Self-Assessment

Attainment: C

Effort: 2

Indicative Grade: C

W= Quality Of Writing

I chose to give myself an effort mark of 2, this is because i feel as if i have put effort into my work and have improved from the previous term. This term i have .. Although, sometimes i do not

Three targets:

1. ...
2. ...
3. ...

Targets

Critical Investigation (Next Step)

K Koke is an upcoming grime artist who has recently got signed by famous rapper Jay-Z. However, he is not the stereotypical grime artist. K Koke’s underground grime music videos connote violence, nevertheless, his mainstream songs such as ‘Manolos’ which featured Stevie Star did not feature any sort of violent connotations. This goes along with the statement that: “Grime doesn’t need to be shot down completely, but most certainly censored.”[1]Artists like K Koke are not able to take responsibility of the fact that they are role models for younger audiences and the fact that there is new technology surrounding us, this means that younger audiences are able to get hold of music videos with these violent connotations involving K Koke and other artists on the internet via YouTube. This creates meaning for audiences such as younger teens who are seen to be the perpetrators of violence in grime, to be protected from violent music videos, as the artists are not able to take responsibility with the way they express themselves in music videos and their lyrics, therefore regulation should be more stricter in order to protect the public from violent content through censorship.

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[1]http://platinumtears.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/does-grime-music-have-a-social-responsibility/

Critical Investigation (First Draft)

“The largest sampling of music video content to date reveals a disturbing amount of violence”

To what extent is violence used in rap/grime music videos, such as those featuring K Koke, and should audiences be protected from it through censorship?

A recent study suggests "Teens who spend more time watching the sex and violence depicted in the "reel" life of "gangsta" rap music videos are more likely to practice these behaviours in real life."[1]Despite this, over the years, regulation and censorship has become relaxed. Rap/Grime music has been associated with violence due to the connotations of violence in these music videos that the audience perceives. The representations of rap and grime music in music videos has caused continued debates and controversies within the media and has led to the media questioning whether audiences should be protected from all of this through censorship. However, rappers themselves are against censorship as they believe there music is the only way to express themselves, especially Tupac as he is believed to be one of the best rappers of all time, so is a role model amongst younger rappers. “Tupac directly attacks the demand for censorship in his song “Rebel of the Underground”: “They trying to keep me out; Try to censor what I say; because they don't like what I'm talking about; so what's wrong with the media today?”[2]Censorship allows parts of music videos to be edited and cut out, making it safe for audiences to view music videos without the violent content that may not be appropriate for the public to view, however despite this Tupac has been against this and rappers today have followed his views and are against censorship themselves.

Rap music originated from the music genre of Hip Hop and is also referred to as ‘Gangsta Rap’. The sub genre reflected the violent lifestyles of inner-city American black youths. Hip Hop music and Gangsta Rap was very popular outside the USA, particularly in the United Kingdom and so another sub genre originated under Hip Hop in the UK. It was called Grime music. This was the UK's answer to Hip Hop/Rap music. Grime music first emerged from Bow, East London and since then  has had a lot of controversy surrounding it, due to the connotations of music videos from this genre such as violence. "Senior members of the Metropolitan Police have laid the blame for a surge in violence in recent years outside club nights – particularly East London events associated with grime, the British rap genre – on videos showcasing violence and thuggery."[3]The media have blamed music such as grime for the rise in crime and have caused this urban music genre to be very controversial and led to regulation and censorship becoming an important aspect when relating to this type of music. "Grime music videos have been criticised by politicians and also artists within the Grime scene, for their violent content. In a move to censor this, Channel AKA has with the pressure from the police begun to shift through grime videos, being highly selective with the ones that are broadcast."[4] Even though channels such as Channel AKA being censored and regulated, however, it is no longer effective as due to the rise in technology, people are able to access uncensored music videos. Moral panics have been created from the content the channel shows, due to the amount of violence that is publicised in their music videos, giving a reason for audiences to be protected from violence in music videos, as “surveys conclude that music videos are watched by a majority of teenagers.”[5] This has helped with the protection of audiences through censorship as "TV realism, is far removed from actual reality. Witnessing a drive-by shooting in the flesh would probably make us physically sick or scar us for life, whereas witnessing it every night on TV, we hardly bat an eyelid."[6]In spite of this, the government’s efforts of censoring and regulating is not as effective enough because a lot of people watch music videos online and if it is not shown on television, people will find a way to view these music videosespecially teenagers, as they are the generation that use the internet most frequently.

