INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON YOUNG CULTURE

Today we’re going to talk about Rap music & its influence on young culture. First of all I’d like you to read the following comment :Rap bothers me. So do other forms of popular music. (adapted from Forum at volcanovo.com) “I understand, and can appreciate that it takes some talent to be able to iterate thoughts at 100 miles per hour, and to be able to make them rhyme nonetheless. There’s also the issue of innovation in sound-bytes, synthesizing, and blending ~ all of which take some considerable ability.

What bothers me, however, is the sociological impact it has on youth today. For example, I work in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic. We house 52 young offenders who invariably attribute their identities to Tupac, Snoop Dog, Ja Rule, and a host of other odd monikers. It’s a common response to say they are teenagers searching for their identities; but when you spend 40+ hours a week with them, and listen to how they structure their values, their speech, and their world views on the latest Eminem song, you can’t help but feel a sense of urgency for them. That is, you begin to wonder if they have any level of self-understanding.

Observe the promotion of gang mentality, drugs, illicit and violent sex, and a total lack of regard for anything that doesn’t conform to ghetto life and capitalism. Or consider that popular rap artists are publishing lyrics that promote ideas such as  f***** bitches… is it any wonder that many young people today consider terms like bitches as terms of endearment ( = love & affection)?

What kind of moral fallout (=consequences) do you think such depravity will leave behind? What kind of action can be taken to help kids avoid the indoctrination of amor mortis?

I suppose the next question to ask is: do popular artists give the culture what they want; or is culture telling the popular artists what to give? Here we have the chicken and the egg scenario. That is, which came first, the desire for depravity, or the creation of its acceptability?

From a sociological standpoint we can all stand at the sidelines and say that this is all just one of those phases that cultures go through. The Romans had it with their vomitoriums and mass orgies. The clandestine motives of the puritans increased mass sexual deviance. And the Nordic escapades of the medieval years turned many an innocent settlement into a graveyard. However, the old saying, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it” should snap present generations to attention.

What are our options? Is censorship necessary? Is education enough to stop the corruption popular music is promoting? Or do we have to continue along this course, stopping only to realise that we have a legacy of decadence and debauchery (= depravity, immorality) ? Is there a way to curb (= repress, control) the immorality so popular in mainstream music today? Or do we just resign ourselves to such weak ideas as, “that’s just the way it is,” or “your parents thought the same thing of your music”?

TASK 1:Answer the following questions: ( in your notebook)

1.What aspects of popular music does the writer appreciate?

2.Which genre(s) does he single out as most problematic?

3.Which group is most affected by negative popular music according to the writer?

4.What is meant by a “chicken and egg scenario”?

5.In your own opinion, is the problem limited to one musical genre, or does it affect many kinds of pop music?

You can also read the following article on  The Powerful Role of Music in Society

Now that you’ve thought about the role of music and the influence of rap music on on young culture, did you know that in the U.S.A. there’s also the so called Christian Hip-Hop/ rap? Ever heard any songs? I’m sure you have but may not have been aware of their lyrics and their meaning.

The rapper we’re going to listen to is Lecray

Here’s the Lyrics: Intro:

You know in intervention they tell you that you’re hurting somebody who loves you, and divine intervention’s no different, yea, the moment is now

Hook:
Here is my moment, here is my lifetime
All that I have I will give to You
In this moment, ’cause nothing really matters at all

Verse 1:
God created days, weeks, summer, spring, winter, fall
Yup, became weak so You could free us from the fall
You hold the earth in Your palm with Your great power
You always have the time the way You transcend hours
Wind and the waves tsunami is ’round
But You walk on top of them both
They humbly bow (si inchinano)
Before I work I need a couple tools
You spoke the earth into existence, no auto tune
More than auto tune, more than minor key
‘Cause I’ve been missing all the notes
In the minor keys and the major ones
And the key to life is coming to the end of it
And embracing Christ

