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Spin Magazine 1: The One Source You Essay

¶ … SPIN Magazine [1: The one source you requested I use was taken from Spin Magazine, and I modeled everything after this article: http://www.spin.com/articles/big-four-play-their-first-us-show (citation below) Weingarten, C. "The Big Four Play Their First U.S. Show." Spin Magazine. 2011. ] Here Are the News: Analysis of What We Listen To

Violent and Misogynistic Lyrics in Gangsta Rap

By ____ April 30, 2011

The saying goes, "you are what you eat." Though this may seem like a cliche at first glance, just think about this small quote that you have probably heard before. When thinking logically, this statement is really true: you are what you eat and you really do look a certain way because of nutrition.

Similarly to looking like what you are eating, you are shaped by the music to which you listen. Those who listen to rock are different people from those who listen to predominantly punk or rap music. These individuals may live in different parts of a city, and may have different friends, or prefer different kinds of activities. Also, their actions, which their music impacts, affect everyone else around them.

Though this analysis may seem preachy, it is not. It is a fact that music affects us all. A study recently done on how rap music portrays women and violence against women, for example, is an important statement about the portion of our society who listens to rap music, and how it has impacted women. According to Edward Armstrong, who has studied rap, misogynistic lyrics are ever-present in this genre. Armstrong also states that there is hate speech and verbal assault involved in the rap music we hear today. For those of you who like rap, this article may be hard to read.

But if you continue on, you will see that often, rap is responsible for images created for women. Apparently, according to experts, rap is responsible for promoting and even "glamorizing" violence and misogyny. Some experts state that these ideas in rap are meant to give men the control and allow them to exert their reputation. This makes me wonder, are rappers compensating for something that they have missed in their life or are they simply continuing the only identity that they have known growing up?

I suppose the answer is more of the latter idea, the idea that "gangsta misogyny" is prevalent in those societies in which rap is born. When you have grown up with urban violence, you will mostly communicate this idea, which may be all you know, to society. Furthermore, you may communicate it strongly and directly, for rap is not known for using poetic or metaphorical language, which can add a further rawness or abrasiveness.

So when you listen to rap think about the lyrics. Think about what you are listening to and whether it is promoting a positive message. Who is affected, and how? Though rap is enjoyable, as is the culture in which it is promoted, and should be appreciated for...

Dre and Snoop Dogg, were responsible for "three of cases of violence and misogyny," according to a study. This particular study continues to say that Eminem alone had raised this small percentage to almost 80% reference to violence or murder against women.
This is crazy. Who could believe that rap can actually lead to real violence. But as I said at the beginning, we are that to which we listen, and often, music is an example to young individuals as to how to act. Again, rap is an integral part to the multiculturalism of society, but one must think about the message it promotes and whether it is actually a good part, a positive and growth enhancing part of society. Because if it is not, and if rap can actually hurt people, it may not be worth continuing its promotion. Sadly, however, as long as money is being made, no matter what message it promotes, rap will remain prevalent in society.

ANALYSIS [2: I based the first article on your paper and all the quotations are from your paper not from the specific authors. Thus, this analysis also takes effect of your paper.]

The article above has provided a short, though unique look at rap. Because the paper is so short, analysis is quite lacking. Also, because it is a magazine article, one cannot really write too much analysis because this will bore a reader. Academic language, in the above writing, was repurposed by making it a bit more informal. Though quotations were utilized, just as in the paper, they were broken up and intermingled with informal language. Furthermore, questions were asked more often, to prompt the audience to think about answer, and keep readers interested.

The writing is thus changed from a vocabulary perspective, but also from a grammatical perspective. In other words, everything becomes more informal, more engaging. With regards to this particular magazine, the audience is meant to be relatively young music lovers from all areas of society. Thus, instead of the general pronoun, "one," the more informal "you" is used. There are also familiar phrases, like "you are what you eat" and informal statement and questions like "this is crazy" or those questions that address the way music affects the audience. Also, the pronoun "us" is used to link the author to the audience, to make him or her seem like one of the readers.

I also chose to write the article in small paragraphs, that all cover the same idea, and reinforce the scope of the paragraph at the end of each paragraph. I tried to include a question or some sort of informal thing in each paragraph. For example, take the fourth paragraph. (But if you continue on, & #8230;). This paragraph is the main paragraph of the paper, and it examines how rap is influencing society in a negative way. This may be…

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