RAP: THE NEW EVIL

Hip Hop's Bad Rap

French Rap Musicians Blamed for Violence

The old debate on the influence of music on behavior has been debated from Elvis to 50 Cent. A Certain sub-genres of hip-hop are associated with different troubling behaviors, when it comes to rap music and French Canadian teens at least, according to a Canadian study.

Researchers Dave Miranda and Michel Claes of the University of Montreal found that kids who listened to French language rap were more likely to use drugs, commit crimes and be in street gangs than those who listened to English language hip-hop/soul. Apparently, English rap is more closely associated with a hedonistic style of music that celebrates luxury and sexual feats. Teens who listen to American rap are less likely to commit theft than those who preferred gangsta/hardcore rap. Ironically those who preferred to listen to gangsta rap, were the least likely to belong to a gang. Somehow I don't find that surprising, noticing the thousands of white suburban kids who listen and try to emulate the gangsta rap persona.

The study of 350 male and female teens was published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

And on a related note: The French parliament is calling for legal action against several rap musicians for allegedly inciting violence and racism in last year's suburban riots. Not wanting to take the rap for the unrest, rap artists and their mentors say the music reflects economic and social reality.

French rappers have been venting the anger of an alienated underclass for over a decade, but the politicians haven't been listening, rappers say. "This makes me laugh," Matteo Ferran, part owner of the record label Street Skillz, says. "Rappers have been saying the same thing for 10 years, warning about what goes on in the suburbs, where kids are miserable. There are teenagers who think about committing suicide -- they have no future." Ferran says suggesting rap is to blame for the riots is a case of shooting the messenger.

Municipal authorities have gone so far as to encourage minority youth to explore their creativity. A city-funded urban renewal project turned a former tobacco factory into a vast center for artists, actors and musicians.

Rapper Prodige Namor has even been running a school for rappers workshops since 1998. He says rap is all about identity. "You have lots of people from... Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, the Comoro Islands, and everybody wants to show who he is and where he comes from. It is a way... to show who they are, what they want to prove."

Amir Kegeri, one of Namor's best students is a 17-year-old of Algerian origin who goes by the stage name of Ace. Kegeri hopes to record an album after he finishes school. He says that his rap singing is "more than just a message, it is a state of mind, it is a culture, it is a life."

The moral of this story, of course, is to not listen to French Rap. French Rap can lead you to a bad rap. If your going to indulge in the deviant music sources associated with rap and hip-hop then choose English speaking American rap artists. Then you can just pose like a gangsta rapper and not be embroiled in the mess associated with gangsta rap. awwww the life of a gangsta! This is what French rap does to your fabulous brain.

And since I'm not very good at following rules and too often times indulge in deviant behaviors myself, I'm offering three French rap mp3's for your enjoyment. See you in prison, gang!

1. 5é Bastos - "Emeute"

2. 0800 - "SOS Suicide MC's"

3. 852 Tunes - "Back In 852"

SLATER!!!!

NINO }:>