Racial Portrayal of Rap and Hip-hop

Unfortunately, rap and hip-hop do tend to portray African American men and women in a negative way. Most of the genre makes men seem violent and misogynistic while turns women into sexual objects. This has a very negative effect on the youth in our country and is certainly a catalyst (but not the only one) in the breakdown of the moral fabric of society. I do feel that it is unfair to categorize the listeners of rap with the rappers themselves. In rock music, many songs also may have drug use or sexual implications but that does not mean that the audience has the same views. The same can be said for rap and hip-hop as well. While many rappers may talk about drug use or violence it does not mean the audience agrees with him or her. However, this does not mean everyone who listens to or creates rap music acts in this manner. Rap music does bring to mind certain struggles African Americans have lived with in this country and rappers such as Biggie Smalls or Tupac give us much insight as to what those struggles may have been.