IS IT JUST MUSIC ? ...

“If we’re all saying that rap is an art form then we gotta be more responsible for our lyrics. If you see everybody dying because of what you’re saying, it don’t matter that you didn’t make them die, it just matters that you didn’t save them.” – Tupac Shakur

The following article is dated, however, it seems almost more relevant today than ever before.

I can appreciate that over the years rap music has served as a way for some marginalized communities to express their cultural and political voice, but it has increasingly become a platform where destructive behavior like substance abuse and unending violence is glamorized.

I would not solely blame rap music or social media for the current gang violence in our city, but to deny that it has an impact would be foolish.