Hip Hop Media Matters by Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.

I am often a bit scared or even terrified when realizing the powerful effects of mass media on the world. Unfortunately, the effects of media pressures are felt quite strongly by youth who are impressionable and searching for identity in a world of advertising and white capitalism.

Things I Understand:
I found these articles a bit dense but overall all easy to read and comprehend. Bell's article was very clear in that the production of hip hop and the consumption of it's sales and selling point are due to several factors. Rappers essentially make the music and white males run the labels and businesses that sell the records. I found it interesting that Bell refers to the audience as "victims". Is he wrong? I think he is entirely correct. Big businesses obviously want to sell as much as possible and the most impressionable of young people fall weakly to what is seen as popular and cool by attractive looking (at least according to the social construct). As we talked about in class, many advertisements for things like cigarettes seem to be strangely targeted toward young people that are not of age to by the cigarettes and can't afford to keep up a habit of nicotine. Nevertheless, teens by cigarettes in whatever way they can and develop addictions. In this same way, labels and hip hop artists know that the messages in their songs are not the most appropriate for youth to hear. Yet, young people buy albums and contribute to the success of the music industry. Yet at the same time, restricting lyrical content from rappers is to some artists ruining their art.
Also, Bells analysis of why songs such as "Fuck the Police" are restricted from the public was particularly thought provoking. Of course lyrics that undermine American authority would be deemed "Parental Advisory" because what kind of message would that be sending the little ones? What fails to be seen is that the lyrics of the songs reveal the inequality in society and the racism many people in lower income community face from the police and society at large.

Connections:
These articles connect to the concept of media matters that we so often discuss in class. The media controls what is seen on TV, what hip hop artists become popular, what is popular, and what kids accept as fashionable and praised.

Questions: I feel like there must be middle way between artists being able to express themselves through art and the censorship of of mass media. Many rapper artists have lived the harsh reality that they describe in their work, so why shouldn't they be able to articulate those ideas into song? I think this is a good example of a hip hop artist's point of view.