Music: The Immorality Of Rap Music

Music expresses and affects emotion; it has the power to move a grown man to tears, to trigger thoughts, to invoke joy, sorrow, anger or love. Music can manipulate the emotions and incite immoral thoughts or actions. By nature, music is morally neutral and a good. Over time however, immorality has seeped into the music industry, leading to music which is immoral. Music has begun to glorify sex and to embrace immorality as a good. Hundreds of new songs and genres are contain lyrics and rhythm which lead to immorality. However, that does not mean that all music or specific types of music are immoral. Musical genres are morally neutral categories, and only individual songs can possess qualities that are immoral.

In order to define the morality of music, it is necessary to examine the intentions of the musician in writing music. All music fulfills a purpose. The purpose of the musician in creating music determines the morality of a song. The purpose of Gregorian chant, for example is to lift the minds of man to God in prayer and for thousands of years it has fulfilled that purpose of good. Immorality in
The intent of the artist determines the morality of the song, regardless of the genre under which it is categorized. In rap music, there are numerous songs in which the lyrics glorify sex. Yet there are also many rap songs which contain nothing immoral. In fact, there are rap songs which point towards virtue rather than sin. Therefore the condemnation of all rap as a immoral is impractical. Evil men classified in the genus of mankind does not cause all mankind to be labeled as evil, since there are also men of virtue. Likewise, immoral music does not brand its genre as immoral since there will also virtuous music contained in that genre. It is how the musician utilizes the rhythm and lyrics that defines the immorality of the