Hook:
Here is my moment, here is my lifetime
All that I have I will give to You
In this moment, ’cause nothing really matters at all
Everything that this heart longs for (desires) other than You I will let die
Take all that I am ’cause nothing really matters right now
This is my moment

Verse 2:
I holla empty me
So hollow (vuoto) be my name
You’re so immense
But condescend and dwell inside my frame
You restrain the waves
And tame (domi) fierce lions
I mean fierce liars, crush empires
We all hanging by a thread (siamo appesi a un filo) cutting at the wires
Ignorant that all the sin lead to hellfire (il peccato porta all’inferno)
And when I yell fire, they tell me false alarm
‘Cause they don’t smell the smoke and they don’t sense the harm
Something worse than the black plague’s coming
And nothing under the sun can save us from it
There’s no hope but divine intervention
And Christ saves victims who are dying from addiction (dipendenza)

Verse 3:
They say in God we trust
But what’s the bigger sin
That we don’t trust in Him
But trust the stuff on which its written (that’s money)
‘Cause we all dying and we all trying
To stay alive but the truth we ain’t all buying
Those of us who buy it, We’re never bought from
We gon’ live free forever
We are gonna live forever in the Savior’s (Salvatore) arms
It’s all needles (aghi) in arms full of life’s drugs
Lust, pride, hate, death running through our blood
Need a blood donor, need a transfusion
He’s over hanging on the cross for your substitution
So in conclusion, only one solution
Trust divine intervention as your resolution.

The next video is REBEL; as you can see from the lyrics it somehow turns upsidedown (rovescia) the conception of transgression and rebellion: Christ/Jesus was the real Rebel not those who take drugs or make use of pornography and violence.

TASK 2 ANSWER BY LEAVING  A COMMENT BELOW:

  1. Who can be defined as  a rebel in our contemporary society according to the song?
  2. Why is it so? What is the message of the song?

The last song reinforces this idea. In your opinion can Christian rap positively influence the behaviour of young people? Give reasons in favour or against

I hope you’ve enjoyed this module on music and would be delighted – over the moon 🙂 if you left  – as feedback – some possible references to other singers/groups or songs that you regard as  examples of POSITIVE MESSAGES to our society. Thanks a million!!

activity devised with Cristiana Ziraldo & Tim Bowers

37 thoughts on “INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON YOUNG CULTURE

  1. I’ll do the rebel of the situation 😉 and start from the songs that I believe to contain a great, powerful and positive message.
    Changing the World – Daniel Lemma [World Scout Jamboree 2011 Official Song]:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te8FbB76jz
    This song has been written for the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Sweden, in Rynkaby, a meeting of more than 80.000 scouts came from all over the world just to share this huge and amazing experience with other boys and girls of different language, different religion, different culture, different look, but that are scouts too and believe in the same ideals. The ‘slogan’ (motto) of the Jam was ‘Changing the world’. For those who don’t know much about the Scouting World, there would be so much else to explain to make them understand HOW GREAT experience has been, but at least… enjoy the song 😉

    The third song (‘Take me as I am’) is also good, I think that a Christian rap song such as that can really change kid’s mind, because kids listen to their idols and follow them. That’s a good thing if the rapper which they get inspired from is a good model and gives them a good message as the message of God. Some rappers really have the power to change things, in positive or in negative.

