Filipino Rap Music’s Mutiny in Society
A Research Paper Presented to
Mr. Dustin Celestino of The English Resources Center
Asia Pacific Collage
Magallanes, Makati
Initial Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for the Course
RESWRITE- Research Writing
Abigail T. Camacho
April 2013
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
There are songs that the lyrics can hold grudges and destroy a person, such as Bobby Digital in “Domestic Violence”; thus was stated there “When I first met you, you was a hoe. I tried to reform you, bomb you, warned you and teach you, but couldn’t reach you. And you’re still a hoe. Your father said you was a hoe, and when you leave me, bitch you’re gonna be hoe.” Another one on Willie D in “I Need Some P-ssy.” Also stated in the song “I need some pussy this muthafuckin minute. Show me some pussy and I’ma go up in it. I’m so damn horny tonight for smash. That I’d fuck Whoopie Goldberg ugly ass.” (Source:http://therapup.net/2009/04/11-rap-songs-to-disrespect-women-to/)
According to another article the researcher had found in The Mystery of Hip Hop, which was written by Patrick Hampton, the researcher found that Mr. Patrick Hampton believed that hip-hop not only promotes violence but also it creates violence. Also what was stated there was the question “does music really have the power to change the psyche and behavior?” he also answered “yes”. According to Patrick Hampton when he got to observe the hip-hop today, there are varieties of rappers and music and they all seem to promote and condone Hip-Hop Culture, and the rappers also posses the ability to influence people positively and negatively. (Source:http://www.mysteryofhiphop.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&Itemid=21)
Despite all of the songs that were made, they were also aired around the world, via Radio, MTV’s, Internet and other media. Thus hip-hop is now international phenomenon, also in Italy, Japan, Brazil, Korea, France and more. None of this would happen if it weren’t form the help of TV and the Internet to spread the word.
But despite the fact that Hip-hop became a world hit, some still prefer listening to other genres. Today there are probably a few hundred million people that listen to hip-hop in the world. If they don't listen to hip-hop, there is more than a good chance that they are influenced by its culture. But to the people who listens to Violent Hip-Hop, frequently increased and also the crime rates. Notorious people committed crimes because they were influenced by the violence of the songs. The Philippines is also one of the most adapting country that would always want be in with the crowd.
Poverty covers the Philippines thus, teenage Filipinos who are in deep tries to enjoy their leisure time by making hip-hop songs on what they already have experienced and what they want to do. Crime rates rose in the Philippines because; some teens don’t study so they only learn by experience and by what they hear. Nowadays teens are more violent because they learn from hearing Violent Hip-Hop, and some think that violence is fine to do because they see it in MTVs and tries to copy it.
Music is one of the stress reliever that you can relay on and
it is also for entertainment, still one needs to realize that there is limits in life that they cant do. Thus, the purpose of this research paper is to make realizations on why people still listens to Violent Hip-Hop, why do they do crime, and why Rappers Rap these kinds of songs.
B. Statement of the Problem
This study aims to answer this Question:
1. What effects does Filipino Rap Music have in Society
C. Significance of the Study
Students: This research will help students be aware about what they are listening to and portraying as. Especially this would help them have a prior knowledge on what is happening in our society.
Parents: This research will help the parents be aware of what the children and teenagers do in their leisure time. To show them why do people sing these songs and could this be the reason for their rebellion.
Citizens: It will help them to be aware of what it happening in their society. It will give them the idea to be a little bit conscious on their surrounding.
Singers: This will help them on what are the do’s and don’ts when singing rap or hip hop songs. This will be a conclusion to what people think about their songs.
Future Researchers: This will serve them as another information, give them future references, and will learn a little more about it.
D. Scope and Delimitation
This research focuses on the effects of Rap Music and
Violence in the Society, if it really has an effect on Filipinos since it has a massive effect on people who listens to music in other countries. Also it focuses on the words that the singers make for their song, either its for a good cause in society or it’s the reason why people tend to commit violence
E. Materials and Methods
This research will be base on other related articles, about the research. The researcher also aims to educate and persuade the knowledge of the readers mind on the Violence that is happening around us.
More information will be gathered and made clear in the research, to lead the readers and researchers a wider knowledge about the topic.
F. Definition of terms
Violence- Physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing the act of an instance of violent action or behavior.
Condone- Accept and allow (behavior that is considered morally wrong or offensive) to continue.
