Hip Hop's Positive Impacts of Society

One of Hip Hop’s Positive Impacts on Society:

Acceptance of Gay Marriage

When one searches the internet for “Hip Hop influences on society”, the response is generally negative. There are links like: The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap And What Can Be Done About It. The next two suggestions for searches are “hip hop negative influence” and “hip hop bad influences”. For many people there is a stigma that comes with hip hop that it is a poor influence on society and especially today’s youth. People who only look at the face value of the industry write blog posts condemning hip hop and its artists. Many overtly religious people on the internet talk about hip hop “warping the souls of kids” (Maglio) or about “Rap’s Blatant Satanism” (Makow). They talk about hip hop as though it is a tool for the devil to control youth. While it is true that the content of hip hop music is not necessarily the most “kid friendly”, that does not mean that all rap is evil. There are many hip hop artists whose music is about sex, drugs and violence, but the genre should not be judged solely off of them. There are many movies that are violent, contain profuse amounts of cursing and have large amounts of sexual content, but that does not mean that all movies should be judged under the same light. It is the same with hip hop music. Although there are artists who make music about subjects that are deemed bad and have a negative influence, there are others who create meaningful songs. In addition, just because an artist decides to create a song highlighting a negative subject, does not mean that they cannot be a good person that can be a good influence.

            A general stigma about the hip hop community is that it is extremely homophobic. While in many cases this is still true, recently there have been changes from within. One of the first issues with hip hop and the LGBT community came in the early 2000’s with Eminem and his profuse use of gay slurs within his music. He used so many gay slurs that there were protests before his 2001 Grammy performance (Gay Activist Group Plans Pre-Grammy Eminem Protest). However he then performed on stage with Elton John, who is gay, which was viewed as a fitting apology and proof that he was not homophobic. Eminem has long been accused of homophobia in his lyrics, so to take a step forward when he released his newest album he had an interview to try and explain things. This shows a step forward for the hip hop community because someone who was thought of to be homophobic came out and said that he has no issues with the LGBT community. Eminem is a huge name within the hip hop industry and for him to come out and show support is a positive influence by hip hop on society. If the people that youth look up to show support for something, they are more likely to as well.

            While it is good that Eminem has tried to clear the air and say that he is not homophobic, many detractors of hip hop say that because he is still using slurs he must be. They do have a point, that as long as he continues to use those words, so will his listeners. However, Eminem also explains that in his music the use of slurs, racial or gay, is not because he hates the people it describes, but that it is just a word that has carried over from his battling. The people that listen to his music need to understand this fact. It is one of those do as I say, not as I do instances. If Eminem were to suddenly stop cursing and using slurs he would lose half of his market, but if he continues he will be branded a bigot. Despite this, the fact that Eminem came out in support of gay marriage is huge for the image of the hip hop industry.

            Another positive moment in hip hop’s support of gay equality was the acceptance of Frank Ocean after he came out as gay. Obviously in such a stereotypically homophobic community it must have been difficult for Frank Ocean to come out. However, Frank Ocean was probably the perfect storm as he perfectly describes what Talib Kweli said, “There just needs to be a gay rapper—he doesn't have to be flamboyant, just a rapper who identifies as gay—who's better than everybody.” This is essentially the same situation as Michael Sam, the football player who is gay. The point has been reached were it does not matter if he is gay or not, it solely matters if he can play football well. The same is with Frank Ocean. He has received so much support from famous rappers like Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes upon coming out, that it no longer matters whether or not he is gay. What matters is, how good of a rapper is he? The support for Frank Ocean upon coming out as gay shows that the hip hop community is slowly shifting from its homophobic image. With that comes less use of homophobic slur, which in turn means less kids will hear that kind of language being used. The chart below shows the use of homophobic slurs within rap music.

The downward trend for most words shows how the community is changing. Hip hop is slowly changing, and as one of the largest industries, it is helping to change society with it. 

Works Cited

Juzwiak, Rich. "Why 2013 Was Hip-Hop's." Gawker. N.p., 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Maglio, Domenick. "Rap Music Warps the Souls of Kids." Domenick Maglio Ph.D. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Makow, Henry. "Rap Music's Blatant Satanism." Atom. N.p., 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.