    Now let’s talk about the question: Who is a rebel? I’d define a rebel as someone
    indipendent in thoughts and actions, a person who stands up for his own personal opinions despite what anyone else says. A true rebel stands up for what he believes is right, not against what’s right. That’s the message of that song (by the way, that’s great): being a rebel is nothing about acting like a gangsta and do the suff everyone do, like piercing, tatoos, smoking, drinking, money and sex, because most rebels now aren’t really rebels; most rebels conform to the other rebels. It’s all about being an individual and refusing to follow a crowd that forces you to think the same way they do even if it means becoming an outcast to society. And that’s what Jesus did. He never sinned, but he was an outlaw because “he lived his life with a different set of rules”. And they crucify him. They crucify him because he was a rebel, a true one. I choose that song not just because of it’s wonderful message, but also because Scouts are rebels too. They go around wearing a child school uniform of the late 30’s, learning how a larch looks like, to make a dressing, to cook every kind of food in the embers, to camp, to appreciate life and the little things, to be kind, polite, humble, strong, honest, free of prejudices, competent, prepared to face any situation and brave enough to take the right decisions. People laugh and have fun of them, because they don’t know nothing about them. If they did, they would think they really are true rebels.

    • Hi! Sorry but that url is non valid. I googled the song and found it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te8FbB76jzc when pasting you had omitted the final c ;).
      Thanks for sharing a positive message of brotherhood & solidarity 🙂 Love these lines:
      “People want the same things
      We dream of a happy end
      We’re just caught in the same commotion
      And time slips away
      You say you want to make some changes
      Why don’t you start by making friends?”
      I’m very pleased you’ve found a group whose strong values and ideals you share & identify with. Don’t bother about what some people say when they judge without knowing. Be strong and look ahead 🙂

  2. According to the song, in this time, in this world, a rebel is who refuse to follow the example gives from everybody, you aren’t a rebel if you smoke or drink, but a rebel is who does the opposite because now are things that makes everybody.
    The true rebel is one who mot follow the crowd, that does not mix with the other, but it is one that remains true to its principles.
    Hall this happening because in these days young people are in a hurry to grow up and often parents are also inattentive because they are placing too much confidence in guys who do not deserve it.
    This is why our parents should teach us not to conform to the masses, but to use our sense and intelligence to make the best choices.
    However, it is difficult in a society like this where from every part are given wrong message from young people, especially from television o also from the people who are close to us.
    In fact, I can’t understand a father or a mother who smokes tells to his sons that he can’t smoke because it’s a bad thing, that is, what should the boy thinks about it?
    So the song sends a clear message not to follow examples that event if they seem cool, are just bad.
    After all I don’t think that a genre like rap can be useful to influence young people in a positive way since this kind of music it is often associated with just this kind of thing like anger, alcohol, smoking and also drugs.
    But this is just my opinion! 😀

  3. I really like the rythm of “rebel”. It’s the first time, I think, that I listen to a Christian rap. I admire his courage to write and sing a song with these words. Nowadays people, but above all young people, dislike songs that talk about these topics. They prefer, like you’ve written, songs that talk about smoking, drugs, sex ecc.. Society thinks that rebels are people who sing these songs and live their lifes in the same way they write those. The problem is that the number of these kind of “rebels” are increasing and we are forced of thinking that rebels are people who don’t follow these styles. I think that what Lecrae want to say us is that, we must change!

  4. According to the song, the rebels are those who want to escape from the compliance, and all that is now modern youth. In fact the real “rebels” are those who reject what is now regarded by the young “cool” or at least what they like to do, like smoking, drinking, drugs etc. .. that according to the principles of religious and social adults and “responsible” persons is considered negative. In fact, this song tries to make it clear that you have to be a rebel, that is, follow not that which is becoming the company’s youthful now but to be unconventional and see the positive of what life gives you and do not try to ruin just to be accepted from the other. The rapper in his song cites as an example of the rebellious symbol of Christianity: Jesus. Christ was for him an example of a rebel for that time, was not confused with the other and spent time doing all that were not his peers . In fact, he had imposed against the law of the time and spent all day learning the Bible and trying to promote his idea even if others did not want to hear it. What is trying to tell us to be ourselves and not always to change for the worse just to make us accept from others that are running lower and lower. We will future citizens so we have to be more responsible.

