life’s are the only things to live for. The artistes also rap about getting away with major crimes. In the song “we up” by 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar says that ‘I kill a nigga quick no worries my record clean, first degree murder changed to man slaughter’ this shows that the artists have enough money and status to get them out of any predicament. The artistes often talk about their luxurious lifestyles in their lyrics they also degrade other people who have no money this is also translated to the average Daystar University students as students from well of families tend to look down upon the students who are from humble backgrounds. The students who are from humble backgrounds also often look down on themselves as the other students have flashy gadgets and live nice life styles this affects the social Relations of the Daystar University students.
INFLUENCE BY THE ARTISTES LIFESTYLES.
Artist live Porsche lifestyles this accompanied by the artists lyrics make the youth in Daystar University want to live up to those standards this mainly affects the students who are in the music career. These makes the students to adopt the famous “get rich or die trying” hip hop motto. The irony of it all is exposed when the artistes are arrested for evading taxes and some even being arrested for not paying loans. The lifestyles of the artistes are related to the increasing cases of low self-esteem in the society as people are bent on believing that the society only has space for those who are rich and powerful.
Effects of Hip hop music on the social relations of Daystar University student’s social relations.
JUDGING OF PEERS
Hip hop music characteristic of flashy lifestyle and “blowing money fast “contributes to the students judging their peers in accordance to their appearance and the money they make or what they have in their pockets. Students who do not have a lot of money are often referred to as outcasts since they cannot join the other students in the activities that need funding. Students who also do not associate themselves with the hip hop culture’s lifestyles are looked down upon and segregated. This is mainly because the students who live in accordance to the hip hop culture do all the things that the celebrities in hip hop do. This includes meaningless sex and doing drugs. Students who do not indulge themselves in these illicit activities are often made fun of as being holier than thou. This causes the students to either join the other students in clubbing and having illicit sex or to cocoon themselves away from society.
INCREASED CASES OF LOW SELF ESTEEM
Hip hop music leads to the judging of peers which in result leads to increased cases of low self-esteem. This mainly affects the students who are from humble back grounds as it is hard for them to walk around with their heads hanging high in a society where everyone is showing off what they have in their pockets trying to outdo each other. Increase in the cases of low self-esteem has contributed to the increase in cases of suicide and suicidal students in Daystar University. Students who do not end up being suicidal however suffer from low self-esteem as they cannot compete with the students who have the money to throw around. This also causes students to restrain from approaching members of the opposite sex if they do not have the money to take them out or to buy lunch this also contributes to the material oriented relationships that have taken over the society today.

Conclusion
In this paper we have discussed the effects of hip hop music on Daystar University students mainly leaning to the negative effects.