Hip-Hop and Rap. . .Is it all Whack?
Sara DeSerf
Born in 1980, I grew up
listening to some of the emerging rap artists and remember jamming to
many of these tunes at the YMCA dances and slumber parties.
Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer and Salt-n-Pepa were some of my
favorites. I listened to music because I liked how it sounded and
really did not pay much attention to the messages being
delivered. Some of the lyrics found in rap nowadays are downright
disturbing. I still enjoy listening to Eminem and Outkast, but it
is for mere enjoyment and not because I believe in everything they are
singing.
Just as with any other new or different music
that has come along before including rock and heavy-metal, rap gets a
bad rap because some songs contain explicit lyrics. According to
Fox, “Whether music negatively affects behavior has been debated from
Elvis to Eminem” (2004, p. 32). She reported on a study that found
teens who listened to English rap were less likely to commit crimes
than teens who listened to French rap music. Listening to music
should not contribute to acts of behavior. Tanner reported in
2009, “Listening to popular music has, on occasion, been said to
produce similarly negative effects, although these have proven too
difficult to verify “ (p. 695). Ultimately it is up to the teens
themselves to filter what comes through the ear buds of their
iPods. Just as teachers must deal with inattentiveness and
laziness, the behaviors of teens due to music should not dictate what
is taught in the classroom.
Peter Brown, a teacher of a race and human relations
class in San Diego, embraced rap in the 90s by using lyrics to spark
classroom discussions (Merina, 1993, 18). Rappers ultimately sing
about what is relevant in their own lives, which is what we ask of our
students every day. We want them to internalize their learning,
make connections to themselves and their worlds and demonstrate how
they interpret what they are learning. Weinstein wrote about how
another teacher conceded by realizing that students were not just
rapping, but they were also writing (2007, p. 270). Though
rap does contain explicit lyrics about lewd behaviors, there are some
elements worth employing in the classroom.
Music does have a place in the classroom, especially
in poetry units. The flow, rhyme, rhythm, and poetic devices
found in rap and hip-hop today are as present as in poetry from the
early 1900s. One of my favorite collaborative projects in college
was creating a Slam Poetry Unit for high school students. I have
used elements of this unit in my own teaching, such as having them
create and perform their own songs. Students are able to really
show their creativity in writing and really enjoyed performing their
raps in front of their peers. Both the students and I found this
to be a fun and effective way to enhance the poetry
unit.
Another way to accommodate interests in the classroom is by subscribing
to magazines, made available to the students during independent reading
time. Magazine worth considering are M-TV, The Vibe, and The
Source: The Magazine of Hip-Hop Music, Culture & Politics.
These publications also have online versions available for students who
prefer the computer versions as opposed to the traditional hand held
method (Harlam, Loertscher & McElmeel, 2009, p. 47). There
are also a variety of activities including scavenger hunts that may
accompany these websites and publications. Website information
can be found in the reference section.
Music and interests will constantly change from generation to
generation. As teachers we must be able to embrace and
accommodate the tastes of our students and utilize what is popular in
their culture to help shape our classrooms and teaching methods.
In the words of Eminem, “As the World Turns/These are the days of our
lives/These are the things we must go through/Day by day” (1999, track
17).
References
Eminem. (1999). “As the world turns.” On Slim shady lp [CD]. Santa Monica, CA: Interscope.
Fox, R.L. (2004). Hip-hop’s bad rap. Psychology Today, 37 (5), 32. Retrieved June 22, 2010 from
Academic Search Complete database.
Harlan, M.A., Loertscher, D.V., McElmeel, S.L. (2009). Young adult literature and multimedia: A quick
guide. Salt Lake city, UT: Hi Willow Research & Publishing.
Merina, A. (1993). Rap. Nea Today, 11(8), 18. Retrieved June 22, 2010 from Academic Search Complete
database.
Tanner, J., Asbridge, M., & Wortley, S. (2009). Listening to rap: Cultures of crime, cultures of resistance.
Social Forces, 88(2), 693-722. Retrieved June 22, 2010 from Academic Search Complete
database.
Weinstein, S. (2007). A love for the thing: The pleasure of rap as a literate practice. Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 50(4), 270-281. Retrieved June 22, 2010 from Academic Search
Complete database.
MTV Network. (2010) New Music Videos, Reality TV Shows, Celebrity News, Top Stories | MTV. WEB.
www.mtv.com - Includes news articles, videos, artist and album
information.
The Source Magazine (2008-2010) The Source | Welcome to the Source. WEB.
www.thesource.com – Includes free registration, news articles, and
forums.
Vibe. (2009). Vibe. WEB.
www.vibe.com - Includes free registration, blogs, photos, news articles and links to other magazines.