Date of Graduation
2003
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
Committee Chair
Terry Wimmer
Abstract
This study is a longitudinal study of violence, sexual references, and drug use in popular rap music lyrics. The top ten rap songs were gathered from 1994 through 2002 and analyzed. Results indicated that though there is violence in popular rap music it is not predominate. It was also found that when violence is present it is most often without consequences or rationale. Further, it was found that popular rap music contained more sexual references than violence. Also, when sexual references were present it was gratuitously, without reference to relationships. It was also found that there is a high correlation between violence and drugs. However, it was twice as likely to find a reference to drugs than violence. There was also a high correlation between drugs and sex. These findings shoot down the prevailing theory about rap music that it is filled with violence.
Recommended Citation
Sissum, Melina, "A longitudinal content analysis of violence, sex, and drugs in rap music." (2003). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD). 10782.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10782