    Excuse me for the time now but I am only now able to put it in the blog, because I have a bad connection! 🙁

  5. At the end of the video there is the definition that Lacrae gives to the word “rebel” in the song: rebel is who lives a lifestyle unashamed of Jesus Christ, no longer conforming to the patterns of this world. He says that rebel is who goes against the current, is nonconformist and doesn’t mind about what the majority does. Looking from this point of view also Jesus was a rebel because he was different from the others of his time and has supported his principles without being influenced by the tradition. So nowadays the rebel is who doesn’t take drugs, drinking, smoking, have tattoos because this are become common things in our society. Is who has the courage to be different, because be like the majority it’s easier but not always the easier way is the best. I think the message is about open ou eyes, start thinking with our own mind and don’t be passive, we have to try to change the “rules” that nowadays are negative. In my opinion Christian rap sure is a good idea and maybe it can influence positively the behavior of some young people that like this genre. But I also think that everyone has to use his own brain and follow his own opinion. Songs could show you others point of view that maybe you didn’t consider or you had put aside and make you think about them.

  6. Lecrae with “Rebel” shows everyone that you can do rap music without entice kids to do bad things like smoke, drunk, piercing, tatoos and drugs.
    I think that, as he says in the song, he’s a rebel. He goes against the current and the mass, like a very rebel, to say his true faith!
    I think if you listened to rap for more than 40 hours a week you can be influenced, the kind of rap of Lecrae it’s good for new generations whot they are looking for their idols to follow.
    I hope there are many others like him.

  7. A rebel can be defined as “someone who goes against habits and choices of the crowd”, that in nowadays society translates into “a good boy”.
    Rebel isn’t “James Dean” (Rebel Without a Cause, 1955) anymore, the one who recklessly goes against authority, nor Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction, 1994), who does drugs desobeying her husband’s will.
    The old way of rebelling doesn’t corresponds to the new real rebellion. People wanted so much to rebel that nearly everybody does it now, and actual subversive people are the ones who live with modesty, discretion, compassion and goodwill.
    This kind of people are, for the rapper, those who worship Christ and go to church every Sunday. With his lyrics he wants to say that what is difficult and should be respected is complying to traditions.

    In my opinion Christian rap can convey an extremely positive message, but only to those who wouldn’t need it.
    People who should learn from that message would exaggerate it ending up being casual or strong believers, which isn’t the purpose of the song (nor maybe of religion itself) at all. I repel and fear most expressions of Christianity, since through history it was the most horrible and widely used vehicle of pain, inequity, abuses and vices relying itself on ignorance, power and terror.
    The message of the song (or Bible) is good, but only who isn’t going to believe what is written can understand it.

    Here are some quotes on rebellion:

    A rebel is a man who says no. – Albert Camus

    The most subversive people are those who ask questions. – Jostein Gaarder

    I rebel, therefore we exist. – Albert Camus

    [Rebel] …is he who in the name of charity and goodwill sheperds the weak through the valley of darkness. – Jules Winnfield/Ezekiel the prophet

    And here are three songs to help people rebel:
    Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the wind (lyrics in description): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrQ4saKGI5k
    Animals, The house of the rising sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxYGeTV6fCw
    PlayingForChange, Blues of people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXO_0BJdU84&feature=related

    (I really like PFC and its mission of bringing a better life condition to third world countries through music (Barenboim explaining why music matters in life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgFg_Eoh-0))

    • Dear Enrico, your comment is “the icing on the cake”. Thanks it’s been such a pleasure to read it.You’ve mentioned the hero of my youth, James Dean, you’ve dealt with the theme of religion “as the opium of the people” (Marx) the way I would have done and did at your age – still do ;). Then you quoted my favourite existentialist writer from my youth (even got a 10/10 in an essay based on one of his quotations) and J.Gaarder whose novel Sophia’s Choice I was fond of. Last but not least you linked 3 of the most beautiful songs ever with the outstanding performance of Playing for Change that I didn’t know … thanks for sharing such good music full of values and the great video of conductor Barenboim I had the pleasure of watching live at Che tempo fa. To cut the long story short … you’ve hit the nail on the head 🙂 Brilliant comment.

