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Alicia Valadez English 3 Media Bias Essay June 14th, 2013 Song Lyrics Rapper Rakim once rapped in his song I Know You Got Soul saying "I start to think, and then I sink/Into the paper like I was ink/When I'm writing, I'm trapped in between the lines/I escape when I finish the rhyme." Lyrics writers put a lot of time and effort into their song hoping to make it into a hit, but it all depends on the artist and genre to be an influence. With all the music in the world like pop, metal or rock, to just plain hip-hop; the two most lyrically influential genres are rock and hip-hop. There is no real answer to when and where music started, but it is said that it was made and listened to even in the Stone Age. Hip-hop originated in the 70's as a new genre (but also a movement) and started to transform and become more popular in the later 70's when some of the first hip-hop songs like Rappers Delight by The Sugarhill Gang came out. Hip-hop wasnt the only genre that began in the 20th century, because rock music began in the 1940s' and 1950s' as rock and roll. It is said that the first ever rock song was Thats All Right, Mama by Arthur Big Boy Crudup in 1946, later being covered by Elvis Presley; The King of Rock and Roll. There are many branches of these genres that make a big impact, like gangsta rap (coming from hip-hop) and heavy metal (coming from rock). Song lyrics have different effects on listeners but the impact really just depends on the listener. Most teenagers are influenced by song lyrics so their behavior, emotions, and attitude can change while listening to a certain song.

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Leading into examples of lighter music genres include country, R&B and Soul, and even certain types of pop. First of all, pop music comes from the word popular. Pop has many branches and varies on where you live and what type of popular music is enjoyed locally and even worldwide. The type of pop music in the United States right now comes from different artists and genres, and is usually something very upbeat and danceable. Pop songs are usually about love or something similar because producers know that teenagers enjoy listening to that type of music, and the music industry knows that teenagers are big consumers when it comes to music. Leading onto the next genre; country music which originated from the good 'ol United States of America. It began in the Southern part of the U.S. in the 1920's, but had a name change in the 40's from "Hillbilly music" to country. Country artists who usually write about different topics like love, happiness, religion, or the artists hometown give off a very positive and joyful message. An example of a nice country song is I Believe by Brooks and Dunn and the lyrics go: When I raise my hands, bow my head I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red They tell me that there's more to this than just what i can see I believe Oh, I I believe. This is a song about life and belief, it's beautiful, and it's a calm peaceful country song. Many people don't like country music because they think of the banjo and really corny voice, not realizing there are more branches of country than that type. Country is surprisingly the number one genre in the U.S. and even influences television by having country artists in singing competitions like X-Factor or The Voice due to its popularity. The last genres of music

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include R&B and Soul which two genres are similar to each other and somewhat incorporates each other. R&B stands for Rhythm and Blues, a cool genre with of course a lot of rhythm and blues. The lyrics focus on having a good time, or even love, like most genres. Soul is basically about the same topics but include getting into the groove, it also has some funk as well as many other branches. Soul focuses a lot on the voice of the artist like how Whitney Houston's voice was great and her music really showed her wonderful voice. Country, pop, R&B and soul aren't the only popular genres that affect society, hip-hop and rock are in the category too. Hip-hop and rock are the most popular teenage genres including branches like gangster rap and heavy metal being the most influential. In the article Effects of Rap and Heavy Metal Music Lyrics on Adolescent Behavior the authors say that the lyrics in these types of [genres (rap and heavy metal)] promote aggression, bigotry, deviant sexual activity, suicide, violence, drug use, and homicide (Ballard & Dodson 1) which arent the best topics for songs to be about, but not all songs from these genres are like that. Believe it or not, there are religious church rap songs and heavy metal songs showing it can have a good message. Lyrics are what make people judge the song or relate to the song, for example if someone loves god and loves a specific genre of music, then they can listen to the religious versions of the genre, but it really doesn't matter what music one listens to depending on religion, gender, or race, as long as it doesn't affect how they act in a negative way. On the other hard rock music is said to "symbolize the adolescent themes of rebellion" while rap music is "infamous for its inflammatory remarks towards women" (Brown and Hendee 1). For example, in this excerpt from Big L's song Devils Son he raps about crude topics and subjects like: "I'm a stone villain known for killing and raping nuns Ayo I even kill handicapped and crippled b****es