Psyche- The human soul, mind, or spirit.
Notorious- Famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed.
Crime- An action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.
-Illegal activities: "the victims of crime".
Poverty- The state of being extremely poor.
- The state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount
Chapter 2
Discussion
What effects does Filipino Rap Music have in Society?
I. Origin Of Rap
Rap; in this generation Rap has different meanings, it may be a song for someone they love, someone they hate, or simply to express what an individual wants to say. Rap is another kind of music that catches a person’s attention, because the means of rap is saying rhymes in accordance to the beat of the song. It was mentioned by Davey D that Rapping is one of the four major elements of the hip-hop culture, witch is “Break dancing,” “Graffiti art,” and “DeeJaying.”
“The art of rappin’ with respect to hip hop was characterized by one’s ability to syncopate to a beat. Ideally an emcee rapped from the heart. His rhymes were spontaneous, not memorized or read aloud from a written document.”
-“Davey D”
As rap became a stream for the emotions of an individual, some tend to over do things on their own, but because music is persuasive some people get drowned in what the lyrics say.
“At one point in time rap was a set of excuses a con artist handed you in an effort to deceive you. In the 70s a rap were the words a person used when trying to persuade you. This particularly applied to the persuasive efforts of a young man trying to obtain sexual favors from a female.”
-“Davey D”
Amazingly two record Rap started out in 1979, one record was released back then that was called King Tim III witch was the first hip hop record, thus it inspired a lot of people. Second Sugar Hill Gang was also released; it was the start of a mainstream media for it was the new phenomena, where from the song of the 70s were manipulation was used to express rap.
There were different kinds of books back then, one book got associated with Rap also that was titled “Die Nigger Die” by H.Rap Brown. Davey mentioned that when he read the book the author wrote about how he got his name “Rap,” and explained where he lived and grew up. When the author mentioned that he was playing The Dozens game. Where he stated that
“The purpose of the game was totally destroy somebody else with words”
-“Davey D” http://www.daveyd.com/whatisrapdav.html
That was the reason H.Rap Brown got his name. As to what the researcher is looking for he/she proved that Rap music can be really violent.
II. Attributes of Worsen Rap
Rappers wordplay is very important, lyricism consist of metaphors, is not really direct to the point, flow, symbolism, punch lines, and it should have a purpose. As through what the article Hip Hop and Violence stated there was.
“First, we must ask the question does music really have the power to change human psyche and behavior? The answer is yes. Many studies support he fact external music creates atmosphere that has the potential to shift the mood of a person without their permission”
-“Patrick Hampton”
When a rapper puts his/ her emotions through rap should it be positive? People who use violent actions are the ones usually the bait to violent rap. As time goes by and people learn new things, rap also improves whether it is good or bad, but because there are new rappers who are gangsters, almost all of them, have done serious crimes they express their experiences through rap. People follow celebrities around; tries to imitate them and learn from them.
“One might respond to that question and say, not all rappers are violent”
-“Patrick Hampton”
So what if it was a rapper? Would they still imitate them because they are still a celebrity? People will imitate them whether or not they are nice, because they wanted the fame and fortune to be just like the celebrity. Thus these Raps became a hit and a lot of people heard the songs because they made it through experience so that people can relate from it.
“This is the type of music that is exposed to teenagers today. Much of main stream hip hop and rap mostly contains themes of immoral activity. Yes, the bad words are bleeped out, but the message is still there, and it is the younger teens (12-16) that listen to the radio more often. Therefore, they are more easily put in to the mindset that if Weezy is doing it, we can too, and even assume they are cool doing so.”
-Edublogs.org
A rap song may consist of violent slang words like “Fuck”, “Bitch” and a lot more, other words are replaced substituted just as “Gold” to “Bling-bling” because its shiny and expensive. A rap song also has promoting causes “alcohol,” “beer,” and some are “drugs” because of commercial companies that are paying the rappers to rap for their product so people would buy them because famous people said so.
“My research suggested that only after many wild parties, violent arrests, and artist selling out labels, did Hip-Hop seek to be a positive force in the community. Now that Hip-Hop has been sold by its founders and bought by entertainment companies, gangster rap and violent lyrics has become mainstream Hip- Hop”
-“Patrick Hampon”
If only companies didn’t buy those celebrities to promote their product, we might have a great outcome from them.
http://www.mysteryofhiphop.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&Itemid=21
III. Connection from Violence
Violent rap leads to real violence. A song can lead to violence when a person listens to them, and they can relate their lives to the song that they are listening to. Anger one of the most common human problems in life. Some rap songs gives feed back on what you should do in to solve your problem that the rapper has also experience, believe it or not, people follow what the song was not intending to make them do, just because the song gives solutions on the problems that the person is experiencing and what he/she is going through.
