Gangsta Rap = Insane in the Membrane?

Months ago a cop friend of mine, who patrols some of the more scenic areas of downtown Richmond, asked me to write a blog about rap music and its effect on crime. His observation was that the youth of America listened to media that glorified crime, objectified women, and portrayed a 9 mm as an acceptable form of conflict resolution. The more they listened to these things, the more they conformed to the media they chose. That is to say, garbage in, garbage out.

A casual observer could easily see a relationship between the brand of media consumption and the behavior of an individual. One needs look no further than the disaffected youth prowling your local mall, freshly being arrested for beating his underage girlfriend.


This young man must apparently resort to crime because the only pants he can afford were previously owned by a manatee. A life of malnutrition has caused his eyesight to become incredibly poor, as evidenced by the fact that he cannot see to put his baseball cap on straight. If you were to dig under the copious amounts of fur lining on his ill-fitting jacket, you may find a set of earbuds connected to an iPod, blaring out such family classics as Tupac's "Crooked Ass Nigga", Dr. Dre's "Nigga witta gun".

What the casual observation cannot prove, however, is a causal relationship. That is to say, while it is clear that many people who commit crimes in urban areas listen to gangsta rap, is it the rap itself that causes it? Or is it instead simply that people who are apt to commit said crimes are also likely to enjoy music that glorifies it?

Most articles you are likely to find will be simple conjecture. Indeed, the final part of this blog will be more of the same. Of course, my conjecture will have the clear advantage of being completely true, by virtue of the opinion being mine. Before I get to that, though, I'm going to take a different approach.

WARNING:


I found a study conducted through Western Connecticut State University in 2006. This study included findings about rap, but was more broad. It focused on violent media in general, and its effect on behavior. This study cites other research from as far back as 1996. While every piece of research was slightly different, they are all variations on a theme. Take 2-3 groups of people. Have one group watch a music video, listen to music, or in some way be exposed to media, that glorifies violence, crime, objectifying women, etc. Another group is exposed to non-violent media, and sometimes a third group is exposed to nothing. Afterwards, have all three groups fill out a questionnaire and evaluate the results.

Predictably, the groups that were exposed to violent media were more likely to give answers that had a positive view of violent behavior. The groups exposed to nothing were less violent, and the groups exposed to non-violent media the least violent of all.

Does this mean that rap music is in some way responsible for the decay of the urban environment? My answer is a clear and definitive:

Maybe.

Cue conjecture.

Music is an industry. The purpose of any industry is to produce a product that people will buy, with the ultimate goal of turning a profit. In order to do this, the product must meet a demand. Without a demand, there is no sale, no profit, and no business. In this way, the music industry is no different than, say, the cigarette industry. It cannot be said that Philip Morris is exclusively responsible for a smoker's addiction, because if there were no demand for cigarettes Philip Morris would go out of business.

The situation is complicated somewhat by music's unique place in society. It offers a cohesive voice through which the incomprehensible cacophony of public opinion can be distilled and understood.

The opinions and views expressed in gangsta rap did not grow in a vacuum. If there were no demand for songs that objectified women and praised killing cops, there would not be much of a supply either, because it would not be profitable.

That is not to say that violent music and images have no effect on culture, particularly youth culture. People look up to role models, and in an effort to be cool and accepted, emulate them. What results is what could be said to be a reinforced harmonic cycle. Here is my theory on what happened.

The "gangsta rap" culture emerged before the rap itself. This culture objectified women, preached violence and crime as a solution, glorified dealing and using drugs, etc., etc. Like nearly every culture it desired entertainment and music to express these opinions. This is where the reinforcement came in.

Johnny hears the celebrity rapper say that pimp-slapping his woman because she back talked is acceptable. The more Johnny listens, the more likely Johnny is to pimp-slap. The more Johnny pimp-slaps, the more he will demand music that fits his life style. The cycle continues.

Unfortunately, even if we could completely eliminate objectionable music and media that glorified theses actions instantly, only a fool would think that the actions would cease. The rap music, while it is a contributing factor, is far from the only, or even the primary, motivator.

The answer is not to remove the music. The answer is to remove what the music satisfies: The demand.