Philosophy quiz

1. According to Beckly, hip hop music and spoken word consist of words which tend to oppose to the rule of the whites in America. This consequently incites people to participate in war particularly the African Americans, in order to avoid being mistreated by the whites in the US. The artists use harsh words and homophobic slang in order to act as symbolic, and thus making it easy for the African Americans to feel unwanted in the country and thus indulging in evil activities. On the other hand, hip hop music and spoken word seems to be referring to a certain group of people who are being oppressed, and thus acts to op-en their mind and influence them to wake up and fight for their rights (Becky, 1999).
2. According to Beckly, spoken words aims at spreading the message to African Americans, and showing them that they are more than what the state thinks they are. This type of information mainly influences violence positively, and consequently makes it easy for the African Americans to feel provoked hence leading to violence (Becky, 1999). Furthermore, due to the use of homophobic slang, most African Americans now view the government as an institution which cannot be able to support them at all. They have therefore distanced themselves from political matters, thus they cannot even participate in voting during the general elections. Young African American adults, have grown up with the mentality that it’s only the whites who benefit from the government and not them, and this is mainly because of the message passed through hip hop songs.
3. In Tupac Shakur’s lyrics, he asks God to protect us and may take care of our needs, in the song Ghetto gospel. This is message tends to bring people together and thus making people in the world to relate with each other in a very positive way. Moreover, the lyrics influences people to forget about their differences and concentrate on what God has brought us to do in the world. Through this song, most people, particularly those who participate in unlawful acts, can change their ways and repent according to God’s will (Becky, 1999). Despite of the challenges that we are facing, God is always with us, and thus we should not be weary, all we have to do is to praise the lord and asking to take care of our needs. The song consequently helps in making people to forget about their troubles and focus on what God wants us to do, simply because if we concentrate on what the lord wants us to do we will never fail.
4. The use of “B word” and “N word” has mainly influenced the youths negatively, making them to look respect to their elders. Most youths therefore use such words when referring to other people, or otherwise when insulting others. This makes the current generation of the youths to live a life full of no respect due to the use of such words. Moreover, most people particularly the whites use the “N word” when referring to African American, and this phrase may provoke the African Americans leading to violence in the country (Becky, 1999). These words should therefore be done away with, as they might to lead to violence due to the effects that they have. These words are also widely used by the youths on the social media, thus making them to spread widely.

Reference

Becky, B. (1999). The Social Significance of Rap & Hip-Hop Culture: Poverty & Prejudice: Media and Race.