  8. Hi everybody!
    The song ”Rebel” wants to tell us that the real rebel is who escape from the mass. In all the History we can find a lot of kind of ‘mass’ and each of them belonging of a specific age. For example, in the song, is described Jesus and his kind of rebellion. According to the song, Jesus, in his age, was a real rebel. He spent all the life reading the Bible with the sinners, poor, and unpopular people because the empire of God accept also them. Instead, in our contemporary age, the rebel is who don’t have tattoos , piercings and who don’t smoke and drink. I think that this situation is anachronistic for a simple reason. During the age of Enlightenment the most important exponents tried to tell to the people that the reason and the brain were the most precious and important things that they had. Kant said ‘Sapere audet!’. After this age the majority of the people started to use their brain and to refuse all the wrongs beliefs that they had before the Enlightenment. Nowadays is similar as the time before the Enlightenment because all the young people believe and do only the same things like drink and smoke without a correct use of their brain. It’s really difficult to escape from the mass but it is the behavior that we have to have for a fruitful future.
    I think that Christian rap can’t influence young people only because is based on the religion and nowadays the religion and God are only a point of outburst.

  9. In our contemporary society a rebel is a person who have tattoos, piercings, who smoke and drink, take drugs or rises against traditions or things that the most part of population used to do. For Lecrae is different: this kind of people aren’t rebels but the others who don’t do this things. Lecrae says that Jesus was a rebel because he spent his time with people considered sinners and he lived in a different set of rules of his time. If you want to be a rebel you have to read the Bible and go against the common opinions and try to change it.
    The message is think with our mind and not to be afraid about traditions or common manners and we have to do what we consider right.
    In my opinion Christian rap music can’t influence the behaviour of young people because the most part of teenager aren’t interested of theme of faith but of a completely different types. Anyway I think that this kind of music is not bad to listen.

  10. According to the song the rebel is someone who escapes from the common thing young people usually do like smoking, taking drugs or drinking.
    So, a rebel is someone who doesn’t want to follow these conducts that are considered negative for our society.
    For example a rebel, compared in this song to the figure of Jesus Christ, is a guy who reads the Bible and wants to follow the teaches of the Christian religion instead the others reject doing this.
    In this song I understood that nowadays some people think that having negative conducts is considered normal and that are considered abnormal the people who doesn’t do these things. I hope that having these negative conducts won’t become a so common thing because in this case the future of young people will be very dark, also for the other people who won’t to follow these bad example because they should have a very big courage!
    I think Christian rap could help some young people to understand the negative and positive sides of our society and let them, following the good example of Jesus Christ, improving the conditions of the society and having the courage to act.

  11. A rebel in our society is someone who do things different compared to the other. Then a rebel could be a boy who do trasgressive things such as drink, smoke and get drug in a contest of good people but he could be also a boy with a perfect behaviour in a contest of bad boys. According to Lecrae the true rebel is Jesus that has never sinned and the singer aim’s is to think with our mind and don’t be affected to the people who live around you . About the Christian rap I think that it’s a great kind of hip hop but it can’t influence the behaviour of young people because the thing that the Christian rap talks about it’s to far to the believes of the boy nowadays and also because when you listen to a song often you don’t give so much attention to the text especially if you aren’t of the own country where is written the song.

  12. The song is right, nowadays the real rebels are the folks who have an aware life. In this last years the habit of smoking drinking alcoholic beverages and saying swear words to God have increased and this kind of people are so popular that as the song said they are not considerated anymore rebels. Actually the biggest problem in my opinion instead of the lyrics is the music video, because most of the time shows the wong values and transmit a negative message. Personally the few times I listen to rap misic I do not understand what the song is about but just that the singer is really angry. Anyway I think that everybody is free to listen to the music he likes, i can’t tell anything about rap because it isn’t my favourite kind of music , maybe just that I’ll never judge a person by the music he listen to.