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Look at my scalp real close and you'll see triple sixest There's no doubt I'm all about a dollar I just signed a lifetime contract with the funeral parlor This kid that owed me dough, I didn't take his life Instead I tied him up and made him watch me rape his wife." Mentioning raping a person in a song is horrible. Even though this song is called 'Devils Son', it is still a bad influence. Some rappers don't realize the impact of their music. Some heavy metal is also pretty bad. For example Marilyn Manson's song Irresponsible Hate Anthem his words are so negative and foul. These are his lyrics: I am so all-American, I'll sell you suicide I am totalitarian, I've got abortions in my eyes I hate the hater, I'd rape the raper I am the animal who will not be himself f**k it Hey victim, should I black your eyes again? Hey victim, You were the one who put the stick in my hand I am the ism, my hate's a prism let's just kill everyone and let your god sort them out f**k it Everybody's someone else's n****r, I know you are so am I I wasn't born with enough middle fingers I don't need to choose a side

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I better, better, better, better not say this better, better, better, better not tell I hate the hater, I'd rape the raper I am the idiot who will not be himself f**k it America cannot see anything History is written by the winner F**k it. His whole song is just very depressing and thought provoking. The fact that he says F**k it throughout his song really promotes rebellious behavior. Both Big L and Marilyn Manson seem to promote the word rape in their songs. The effect some music has on behavior is disturbing, especially since almost every teenager listens to music. In an article by Springer Select it explains that for girls in particular [bad song lyrics] can lead them to judge their personal worth on a sexual level only, leading to poor body image, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse. (Select, 2). For boy's, it can lead them to be abusive towards women. But just because song lyrics can have negative effects on teenagers, there are lyrics that have positive effects on listeners too. There are many happy enjoyable songs out there that turn peoples frowns upside down, but there are also ones that make peoples crappy days crappier, that is why we have the power to change a song if we want to or plug in our headphones to happy tunes. But since there still are bad lyrics out there that can't change, hopefully teenagers don't act on them. The influence of lyrics and who its influencing all just depends on the individual listening to it because everybodys different therefore their song choice and type are most likely also different. Younger teens may still be affected because they are still in that easily influenced

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stage. The reason behind the influential process is that the human brain is built to learn with repetition, therefore listening to constantly repeated music can affect the mood of the listener and song lyrics will eventually become stuck in the listeners head. It's a repetition technique that Coca-Cola has used in their ads many times over the years. Parents can watch over what their child listens to, but the best thing to do is let their child listen to what music they want because the more rules usually leads to rebellious behavior. Teenagers are growing and maturing to where they should know better on whether to take in the influence of lyrics. In this day and age there are many media influences, but lyrics just happen to be one of them.

Works Cited

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"Country Music." - Simple English Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music>. DeMain, Bill. "5 Candidates for the First Rock 'n' Roll Song." Mental Floss. N.p., 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://mentalfloss.com/article/30288/5-candidates-first-rock-n-rollsong>. "Heavy Metal Music." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music>. "The History of Pop Music." Shine Music School, n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://www.shinemusic.com.au/musicresources/history-of-pop-music.aspx>. "Music." - Simple English Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music>. "Pop Music." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music>. "Rock Music." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music>. Select, Springer. "How Songs with Sexualized Lyrics Impact Teen Behavior and Attitudes."PsyPost RSS. N.p., 06 Sept. 2011. Web. 22 May 2013. <http://www.psypost.org/2011/09/how-songs-with-sexualized-lyrics-impact-teenbehavior-and-attitudes-6847>.