Am I A Hypocrite For Listening To Rap With Violent Lyrics

No. Just like enjoynig war movies and being anti-war doesn't make you a hypocrite.

The violence in rap music represents a reality for some people. If anything, it should make you understand the plight of living in terrible situations more.

 

Yes. Only because you rail against it so much.

 

Sure. Why not?

 

No one thinks you're not credible because you're a black dude who likes rap. I think most around here are more befuddled by you being a black dude who likes Trump.

Why is rap bothering you? What about violence in video games and violence in movies? What about the inability to have consistent mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed with guns? It's impossible to prove whether it has some major causal relationship with crime. If it still bothers you, just go straight Christian rap then.

There is a school of thought among Christians who say hanging out with the wrong crowd damages your testimony. Not everyone believes that, but I see similarity in your thinking.

 

I have little exposure to that musical genre, so I can't say to what degree it helps or hurts black people.

But, supposing it does hurt black people, enjoying the music while recognizing its harm doesn't make one a hypocrite. We all engage in behaviors that we recognize as not ideal. I would put the bar for being a hypocrite much higher -- it is someone who castigates others for acting in a particular way when they would act in the same way in the same circumstance.

 

Yet you still listen to the music when you think it's so bad.

I'm not surprised it is your mo.

 

Why do you expect me to know you better? I skim through the board while pooping in between work and it looks like in every Trump thread, there are sides and you're on the opposite side of those attacking him. I don't think it's a big leap to jump from that to thinking you like him. And when I wrote that, I had no positive or negative emotional attachment to that statement...like I wouldn't hate you for being an Rocket fan who likes Trump. And I know you're black because I've been here forever and I think it has come up before.

Anyhow, that wasn't even the primary point. Sorry if I offended you. I really think people get befuddled by your Trump takes, but my bad if I misinterpreted it. I'm not doing a big "J'accuse!" thing, lol - honestly don't care if you like Trump or not.

But yeah, the primary point is you liking rap and feeling weird about it reminds me of Christians who say they should avoid certain groups of people because it hurts their testimony. Many Christians don't feel that way.

 

I tend to think it's not rap music that increases violence. Instead the topic of violence is perhaps a reflection of the everyday concerns of a portion of disenfranchised American citizens that choose to rap about it. I've never grown up in the ghetto. I don't know the real struggle of people caught in poverty but I appreciate the storytelling of musicians that can evoke that type of real pain I've been fortunate enough not have to go through. Mentally, I can escape into a rap song about a full time drug dealer popping a cap in someone's ass and come to realize I'm mostly a nerd that also enjoys fantasies of elves and dwarves caught in some eternal struggle of good vs evil like LotR too. I've never had my best friend scorn me to get a shot at my wife, escape a wrongful lifetime sentence in prison on a remote island, plot my revenge as a count of vast wealth and get my righteous revenge, but I sure do love imagining it in the Counte of Monte Cristo. I guess what I'm saying is storytelling is a form of escapism that hasn't brain washed me into caricatures of the stories I listen, watch and read. I doubt it's the main culprit of people that do decide to commit violent crime. Further, I don't think we have much choice into deciding what captures our ear's attention. If you like rap music with violent lyrics, it's not really your choice.

 

All the answers you seek are here.

 

It's art, not political advocacy. It reflects A world, usually it's a true reflection of the rapper's perception and informs people about a wider range of culture they would not other wise know.

When I say it's not advocacy, it actually can be sad that people have to live in a world of drugs, violence, bravado compensation and resistance to a matriarchal social structure. A lot of art is sad and expresses frustration.

 

OP, you don't blame "inner city violence" on "surrounding issues" . . . but you are fake-concerned that rap music might influence people?
What if they play rap music in the "inner city"?

I don't even believe you are Black, dude. If you are, you think like a racist anyway. How so? You see Black people as one big unit of blackness, not as individuals. If one Black person is killed by another Black person, your thought is: "Well it's the Blacks' own fault...." You don't see Blacks as individuals. I seriously doubt you are a Black person. If you are, man, get your thoughts in order. You have some weak-ass thinking going on.

 

Listen to Gil instead...

 

I won't sugar coat it, I don't like a lot of the rap lyrics I hear. Lyrics that objectify women, the whole N-word thing, and lyrics that seem to encourage gun and gang violence... it's toxic, in my opinion. With that said, I've had it very, very easy compared to many and I realize I can't possibly comprehend what it's like to be dirt poor & Black in this backwards country, or why some of those lyrics I find questionable resonate with so many. (And it's not like other music genres are totally pure and innocent.)

But I disagree with your politics. You can't tell me taking resources away from inner-city neighborhoods, denying African Americans the right to f'ing vote, and the right to have their grievances heard, is going to help anything. When we stop pretending that people just need to pray their problems away, or that the less fortunate among us just need to pull their bootstraps tighter & tighter, and we come together and seek to right the issues plaguing our society, things are going to improve in time for ALL among us. Music will still push boundaries though. As others above said a lot better than I have, that's what good art does.

 

No. Rap Music tells the stories. It's storytelling.

Some of the most violent gun movies are from hong kong, like all the John Woo action flicks, where one dude takes out an army with two guns.
Hong Kong has basically zero gun violence.

If I watch Friday the 13th, I'm not going to out wearing a hockey mask and cut down some teenagers in the woods..