Rap/Grime music and violence have become heavily associated with each other over the years. This is because there is an increasing amount of violent acts shown in music videos of these genres that audiences such as teenagers are seen at risk from these types of music videos. However theorist George Gerbner found that “crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world.”[7] This agrees with the statement that audiences should be protected through censorship, as the content the media displays is not always what is in the real world and so creates ideologies inside the minds of its audiences that violence is out there and encourages audiences to get involved with violent activities. For example rapper ‘Lil Wayne’ has recently come out of prison after serving eight months for a gun-related charge. This distinguishes a link between music and violence as the rappers who make this type of music such as ‘Lil Wayne’ who is a role model for some, is carrying weapons and to their audiences make it look like it is okay to do so and by doing this it connotes one thing; violence.  This goes against "In terms of this latter, George Gerbner’s findings, as “Gerbner found that crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world."[8] This is because as a role model like Lil Wayne has been in prison, audiences, children and teens especially will think it is acceptable to commit crime as, this is a real scenario and is not seen on TV or a music video.

The link between violence and rap music has emerged, taking into consideration ‘Lil Wayne’s prison sentenceand suggests that rap music should be censored. This is because music videos as well as the lyrics connote violence for example in N-Dubz’s – Love For My Slum, “Dappy fixes his stare alternately on the camera and the "rich boy" (so labelled earlier in the track). His lyrics combine jealousy with anger: "You got too much to lose/ You're in a great position... You wouldn't last a minute where I'm from/ you’d go missing/ so appreciate what you got/ 'cos I'm still waiting." And then he grabs the rich kid by his coat, pulls him toward him, and punches him in the face. The silent boy falls instantly to the pavement. The whole scene lasts less than 10 seconds.”[9] Scenes like these suggest that music videos are creating ideologies that are encouraging viewers to engage in violent acts and therefore create a meaning for music videos such as these to be strictly censored, as moral panics are appearing due to violence being associated with this type of genre. This links with the hypodermic needle theory as the content in the N-Dubz video is injected into the minds of the viewer’s making it okay for them to go on and follow this act from the video into reality, as the ideologies within the music video encourage them to do so.

"Rap music is by no means the only form of expression for some people.”[10]Due to this, rap music is heavily criticised and has led to rappers expressing themselves in ways that may not be appropriate for certain members of the public such as children and teenagers. This is because “everyone loves children; children need to be protected from the dangers of the world, including representations of violence and sex.”[11]“So currently, there is no one single body who takes responsibility for regulation, control and censorship of new media inthe UK.”[12] Due to this fact, this makes it even harder for children to be protected from music videos containing violence. However, parents themselves can censor and regulate what their children view on TV’s. “There is now a special microchip in most TV's that allows parents to control the content of what they allow their children to watch. Satellite and cable receivers also have a chip that blocks specific channels and programs.”[13]This allows parents to control the content of what music videos they allow their children to watch. As, audiences are able to control what their children watch, this creates less meaning for audiences to be protected through censorship from rap music videos.

Rap music has caused various moral panics n society. One of which is that rap music videos are having a bad effect on audiences. According to a study published by the American Psychological Association: “songs with violent lyrics increase aggression related thoughts and emotions and this effect is directly related to the violence in the lyrics.”[14]However, this is no surprise as “Eighty percent of the rap music that is currently on the top ten lists around the world contains violence. They glorify the acts of beating up another person, or even worse shooting them.”[15] Due to facts such as these, this connotes that there is no surprise as to why moral panics are being created, as, the public are concerned about the content that their children are viewing. Nevertheless, “most parents are concerned about what their young children see and hear, but as children get older, parents pay less attention to the music and videos that hold their children’s interest.”[16] This connotes that audience should be protected through censorship from violent rap music videos, as children may view content that may cause harm to them or someone else in reality as they may think it is acceptable for them to carry out these actions of criminality. This is because, they have seen them to be okay in rap music videos.

