The celebration of drug deals, whores, dirty money and violence is something I've never quite understood. When it's in the form of rhyming lyrics backed by an excessively repetitive beat, it gets annoying quickly.
I have an open mind when it comes to music, but I don't understand gangster rap.
It glorifies everything that's wrong with this world. Status is measured by having money, nice cars and lots of women who are objectified as a means for pleasure. Making a living from selling drugs is something to be proud of, and turning a gun on enemies for revenge comes with bragging rights.
Every song seems to be an effort for the rapper to prove something, to show off possessions or dream about adding more to the collection. The artists mention being "in the club" so much it sounds like they live there.
The most annoying part of all this is that it's nothing new. From album to album, the themes are the same: living the high life with the finer things and money to burn, surrounded by women. And if you cross the wrong man, watch your back because you're going down.
Drug use is exalted, such as in Busta Rhymes' "Cocaine," which talks about making coke babies. That's just plain disturbing. To pick on Rhymes even more, his song "Touch It" is all about using women for sex. The hook is a woman's voice that sounds more robotic than human. I'll let you dwell on the implication there.
I'm not so naive to think that this is real life and that the artists live this way all the time, but I struggle to understand how hearing about it can be enjoyable.
The cursing in almost every song grates on my ears like sandpaper, not because they're swear words, but because they make the lyrics so unoriginal. For example, the f-word has more definitions than any other word in the English language. That means hundreds of much-more-creative words could replace it.
Maybe those words don't sound tough enough, but it's sad to think the desire to sound hard and dangerous comes before artistic expression. These rappers consider themselves artists, but their work is so recycled that they are cluttering the music world rather than expanding it.
People tell me that the songs shouldn't be taken seriously and that I should ignore the lyrics and enjoy the beat, but I can't do it. I like to know the meaning behind music, and if it's foul and dirty, it turns me off. The knowledge that a lot of it is exaggerated doesn't really help.
Granted, it can be good dancing music, but I don't enjoy dancing to music that is so shallow, not to mention incredibly formulaic. Many songs repeat the same eight count the entire length of the song.
Music has a powerful influence on our emotions. Knowing this, why choose music with such superficial ideals and a warped sense of reality?
I like my music to be intriguing, inspiring, thought provoking or simply fun. It doesn't all have to happy, but I'll pass on the profanity. When music has the potential to make me feel good, I don't want it to remind me of how corrupt life can be.
Call me sheltered if you like, or even close minded, but I don't think that's the case. I know there's dirt in this world, but I just don't want it flowing from my stereo speakers.
Kari Nelson can be reached at knelson@theorion.com
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