Hip Hop And The Illusion Of Artistic Corruption

The idea that Hip Hop may be corrupting young minds is the same thing we've been hearing about music and art since the beginning of time. Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring" caused a riot at a live performance in 1913 due to its complex, almost violent musical style. Rezso Seress wrote the classic song "Gloomy Sunday" in 1933. In short time it was banned from radio and deemed the "Hungarian Suicide Song" due to the number of suicides attributed to this haunting dirge. In an act of serious irony, Seress himself committed suicide in 1968 by jumping out of a window.

We all know about Elvis and the Beatles and, oh my God, this is going to corrupt the youth for all time. Parents were in a panic, adults didn't know what the hell the world was coming to. Some of us may remember the incredible reaction to Ice-T's Body Count song "Cop Killer" that was apparently so inflammatory, the FBI itself labeled it as dangerous. If we didn't know the names of the shooters at Columbine, most people would assume it was Marilyn Manson himself who fired those shots. It never ends, only the styles change.

To finally address the question at hand, does Hip Hop corrupt kids, the answer is, only if they're already susceptible to corruption. Unless there are active, troubling ripples in the psychological waters of a listener, then, no, it corrupts no one. Hip Hop doesn't cause men to treat women like pieces of meat. If men do, they already have that outlook wired within. The "Stop Snitchin" slogan is the same as "don't rat out your friends" or "don't be a tattle tale." This is nothing new and ultimately, harmless.