Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2004 The Effects of Rap Music on the Reckless Behavior of College Students Jared Kason Stubbs Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC THE EFFECTS OF RAP MUSIC ON THE RECKLESS BEHAVIOR OF COLLEGE STUDENTS By JARED KASON STUBBS A Thesis submitted to the School of Music In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Masters of Music Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2004 The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Jared Kason Stubbs defended on June 7, 2004. ______________________________________ Jayne M. Standley Professor Directing Thesis ______________________________________ Clifford K. Madsen Committee Member ______________________________________ Dianne Gregory Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ---- Proverbs 3: 5-6 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Praise God from whom all blessings flow, I would not be here if it were not for you To Dr. Jayne M. Standley, thank you for your patience and belief that I could succeed in this program. Thank you for giving me a chance. To Dr. Clifford K. Madsen, thank you for opening my eyes to the joys of education and learning. To Dianne Gregory, thank you for being so meticulous and accepting only my best. To Dr. James Reggie Jackson, thank you for being the brother I never had emotionally and spiritually. God bless you in your future endeavors. To Dr. Ricky Fleming, thank you for being another brother in the pursuit of this degree. God bless you in your future success. To my father Carrol B. Stubbs, Jr., for being an excellent role model/hero, and stressing the importance of being a man. I love you, Dad. To my mother Cheyenne C. Stubbs, for being the worlds greatest mother, unconditional love, and never giving up on me. I love you, Mom. To my sister Canonica Stubbs Chinnery, for being constant competition and a best friend throughout life. I love you, Nonnie. To the love of my life Chelsa Holmes Stubbs, for being constant encouragement throughout this demanding ordeal. I love you. To Mr. & Mrs. Holmes, for being second parents to me and providing a halfway home to me when I needed a vacation. RIP Mr. Johnnie Holmes (1949-2001). To Dr. R. B. Holmes & The Bethel Baptist Church, for providing a church experience like no other away from home. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………...vii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………….viii 1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………………….3 History of Rap …………………………………………………………………....3 Research on Rap Music ………………………………………………………….9 3. PURPOSE OF STUDY ………………………………………………..14 4. METHOD ……………………………………………………………...15 Subjects ………….……………………………………………………………...15 Design …………………………………………………………………………..15 Measures ……………………………………………………………………......16 5. RESULTS ……………………………………………………………...17 6. DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………....22 v APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM ……………………………………...25 APPENDIX B: SURVEY ………………………………………………..26 APPENDIX C: SUBJECT RESPONSES ………………………………..27 APPENDIX D: HUMAN SUBJECTS COMMITTEE APPROVAL……..59 REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………60 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ……………………………………………...64 vi LIST OF TABLES 1. Reckless Behavior and Musical Preferences ………………………………………..17 2. Reckless Behavior and Gender ……………………………………………………...18 3. Reckless Behavior and Race ………………………………………………………...18 vii ABSTRACT The impact of rap music on college undergraduate student’s reckless behavior was examined in the following study. When compared with rock music listeners, subjects that reported rap as being their preferred genre of music reported significantly higher results when engaging in driving over 80 mph (miles per hour), driving greater than 20 mph over the speed limit, and having sex without contraception. Overall significant responses by music preference were discovered for 5 of the 10 survey questions with rock music listeners being significantly higher in cocaine use and casual sex. It was concluded that music alone, more specifically rap music, was not the sole determining factor for students engaging in reckless behavior. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Due to recent violent and criminal activity in the world of rap music, it is no surprise that opinions of the music and on its writers are plenty. In January 2001, rapper/producer Sean “Puffy” Combs (a.k.a “Puff Daddy”) was charged with illegal weapons possession and bribery after a night club shooting at a New York nightclub in December 2000 (Nordlinger, 2001). In 1999, rapper Coolio was sentenced to 10 days in jail for pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm (Jet, 1999). In 1998, rapper Old Dirty Bastard (a.k.a. ODB) was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his former girlfriend (Jet, 1998). With this much violent activity adding to the unsolved and coincidental deaths of rap artists Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.) and Tupac Shakur (2pac), in 1997 and 1996 respectively, as well as many other rappers arrested on smaller but noticeable criminal charges, rap music has drawn much attention to itself. Rap music has managed to stay in the negative public and criminal spotlight since its entrance into the music scene in the mid seventies. The list of noticeable incidents include; members of the High Times Crew arrested for break dancing at a Washington Heights subway in 1980; controversy over a Public Enemy members (Professor Griff) anti-semetic remarks causing a media furor in 1989; Florida record store owner and 2 live Crew Leader Luther Campbell, arrested for the sale of 2 Live Crews “As Nasty as they Wanna Be” album in 1990; rapper Ice- T sparking controversy with LA police after performing “Cop Killer” at a concert in 1992 (Potter, 2001). Government officials, researchers, and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) are some of raps most popular critics. Forty-seven percent (47%) of mothers with children in public schools believe that violent messages in rap music contribute “a great deal” to school violence (Kandakai, Price, Telljohann, and Wilson, 1999). Johnson, Adams, and Ashburn (1995) found that exposure to rap music “tends to lead to a higher degree of acceptance of the use of violence.” 1 Alternatively, Aldridge and Carlin (1993) argue that rap music gives voice to the problems of the inner city. In addition, rap music has long provided a platform for people who feel they lack any other political voice (Ehrlich, 1992). Tricia Rose (1991), African-American cultural critic, blames the criticism of rap on “fear of blacks” by whites and the media. Rose states: Unlike heavy metal’s victims, the majority of rap’s fans are the youngest representatives of Black presence whose cultural difference is an ongoing internal threat to America’s cultural development. These differences between the ideological nature of sanctions against rap and heavy metal are of critical importance because they articulate the ways in which racial discourses deeply inform social control efforts in the United States (p. 280). Perhaps the most compelling argument is one offered by rappers themselves and echoed by Epstein et al. (1990): namely, that the music “is a reflection of the social environment of its target population or market …and simply reflects already existing adolescent sentiments back to the youth subculture” (p. 382). The effect of rap music on behaviors seems to be a valid concern that warrants scientific study but, efforts in this direction are few. 2 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE History of Rap Although views differ as to its actual starting date, the majority of writers and historians agree that rap music began in the late 1970’s in the rundown, crime and drug infested slums of the South Bronx, New York. Steven Hager (1984), author of the book, “Hip-Hop; the Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music and Graffiti,” states that there were three major events which took place in the Bronx that led to the birth of rap. First, in 1959 the commissioner of parks, Robert Moses, approved the building of an expressway that ran directly through the middle of the Bronx. The new expressway brought large amounts of traffic and easy access into the Bronx, which at that time was inhabited by middle class Italian, German, Irish, and Jewish families (Rhodes, 1993). Berman (1982) recalls the resurrection of the expressway: Miles of streets alongside the road were choked with dust and fumes and deafening noise...Apartment houses that had been settled and stable for over twenty years emptied out, often virtually overnight; large and impoverished black and Hispanic families, fleeing even worse slums, were moved wholesale, often under the auspices of the Welfare Department, which even paid inflated rents, spreading panic and accelerated flight...Thus depopulated, economically depleted, emotionally shattered- the Bronx was ripe for all the dreaded spirals of urban blight (p. 292). The middle class families soon saw their neighborhoods becoming run down and riddled with crime. This caused the families to move out of the south Bronx and take their businesses with them. As a result of the families evacuating and the addition of a new expressway, the value of the land began to decrease, allowing poor and lower class black