Rap: The Good and the Bad

I agree with Orwin and Lenny that rappers actively give back to their communities and help improve the lives of inner city youth. For example, MTV followed T.I., one of the most influential rappers from Atlanta, as he completed 1000 hours of community service in their documentary T.I.'s Road To Redemption: 45 Days To Go. T.I. is shown visiting numerous schools and community groups to talk to them about avoiding violence and on avoiding the lure of gang culture.

I am certain that other rappers also give back to their communities and try to serve as role models for today's youth, but the problem is that those efforts are not revealed to or advertised to our youth as often as the "gangsta" image is shown.  Kids are not aware of the average rapper's good side because they rarely see it. All they know is what is shown to them through music videos and revealed to them via lyrics...lyrics like those found in my current favorite rap song, "We Be Steady Mobbin" by Lil Wayne.

 

I like the "I don't give a f***" attitude of the song, and I love the beat. I know Wayne doesn't mean it when he says:

"Man fuck these niggas
I'ma spare everything but these niggas
I flip the gun and gun-butt these niggas
Take the knife off the AK and cut these niggas"

...but an impressionable youngster can't tell whether Lil Wayne is just expressing his anger at some situation or if he really is gonna bust a cap in someone's ass and leave someone's brains on the street uhhhhhh. And don't forget the expletives, racial slurs, and womanizing. This is the stuff (censored) our youth sees on TV or hears on the radio. They don't always see the good side of their favorite rappers. They just see this goon persona rappers have fabricated. If the good deeds were showcased more, kids would know that the topics rappers rap about are just sick fantasies and that it is not normal or right to want to hurt others.