Cedric Washington

English 1100

Argument Paper

 

                                         Is Hip-hop all bad or does it just have a bad Rap

 

            “Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change.”- Doug E. Fresh. This statement was said by a well known artist within the hip hop community who has seen the peace and happiness his music can resonate. Although Doug E. Fresh associates the genre of hip hop, or also referred to as rap, as a way to uplift and educate some people feel as if the hip hop culture is vulgar, offensive, and violent. The two opposing sides cause hip hop to be the most controversial music in today’s society. The controversy is even more fueled when America’s youth is involved. The side opposing the further expansion of rap music believes that this type of music will be hazardous to the health and minds of the younger generations. Although many illustrated studies that focus on the effect hip hop has on the youth have discovered that hip hop can lower the obesity rate, raise academic scores, and improve self efficacy among youth.

 

Andrea J. Remero and her team of researchers constructed a project to evaluate the influence hip hop would have on children in Latin America who participated in very physical activities. The concept was to place these children in a program that provided 10 different physical activities for 50 minutes twice a day. These activities would incorporate hip hop to pique the interest of the adolescents. The results were astoundingly positive, with 77% of the students finishing the course all the way through the end. There were also distinct signs of weight loss and physical physique within the children. This project was mainly possible also helped the children gain a higher level of self esteem. With the accomplishment of passing the course it allowed the children to feel more in terms with their attributes and also allowed them to break neighborhood boundaries and meet other children with a new perspective on life. With hip hop these children were able to stay in the program because they were challenged by something they loved.

 

            Hip hop can also be used as a learning tool to help students struggling in the classroom. Christopher Emdin and Okhee Lee studied the continuous drop in the American education system for years and were out to design a new way of teaching. A way to allow the students to grasp complex concepts and relate them to their lives in order for them to maintain the information received. So they preformed a sample study to further prove their hypothesis; that if young adults were given relatable subjects like hip hop to use as a learning bridge for tough subjects such as science they would be more successful in their education. They called the idea of using hip hop as the relatable subject as the Obama effect. In this study they found that the students comprehended the subject better, and were also move involved and more excited to learn. Hip hop made these young adults look forward to school and also helped them derive valuable information that can be used for a higher level of education.

 

            A cliché a quote is that “You don’t judge a book by its cover”. Though it may be cliché it’s very rare that a cliché isn’t true. This quote can be applied to hip hop because the bad persona that shadows hip hop often washes down the good that brings. Hip hop can be used to rebuild the younger generation as seen in the two studies done in the paragraphs above. It can lower obesity rates through physical activity, raise self esteem, and also provide easier and more enjoyable learning criteria. These are just a few examples of how hip hop can be used to make a positive influence. With even more studies soon to be examined people will find that there are countless ways to hip hop as a constructive tool in today’s society.

 

 

 

 

 

Work sited

Remero, Andrea J. "A Pilot Test of the Latin Active Hip Hop Intervention to Increase Physical Activity Among Low-Income Mexican-American Adolescents." American Journal of Health Promotion 26.4 (2012): 208-011.

 

Emdin, Christopher, and Okhee Lee. "Hip-Hop, the "Obama Effect," and Urban Science Education." Teachers College Record 114.2 (2012): 1-24.