“Rap and Hip Hop also promotes a thug lifestyle, one that centers on not fulfilling an education, but instead doing drugs, and spitting rhymes while doing so. Though not all rap and hip hop focuses on these themes; most of old rap speaks of getting through hardship. The whole “get paid and laid” idea is more geared toward the newer generation rap and hip hop.”
-Edublogs.org
The commercial world gave the rap song its image of it being a bad thing to listen to before, rap songs are there to help people in need like “Where is The Love” song famous by Black Eye Peas. Some songs are passive when it comes to people suffering, on the other hand other songs agree in violence, not knowing much of the metaphoric lyrics.
IV. Filipino and Western Rap Similarities and Differences
A. Similarities
First western rap song consists of violent activities like killing and hurting, whereas Filipino rap song also has violent activities that are portrayed. One example of a violent Filipino song is from “Abakada” by Don G, where one of its lyrics was stated “Smile for me? Little bitch take a picture mamaya papatayin kita. Pumunta ka sa hood, nanakawin ko ang iyong cellphone tapos pak isasalpak ko sa pwet mo hehe” (smile for me? Little bitch take a picture, I’ll kill you later. Go to the hood, I’ll steal your cellphone and I’ll shove it in your ass hehe). Second their songs are similar because some of the songs trash one rapper to another, trash talking and cursing. Third even Filipino rappers use drugs and alcohol, and some of them are also in fraternities or a gang member. Lastly discrimination is also shown in their songs
B. Differences
First western rap songs consist of elicit use of alcohol and drugs while Filipinos does not use drugs and alcohol to their intended song. “Tipsy” a song of the famous T- Pain where in the use of alcohol is portrayed. Second, yes, western songs are violent but Filipino songs are too violent because names were said in the song, not metaphoric but strait to the point, were in rappers goes to jail for saying a name on one or two of the other famous rappers. Lastly Filipino raps does not give emphasis to women, their songs are not misogynistic like the Western songs.
Example:
1.Western Song;
“Domestic Violence” by Bobby Digital
“When I first met you, you was a hoe. I tried to reform you, bomb you, warn you and teach you. But couldn’t reach you, and you’re still a hoe. Your father said you was a hoe. And when you leave me, bitch you’re gonna be a hoe.”
2.”F-ck Dat B-tch” by Cadillac Don
“No hard feelings, give a f-ck about a b-tch. Cuz she’ll be the one get ya caught up in some sh-t. That’s why J Money aint trusting n’an b-tch. Might as well gon’ let her f-ck the whole click”
Filipino Song;
1.“???(tang ina mo)” by J Skeelz & Mike Kosa
“yan ba ang natutunan ng mga bobo at uhugin mong guro”
“kalat lang from muntinlupa to vinan”
“nakarating ako ng kapirasong ugong, mila sa gagong tubong Dungaleng sinungalinh ang gugulong”
2. “J bobo”
“I dissect nating ang bobo mong song”
“J bobo, J tanaga! Mas okey pakingan kung yan ang pangalan mo”
“bobo ang concept, bobo ang title, bobo ang rapper, bobo ang writer”
“ang tira mob obo na ginawa mo na dapat ay para sakin ay nagging para sayo”
IV. Filipino Rap Violence Result
In accordance to Filipino rap, yes it is violent because the lyrical tone and lines are very abusive in Filipino, its vulgar words has a massive effect on the Filipino people because now not only who are in the ages 20 and above are the ones rapping but also the children who are homeless that ranges to 5 and above are the ones also saying words that they hear through the radio. The children on the streets fight because they lack education they only learn from what they hear, thus they here these violent raps and try to mimic them because it’s the only thing that they know. In the Philippines, there are a lot of homeless children who does not have right education for them to learn the things that they are listening to, they sit on the door of a jeep and sing songs that they don’t event understand. Also these children harm others because they have the freedom to badmouth other people who are older or younger, because they hear the violent song that are aired, and think that it is the right words and things to do. Not only that but also the children who are educated and stays in school adapt to the surroundings, in conclusion they also become violent because they see other homeless children holding rugby’s and thinking that their life is easier. A huge number of jeeps flood the streets of manila and lesser in some areas of the Philippines, these boring jeeps make their work less boring by using music as an entertainment while they drive, also they let the passengers listen to the songs that they like. They cannot watch T.V while driving; the only way was to listen to songs. Teen agers are mostly the ones who are driving the jeeps because they need to make a living, some who drive are gangsters that sing rap songs violently and they can also make their own song, because of less education given they are force to work. The passengers also adapt to the kind of music that they are listening to, because there is no other way for a cheap transportation, they too hear the music.