    • What you said is so true. Videos play such a great role in conveying violence & sexual discrimination. Great remark Matilde!And also right when you say “don’t judge a man by his music” 🙂

  13. The song says that the real rebels aren’t the people who conform them selfs to the other, and for this reason they use to do the same stuff like piercing, taking drugs and smoking.
    The real rebels are people who wants to be different from the others and one of the most important example is Jesus, infact he lived in a completely different way from the other person of his time.
    The song tries to make us understand this “new concept” of rebellion because nowadays all the stuff that are sign of a rebell person are the sign of normality, and for this reason we must stand out from the crowd and think with our mind, also making things that the other could criticize.
    In my opinion Christian rap couldn’t influence a lot young people because they probably would ingore that kind of songs, also because they may have prejudices and think they are boring even if they have never heard one.

  14. A rebel in our society is someone who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises against control or tradition; or one who participates in organized resistance or someone who lives a lifestyle unashamed of Jesus Christ, no longer conforming to the patterns of this world: in few words is someone who’s different in our society.
    I think that the message of the song is that a rebel is in reality, an innocent person that is criticized even if he is more honest and right as it should be a real person, like Jesus Christ, regarding bad people that have bad habits like taking drugs, drinking, etc…
    In general I think that Christian raps can positively influence the behaviour of people who listen to this type of music (only few), because referring to Jesus Christ, it shows the difference between good and bad people, showing that today society is full of defects and negatives sides, that have to be overcome and eliminated.

  15. According to the song the real rebel is Jesus and not people with all the same stuff as tattoos, piercings or people that smoke and drink.
    This because he never sinned and he lived a different live by a different set of rules from the one used at that time.
    For the song a contemporary rebel is someone that read the Bible because nobody read it. The author invite us to use our mind and don’t do a thing because is done by others so he tells us to do things that people don’t usually practise everyday.
    In my opinion Christian rap can’t influence young all young people. I think that in the religion is something that can be understood better by adults because in youth we don’t really care it.

      • I agree with Alberto’s thought about the religion on young people. We studied in history how much people were religious and how much they had to believe on someone. Why now do young people “snub” the religion? I think because now we aren’t urged to follow the church’s thought.

  16. According to the song to be a rebel you have to separate yourself from the mass, but in a period where all the people want to be rebels the only way that you have to be different is being a simply person. To be a rebel you shouldn’t smoke, drink, have piercings or tattoos; you should follow the teachings of Jesus. He was a rebel on his society because had the bravery to do what no one else did. The easier way to be a rebel now is reading the Bible and follow his tuitions.
    I believe that the song want to show us that a rebel is somebody that became different from the others, not for showing himself but for his personal ideas and don’t thinking at what other people could thinking about him. Now smoking, drinking, have tattoos or piercings is too common for represents your rebellion to the society for this reason we have to change our way to be rebels.
    In my opinion this kind of music will not have much success and probably will not change the culture of young people but is a good propose and deserves to be carefully considered and respected.

  17. The rebel of the song isn’t the one who swears, has tattoos or piercing ,smokes and uses drugs. The rebel is indeed a person who is different, has his own identity and firmly believes in his own ideas and ability. The song indicates a famous rebel: Jesus, whose beliefs and teaching make him hated by all “cultured Jews”. With these text Lecrae criticizes the fact that everybody wants to be cool for showing up himself from the crowd, but in this way they only look like the other, causing a spread lack of personality .People should appear as just they really are.
    In my opinion Christian rap can’t have success because Christian messages can’t fit with the real nature of rap: a picture of the corrupted and miserable life of the street.

    • I’m afraid the lACK of personality you mention is so true: sameness, conformity are the pillars of society. Luckily there are young men like you who “think different” and use their brain :)not hiding or feeling ashamed of who they really are.