One media theory that can help explains whether the amount of violence in music videos should be censored, to protect the audience or not is the hypodermic needle theory.“The media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience to powerless to resist the impact of the message. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.”[17] As the stereotypical connotations of rap music videos consist of; sex, violence, gangs etc. This only leads to a negative effect on audiences as the audience have no choice but to believe what they see as the rappers in the music videos are what they see as their role models as, “children learn from the role models they see and hear.”[18] This links in with the hypodermic needle theory the violence depicted in music videos is injected into audiences’ minds and therefore, audiences believe it is okay for criminality such as anti-social behaviour. So, this theory connotes that audiences should be protected from violence in music videos through censorship due to the typical stereotypical representations of rappers (role models) in music videos.

In conclusion, I believe that there is a large amount of violence in rap music including the lyrics and the content in the videos, despite this audience are not being protected from this violent content through censorship. However, it has impacted on the rap music genre. “Censorship has become a big thing to rap music over the past few years. People are trying to change the image of rap and the message that it sends to everyone who listens. The message is seen as a negative because degrading words and phrases have become popular to use within the rap music industry.”[19]Nevertheless, censorship has not impacted rap music as much, because people are still able to access uncensored rap music videos via the internet and so audiences are not being protected from this especially as "children and young people are seen as both the perpetrators and victims of anti-social behaviour - they become the excuse for politicians and policy makers to impose stricter laws and tighter regulations on new forms of media and popular culture.”[20] This is despite rap music being highly associated with violent scenes in music videos and violent lyrics. Due to this, I believe, audiences need to be protected from the violence in rap music videos through censorship, as it could have effects on the viewers’ real life.

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[1]http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030303/does-rap-put-teens-at-risk

[2]http://www.suite101.com/content/censorship-in-rap-music-right-or-wrong-a246033

[3]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/music-video-violence-should-grime-clean-up-its-act-403286.html

[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grime_(music)

[5]http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/04.09/MusicVideosProm.html

[6] Dines G. (2003)

[7]Laughey D. (2009)

[8]Ibid

[9]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/music-video-violence-should-grime-clean-up-its-act-403286.html

[10] Dines G, (2003)

[11] McKee A. (2003)

[12]http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-regulation-and-censorship/

[13]http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/9/23/13748/8098

[14]http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030303/does-rap-put-teens-at-risk

[15]http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/51182/is_rap_actually_music_or_is_it_a_bad.html?cat=33

[16]: http://www.ctclearinghouse.org/topics/customer-files/Children-And-TV-Violence-And-The-Influence-Of-Music-And-Music-Videos-051308.pdf

[17]…

[18]http://www.ctclearinghouse.org/topics/customer-files/Children-And-TV-Violence-And-The-Influence-Of-Music-And-Music-Videos-051308.pdf

[19]http://www.helium.com/items/1484039-censorship-on-rap-music

[20]Laughey D. (2009)

Complete Bibliography

Gail Dines. "Second Edition. Gender, Race, and Class In Media. A Text Reader" (United States of America; Sage Publications, 2003)

Key Quotes:

• "Rap music is by no means the only form of expression, especially heavy metal, have recently been the target of increased sanctions and assaults by politically and economically powerful organisation, such as the Parent's Music Resource Center, The American Family Association, and Focus on the Family." (page 399)
• "Rap artists articulate a range of reactions to the scope of institutional policing faced by many young African Americans. However, the lyrics that address the police directly-what Ice Cube has called "revenge fantasies"-have caused the most extreme and unconstitutional reaction from law enforcement officials in metropolitan concert arena venues. (page 398)

Dan Laughey. "Media Studies: Theories & Approaches" (Great Britain; Sparkford, Somerset: Kamera Books, 2009)

Key Quotes:

• "Major Moral Panics in recent times have centred on fears about paedophilia, AIDS, knife and gun crime."
• "Children and young people are seen as both the perpetrators and victims of anti-social behaviour - they become the excuse for politicians and policy makers to impose stricter laws and tighter regulations on new forms of media and popular culture."
• "Subcultures are themselves apart from the rest of society - subcultures actually choose to rebel against norms and conventions"
• "George Gerbner identified a 'Mean World Syndrome' that afflicted heavy TV viewers. Put simply, the more TV you watch, the more likely you are to view the outside world as a hostile, crime-ridden, ghettoised world where danger and vice lurk in every corner."
• "In terms of this latter, Gerbner found that crime on TV was ten times worse than crime in the real world."
• "So, it would seem that TV addicts make a direct connection between what they see on the small screen and what they think is happening in reality. TV's cultivating power means that it guides certain individuals into ways of dealing with the world beyond the box."
• "TV realism, is far removed from actual reality. Witnessing a drive-by shooting in the flesh would probably make us physically sick or scar us for life, whereas witnessing it every night on TV, we hardly bat an eyelid."