http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article71
For that Filipino rap music is truly wide spread, but it does not prove that it really makes physical violence. The children on the streets are just violent because they don’t have the right education, they only mimic the violent songs by the way they talk and how they know those words, though they don’t fully understand the words only the bad mouth and cursing words. Children who are educated are also not affected by the violence of rap; they only do violent things because they want to rebel against their parents, not because of the song. Jeepney drivers are not doing the violence at all, because they only use the song for entertainment. Passengers and other bystanders are also not the one who is into the violent things, they just memorize the songs and that’s it. On the other hand only rappers who rap violently and compose these songs are the only people who are really causing violence, proved that some of them are gangsters or joined in fraternities. By just hearing their songs from their rival causes them their life and endanger the people around them
Chapter 3
Summary, conclusion, recommendation
I. Summary
This paper aims to show if rap violence is really happening to the society of the Filipino.
The research design use in this study is the research method where in the data of different articles was taken and to answer the question that was stated. The research findings are the following
1. People who listen to Western Rap are prone to violence, drugs, and alcohol.
2. Western Rap songs are misogynistic towards a lot of women and disgracing them.
3. Commercial media conquered the rappers and paid them to promote their products.
4. Rap music can control the psyche even though the listeners only listened to it once.
5. Issue between gangster rappers and to those rappers who committed crimes.
6. Rap songs are proven that they are violent through the lyrics of the song.
7. The similarities and differences of Western rap and Filipino Rap.
II. Conclusions
Base on the research that was found, the following conclusion are drawn:
1. The difficulty to find a way in which to decide whether or not you are going to stomach to the different kinds of songs that was on the article because of the big profanity words.
2. Students are more prone in listening to rap music, thus it makes them stop coming to school because of the music that persuaded them to do other stuff.
3. The similarities and differences of the songs from Western rap and the Filipino rap.
4. Western rap is more persuasive enough to hypnotize others people in their country, while in the Philippines violence not the ways most of the Filipinos do.
III. Recommendations
After drawing the conclusion of the study, the researcher makes a recommendation:
1. The researcher recommends this research to the people who are into rap music, and try to find out if these are the reason why do they smoke, drink and do drugs.
2. This is for the Filipino rappers and western rappers to see what are the reasons why people turns out to be a psychopath.
3. This study is recommended for the future researchers, to give them more knowledge.
4. The research is also for the students who are quitting and are going to find a new path in life
IV. References
D. Davey. “The Historical Definition of the Term Rap,” 1984. April 13, 2013
<http://www.daveyd.com/whatisrapdav.html>
H. Patrick. “Hip Hop and Violence”. web.The Mysteries of Hip Hop. March 31 2013
<http://www.mysteryofhiphop.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&Itemid=21>
“Rap Listeners are Prone to Violence”.The Truth: Hip Hop. Edublogs.org weblog. April 5 2013.
<http://hiphopvtheworld.edublogs.org/rap-listeners-are-prone-to-violence/>
Rizoh. “11 Rap songs to Disrespect Women To”. Published April, 01 , 2009. March, 31, 2013
<http://therapup.net/2009/04/11-rap-songs-to-disrespect-women-to/>
“PINOY BEEF”. Pinoyhiphopsuperstars.blogspot.com. April 5, 2013
<http://pinoyhiphopsuperstar.blogspot.com/p/pinoy-beef.html>
“Negative Effects of Rap and Hip Hop”. Edublogs.org. March, 28, 2011. April 5 2013.
<http://hiphopvtheworld.edublogs.org/2011/03/28/negative-effects-of-rap-and-hip-hop/>
T.Harry. “View on the development and prospects in the phillipines today”. February 10 2011. March 8 2013
<http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article714>