  18. Lecrae in “rebel” defines “rebel” anyone who has the courage not to conform. He says that drinking, tattoos , piercing, smoking, is not life but the fashionable. Rebels are people who aren’t afraid to say what they think although it is countertrend; People who have a normal life with positive ideals. People in history fight to get this fundamental law: freedom of speech. Now it is absurd but there isn’t freedom of speech because all people (the majority) say things that the other want to listen to; there isn’t the courage to change. It is so because It’s much easier to follow the other ideas than to think with our brain. The song wants to give a message of hope to wake up guys and try not to fall down in dark tunnel from which, after entering, It’s very hard to go out afterwards.
    Yes I think so but for me the point is that a song can’t influence so much a teenager’s behavior. It’s right to hand down songs with positive ideas but all people should think with their own brain independently from the songs they hear.

  19. The song tells that the true rebel is actually the one who escape from drugs and alcohol, live a regulated and aware life, conscious of the abyss of those vices.
    However, the one we have here is not an easy problem: is the fault of transmitting wrong values to attribute to the singers or not? As Riccardo says, everyone should think with his own mind, and if someone choose to listen to particular songs, it’s his own choice; but as we know, the singers send this wrong values to young people, who often follow the “style” without thinking, they’re gullible.
    And is it really necessary to use religion to teach the proper virtues?

    • Oh TO BLAME SINGERS OR NOT TO BLAME THEM, that is the question! As you said is it necessary to resort to religion to convey values’ What do YOU think?

  20. The song says that the rebelling people aren’t the ones who take drugs, or smoke or drink a lot, but are the people who are against this things.
    One example that the singer says is Jesus: he has been a good person beacuse he spent his time with folk. The rebellion people are the ones who try to change the bad things of the society.
    It is so because young people do what their friends do, thinking that are good things.
    We can say that boys aren’t able to think with their own brain, so they imitate others. However the people who drink a lot or smoke are becoming more numerous than in the past, so boys could easily imitate bad people.
    In my opinion the message of the song is that people are getting worse and we must wake up and do something to try saving them.

  21. I really hate the stereotype that rap make the young generations worse, in particular the og one, people normally just judge because they heard some songs like hit ’em up but they don’t know why they had been written and more important they don’t know all the others songs of the artists, I can write donw thousend of songs by og rappers against drugs and violence, Changes of 2pac for an eazy example. However in that song, that I don’t really enjoy because of his flow and his use of distort voice, the rebels are the normal guy that don’t take drugs and don’t get drunk, and mabye it’s right, mabye the new generation is goin’ to destroy itself with this kind of stuffs but no one can put the blame on music, everyone has a mind and are free to do what they want, is too eazy to finger on rap artists.

    • Yeah Rick stereotypes never work and end up in prejudices. If we had to blame all rock or pop stars for the spread of violence in the USA why not blaming President for the use of bombs, wars & weapons of mass destructions? The song you mention is great thanks 🙂

  22. The song says that rebels are not the people who have tattoos, piercings, who smoke and drink and worship money. Rebels are the people who oppose this kind of life. Jesus was a rebel because he spent his time with people considered sinners when actually the real sinners were the cultured men. To be a rebel you have to read the Bible, it’s the only rebellion left; you have to go against the common opinions.
    Rebels have changed because, according to the song, men are all the same now, they smoke, drink, take drugs… these things are not considered rebellion anymore ‘cause most of the people do it (I don’t agree with that, but the song says it). Rebellion is being normal, going against drugs and pornography. The singer says that “he’ll remain a rebel while the rest of them just carry on”, meaning that most of the people don’t want to change and the people we consider rebel are the only ones who want to change the bad things in the world.
    In general I think Christian rap can’t be so popular among young people, ‘cause it deals topics far from their life and ideas, but I think the idea of turning upside down rebellion, saying that the rebel is Jesus, is great and it could attract youth.

    A song that I think gives a positive message is Bittersweet Symphony: at the same time it criticizes and exalts life.

Leave a Reply to luca T Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.