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DaveonBradley

Ms.Sroka

Writing8B

January23,2017

DearChanceTheRapper,

Rapthesedaysisdoingsomethingtotheyouthandweneedtoaddressthat.Youareoneofthe

onlyrappersoutthesesdaysthatareaninspirationtothenation,orsocietyofrapifyouwill.Rapis

definedbyrapperswhoseaudiencedoesntevenunderstandwhattheyaresaying.You,Weneedtofix

thewayrapisportrayed,andrapshouldbebetterforeveryone,notjustgeneralaudiencesbecause

that'swhyrapisportrayedthewayitisnow.Youareoneoftheonlyrappersthatmanywould

considerarapperofgoodtaste,andtherearemanyprosandconsoftherappersuasionbutonlysome

areabletopointitout.

Rapmusicthenandnowbenefitstheyouthinagreatway,raphelpstoexpressorembracethe

cultureandheritageofwhoisperformingitorwhoislistening.Rapisnothingbutasoothing

mechanismoracalmingrepertoireifyouwill.Duringresearchitisfoundthat,Rapmusicis

beneficialbecauseitisahealthyandsociallyacceptableformofexpression.(Bettivia).Meaningthat,

ifsomeoneislisteningtorapmusiccanreviveyouandmakeyoufeelbetterwhenyouarenotbeing

yourbestself.Thisisbecauserapissocommoninyoungmen,andmeningeneralthatthisisprobably

thebestwaytogetawayfromstress.Otherswhoopposetellus,Todismissrapperswhodonot

chooseso-calledpoliticalsubjectsashavingnopoliticallyresistivemeaning,requiresignoringthe
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complexwebofofinstitutionalpolicingtowhichallrappersaresubject.(Rose)Meaning,that

rappersarenotalwaysbad,andtheyareculturallyfriendly.Theyaresosubjecttobeingthebadguys

thattheyaren'tlookedatasthepeoplewhocanactuallymakeachangebecauseyouguysarepeople.

Thegoodthingisthatrapissoessentialtothecommunitythatitcravestheculturetobeproduced,

and,Rapmusiccanactasagoodinfluenceonkidsgrowingupinroughneighborhoods.(Bettivia)In

otherwords,ifchildrenarestrugglingintheirneighborhoods,theycanresorttorapbecauserapis

thereforthem,becausethatstheonlythingtheyknow.JustthinkofJay-ZandBiggieSmalls,they

bothgrewuplisteningandmakingrapmusic,andtheybothgrewupinroughneighborhoods.Its

alwaysgoodtolistentoyourfavoritemusicthatyoucanrelateto,whenyouaregoingthrougha

roughtime.Rapmusicnowhas,grownmorecomplexanddirect.(Rose)rapmusictodaychanges

theviewandperspectiveofsomepeople.Eachday,eachyear,itgrowsandchangesintosomething

new.Itmightnotbebetter,butitstillchanges,anditdevelopsintoacertainwaythatjustseemsto

appealtocertainpeople.

Therearepositiveviewsonrapmusic,buttherearealsonegativeviews.Thesenegativeviewsare

alwaysposedonrapmusic,andthisishowcontroversyismade.Peoplecomplainthatrapisnotgood

forourchildren,anditisverycontroversial.Thisisalsotruebecausetherewasandisalotofrapmusic

outtherethatisabadinfluence.Rapisviewednegativelyandviewedasnotgoodbecause,the"good"

useofrapisovershadowedbytheharmfulaspectsofthisartform.(Bettivia).Meaningthatthereare

peoplewhoviewrapgoodbecausetheydon'tseethebadsideofitbecausetheyaresofadedbythe

goodaspectsofit.Therappersthesedays,someofthemgiverapabadnamebecauseoftheiractions

andthewaytheyrap.Intherapworld,positiverolemodelsarerelativelyfewandfarbetween.

(Bettivia).Inotherwords,therappersmaketherapworldnegativewhentheydon'tsetanexamplefor
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youngerpeople.Also,whentherappersaren'tgoodrolemodels,theydon'tgetidentifiedaswhothey

wanttobeandmostlikelyhaveabadrep.Becauserapoftenreliesonorevenplaysupstereotypes,it

drivesfurtherwedgesbetweenpeopleofdifferentculturesoreconomicstatus.Thisposesaharm

becausestereotypes,inthemselves,areharmful,spreadingmisconceptionsandactingasbarriersto

trueunderstandingbetweenindividualsandgroups.(Bettivia)Toexpand,therappersuasion

influencesthemindsofpeopletocausecontroversy,becausetheyfeelthattheyarestereotyped,and

putinabox.Alsowhenpeoplelistentothelyrics,theyposequestionsthathavethemthinkingabout

whatisrapmusicfor,whomadeitandsomethingalongthoselines.Peoplealsoarguethatifrappers

benefit,Anybenefitfromtheirinvestmentiscounterbalancedbytheoftenunsavorymessage

presentedbyrapartistsintheirmusic.(Bettivia)Inotherwords,peopledon'tcareiftherappers

makeacontributiontothecommunity.Theywanttheirmusictobenefitalso,notjusttheirmoney

becausethatishowyousetanexample.

Ihopemyletterhelpedyoutothinkabouttheinfluencesaboutrapmusic,andthatyoucanhelpto

makeachangeinthewayrapisoperated.Thethingsthatarehopedtobedoneisthatwhenrappers

arerappers,theyshouldstayrappers.Also,ifrapwantstochangeitsreputation,therappersshould

too.Therappersthataredoingwhattheyaredoing,iftheyhavethatgrind,stayonit.Therapnation

shouldbechangedforthebetter.

Sincerely,DaveonJ.Bradley

FoundationAcademies363W.StateStreet

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WorksCited

Bettivia,Rhiannon.TheMiddleSchoolers'Debatabase:75CurrentControversiesforDebaters.NewYork:

InternationalDebateEducationAssociation,2011.Print.

Rose,Tricia.""FearofaBlackPlanet":RapMusicandBlackCulturalPoliticsinthe1990s."TheJournal

ofNegroEducation60.3(1991):276.Print.

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