Your attitude to RAP.

[shaz]

I don't hold any profound liking for rap music, although I do really like some artists, whose music would be classified as rap. These artists combine catchy, groovy beats with a not-so-serious attitude when it comes to the lyrics, and don't even fall for the oldest trick in rap - promoting bling bling & violence. Good examples would be the Dub Pistols, and the finnish Flegmaatikot.

All this mainstream gansta-yo-mothafuckas-i'm-gonna-beat-yo-ass -(c)rap can go to hell, though.

[Bones]

I think that there's no genre for GOOD music. If I like the song, no matter what genre it is. So I can listen to rap songs if I like them. But 99.9% of good songs in my opinion are some sort of metal or rock..

[NordicStorm]

No, Rap music doesn't make criminals out of kids, however combined with other factors it can contribute.

I'm not contesting that negative lyrics can have a negative influence on kids. But my main concern would be those other factors.
Could the lyrics of some Judas Priest song be a contributing factor to two kids killing themselves? Absurd is it may sound, it's certainly possible; who knows what went on in the heads of those kids. But I'd be hard pressed to believe if it wasn't for Judas Priest, those kids would still be walking on this earth.

I'll just say this. Do people need to be fed a constant diet of negativity and hopelessness? Where the only answer to your problems come from the barrel of a gun and exploiting and abusing women. Of a twisted reality, that they themselves have the power to change? That question is for each person to decide for themselves.

But what is it that makes people attracted to that negativity in the first place? Is it not so that human beings are attracted to things that reaffirms our views of the world? So the question then is if rap lyrics just reaffirms or actually shapes that view of the world - I say it's more of the former than the latter.

If music and it's influence on people is so benign then what are we all doing here? The type of music a person listens to is such a big part of their lives, such a driving force, yet when it comes time for accountability everyone runs and hides.

But does our taste in music define who we are, or does who we are define our taste in music? I would think it's a bit of both.
And when it comes to accountability - going after rap music is easy, because rap music is an easy target. But then we're not really addressing those other factors; those factors that enables negative rap lyrics to thrive in the first place.

Rappers glorify their"lifestyle" and we have kids coming up 16-23 years old who take up that life and end up dead, or in prison. Locked in the "system" they speak of with such hatred. They blame society, but nobody forced them to steal cars, kill people, or have shootouts with the cops. We all have choices to make in life.

But that's the key - nobody forced them to do anything. Certainly not rappers. No Norwegian black metal band made that kid in Sweden torch a church, hard as the Swedish press may try to spin it that way.

If we're going to go after anything that could possibly be harmful to children, we'd have to shut down Hollywood too - and where would we be if Ashton Kutcher is prevented from gracing our screens? And even worse than that, we'd have to start perusing libraries for books that are deemed "harmful".
Well, I think everyone can see where I'm going with this. Is it a slippery slope argument? Of course. Because it is a slippery slope. If that's how we go about protecting our children, eventually we'll have to address how Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther set off a wave of suicides when it was published.
Now, I'm certainly not suggesting anyone is advocating the outlawing of rap music, apart from perhaps Zell Miller. I'm merely suggesting the step from criticizing rap music to trying to restrain it is a very small one.

I know this much, your chances of ending up in a morgue prematurely, or getting locked up greatly decrease if you go about your life in an honest, moral, intelligent and positive way.

But it's the responsbility of the parents to instill those values in their children. And heck, if the parents have to work two jobs so they can afford to pay next month's rent, it's probably rather tempting to have the TV raising your kids instead.
So, ultimately, my point (if I ever have one, which is doubtful) would be that going after rap music is cutting off the tip of the iceberg. There are larger issues to address.

Rap is an ingredient in these tragedies, like dough would be an ingredient in making a pizza.

Without the dough you can't make a pizza, though. Without rap music...you've just removed the salami, it's still a pizza. And much as I like salami, if I'm hungry I'm going to eat that pizza anyway. And after that I'm off to the Betty Ford Clinic for a metaphor detox.

What's wrong with The Ancient Forest of Elves??

The lyrics are horribly clichéd and just plain badly written. They're so (in all likelihood unintentionally) funny, it makes you wonder if their main influence is JRR Tolkien or Terry Pratchett.

[htcdude]

Man i just read the lyrics for Rhapsody - Queen Of The Dark Horizons

Very scarey

[NeonVomit]

''Rap has violent lyrics and is bad blah blah blah''

Read the lyrics for any Cannibal Corpse song, they're far more violent than any rap.

Oh and Rhapsodys lyrics are awful, in my opinion. I like the music, but damn are those lyrics hard to hear with a straight face.

[Shurik]

Read the lyrics for any Cannibal Corpse song, they're far more violent than any rap.

Some of CC song titles:

Hammer Smashed Face
Force Fed Broken Glass
Entrails Ripped From A Virgin Cunt
Necropedophile
Meat Hook Sodomy
I Cum Blood

They are definitely not singing about flowers and rainbows ....












But I love this band nevertheless