There is a perception of rappers as bullies. This perception was given to them by what they hear on the radio and the media.
The media tends to portray rap music as thug-like. When rap music was first introduced, it portrayed rappers as “strong, independent, brash, and aspired to be successful.”
Rap music has grown and evolved. While today rappers are still brash and aspired to be successful, the music’s representation has changed.
The stereotypical thug-like image of rap music has created an aggressive environment in which these artists must operate.
Aggressive music genres are defined as any genre that needs to create an explosive sensation or impulse. There are many reasons for this, but a few reasons stand out.
The first reason is for a song to become successful, the listeners have to get emotionally involved with it. Let’s face it, rap music has always had a sexual component, and hip hop is the music to make your anger flare up, not your love.
Many rap songs make it seem like the person portrays how much pain or agony the artist is feeling, and it’s all about the sexual. Even when you talk to young women who love rap, there is this element of performing sexually with a man to receive their approval.
The second reason is that many people don’t have control over their sexual life. We live in a very sexually charged world where imagination is more prevalent than reality, which is why rap can push the envelope.
Rap artists can play on emotions by using subliminal messages, using words to incite anger, or lust to gain success.
Finally, the music has evolved to show how much pain or anguish they are feeling. These emotions are mostly masked with irony and sarcasm.
They show that they are hurting in a song makes them feel like they have control over the situation.
The rap music world is now filled with so much aggressive music that it can be tough to understand why this genre exists.
Aggressive marketing and scheduling
Let’s first start by looking at the marketing and scheduling tactics of rappers. Rap music is heavily promoted by the mass media and has a larger following than any other genre.
This means that any artist with a strong personality and talent will gain more exposure. However, this also creates the risk of creating an aggressive environment for these artists.
Rap music, in particular, comes with a negative stigma due to the current mass media view of rappers.
Attitude problems
Another contributing factor to the aggressive marketing and scheduling of rappers is the aggressive nature of their music. While it is difficult for a rapper to walk into a radio station and sell records and gain airplay, it is not hard for artists to react to criticism of their music.
If an artist is not respectful of criticism, they will take the criticism personally. This could lead to a dislike of criticism, which will create a dislike of criticism, resulting in a dislike of criticism, which will lead to a dislike of criticism.
This cycle will keep going until it reaches a critical point and may result in a musician trying to avoid criticism to keep being viewed as the rebel they perceive themselves to be.
Insults
Insults are also common in rap music. Any situation could provoke an insult, and this may lead to frustration or anger.
This frustration can easily escalate and will lead to a series of insults. Although this may create an air of competitiveness, it could also lead to a creative insult, causing an artist to do more original work.
This is good for the listener since an artist creating music that is better than a prior artist’s work is considered a good thing, creating greater sales.
Negative media
Although rap music has been around since the 1950s, media began portraying it as a negative influence in the 1970s. There is even a Wikipedia page titled “Negative image of hip-hop in media.”
This perception of rap music began with Jimmy Kimmel’s introduction of rapper Eminem.
Nowadays, there is a general negative stigma towards rappers, which leads to these artists avoiding the mass media and signing to smaller independent labels.
Rules and regulations
Other artists have also been known to avoid mass media and scheduling. This is more of a political and economical choice.
They try to create an environment in which their music can be better received and promoted. It could also be due to the negative media image of rappers.
In general, certain rules in the rap business must be followed. Some of these rules include:
- All artists must be financially independent and do not sell their merchandise. This is to avoid corporate ties to creating a hostile environment.
- Any artist or label that releases an album must promote that album.
- There must be two songs per album to prevent a stacked release.
- Electronic media can only be played once per artist per month.
- Rappers must perform their entire album on stage.
- Having an album released within 30 days is extremely important.
- A released product cannot appear on a secondary site.
Some people have heavily negative opinions. This negative media is discussed at length on the media page of rap music.
Ways to counter the “rave”
Some fans in the mass media think that rap music can create a rave-like environment in public venues. This type of environment could potentially be a bad thing for the local community.
To combat the “Rave,” some hip-hop artists in Los Angeles created a show called “The Glow.” This event, a combination of rap and basketball, is now in its third season and attracts thousands to watch and play basketball.
The promoter of the event explains, “Everybody loves basketball, so we went all-in,” but this choice may have resulted in accusations that the promoter sold out and a loss of consumer rights.
