Whether he’s eating lunch or finishing his homework, junior Tanuj Vasudeva often listens to rapper Eminem’s “Hailie’s Song” on repeat.
Many students, like Vasudeva, have fallen in love with rap music as well.
Though rap, a subculture of the genre of hip hop, is a style that has received mixed opinions because of its perceived controversial lyrics and mysogynism, Vasudeva nonetheless continues to support it, saying it serves as it serves as an outlet for “merging cultural boundaries.”
Listening to this genre has also helped Vasudeva cope with his own hard times.
“When it seems like everything is going heavily south in life, and it seems like work is an impregnable wall, and nobody can relate, I would play a song like ‘Sing for the Moment’ [by Eminem],” he said. “Hard times would go by so much faster when I could relate to someone, albeit through my speakers.”
In particular Vasudeva said that the lyric “And this load is like the weight of the world. And I think my neck is breaking should I just give up, or try to live up to these expectations,” from “Hailie’s Song” has affected him in a positive way."
He also said the genre’s diverse nature has positively affected society. He pointed to the songs from the Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” as examples of rap’s positive nature
Though rap music has stood for different ideas through many generations, Vasudeva said that the way people might view it currently, associating it mainly with Drake and Kendrick Lamar, does not represent rap music as a whole.
Subsequently, controversies associated with rap music range from the spread of such as “gangster rap,” a style of rap that stereotypically portrayed gangs, guns, violence and sexism, changed rap music’s image in the eyes of its listeners.
Nevertheless, even he admits that it can negatively affect younger listeners.
“There is no doubt that modern music has a direct impact on the vernacular of the time, and currently, our language is being shaped by what’s in style, to the point where kids often feel that is is OK to speak just like idols do,” Vasudeva said.
Another student who is heavily invested in the genre is senior Revel Sisco. “I like the cleverness of the genre,” Sisco said. “Some rappers really bring their music towards poetry and I love that.”
Like Vasudeva, Sisco said that he listens to rap music at almost anytime in the day, doing anything from eating to playing games.
“Listening to rap music is like my natural state. So it’s crucial to how I function,” Sisco said.
Though many people have varying views in what the benefit of listening to rap music is, Sisco said he likes how artists put their own spins on society and politics and the results can be hilarious. Despite its numerous controversies, Sisco wants more people to listen to rap music, as he says it is a “rich and vast part of human culture.”
For Sisco, controversy is just part of the art form, and he pays attention to the lives of the artists he so admires.
“I get extremely attached to rap artists,” he said. “I like to follow them on Twitter and Instagram and like to know what they are up to. I don’t really do that with other genres.”