Graeme Burton. "More Than Meets The Eye" (Great Britain; Euston Road: Arnold, a member of the Hoddler Headline Group, 2002)

Key Quotes:

• "Audiences are an integral part of the whole process of communication through out the media. In many ways they are the raison d'etre for the media industries, because no audiences means no profit means no reason for running the organisation. It is the audience that makes sense of the communication and this becomes of all the more important because of the size of the audience, given the potential for influence, and the part the media play in the socialisation of that audience."
• "Repetition of messages tend to enhance their effects. People tend to believe something if its said that often enough (provided it isn't too outrageous)."
• "In terms of output, the media are almost entirely self-regulating. There is the Video Standards Council, for video distributors."

Alan Mckee "Textual Analysis" (Padshow, Cornwall: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2003)

Key Quotes:

• "Everyone loves children, children need to be protected from the dangers of the world, including representation's of violence and sex."

Introduction & First Paragraph

To what extent is violence used in rap/grime music videos, such as those featuring K Koke, and should audiences be protected from it through censorship?

"Teens who spend more time watching the sex and violence depicted in the "reel" life of "gangsta" rap music videos are more likely to practice these behaviours in real life."[1] Over the years, regulation and censorship has become more and more strict due to theories such as this.This is due to the type of content that artists and producers are able to express through music, especially in rap music consisting of violent content. Rap/Grime music has been associated with violence due to the connotations of violence in these music videos that the audience perceives. The representations of rap and grime music in music videos has caused continued debates and controversies within the media and has led to the media questioning whether audiences should be protected from all of this through censorship. Censorship allows parts of music videos to be edited and cut out, making it safe for audiences to view music videos without the violent content that may not be appropriate for the public to view.  


Rap music originated from the music genre of Hip Hop. Hip Hop music was very popular outside the USA, particularly in the United Kingdom and so another sub genre originated under Hip Hop. It was called Grime music. This was the UK's answer to Hip Hop/Rap music within the UK. However, Rap/Grime music has had a lot of controversy surrounding it, due to the connotations of music videos from this genre such as violence. "Senior members of the Metropolitan Police have laid the blame for a surge in violence in recent years outside club nights – particularly East London events associated with grime, the British rap genre – on videos showcasing violence and thuggery."[2] The media have blamed music such as grime for the rise in grime and has caused this urban music genre to be very controversial and led to regulation and censorship becoming an important aspect when relating to this type of music. "Grime music videos have been criticised by politicians and also artists within the Grime scene, for their violent content. In a move to censor this, Channel AKA has with the pressure from the police begun to sift through grime videos, being highly selective with the ones that are broadcast."[3]

[1] http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030303/does-rap-put-teens-at-risk
[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/music-video-violence-should-grime-clean-up-its-act-403286.html
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grime_(music)

Essay Plan

To what extent is violence used in rap/grime music videos, such as those featuring K Koke, and should audiences be protected from it through censorship?

1. Introduction

• Brief description of my investigation

2. Rap/Grime Music Industry

• Outline of the industry
• Media Impact
• History of Regulation & Censorship in Rap/Grime music

3. Regulation & Censorship Of Rap/Music Videos

• Examples of censored music videos, why they were censored?
• Uncensored music videos. Why regulation should become more stricter?

4. Music & Violence. Is There A Link?

• "Violent music may possibly make a path for violence, but it does not and can not cause violence. Violent music can only stir emotions in a person, and if that person commits a crime, then it is that person's own fault. For the song did not go into the street and rob a person or shoot a person opening a door."
• The link between rap/grime music and violence in today's society. How it emerges?
• Is this why regulation and censorship should be stricter? To protect audiences?

5. Moral Panics Created By Rap/Grime Music Videos

• " Songs with violent lyrics increase aggression related thoughts and emotions and this effect is directly related to the violence in the lyrics, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association (APA). - arguing that it is causing an increase in violence and so audiences should be protected from music videos as, it could lead to negative effects.
• Grime music has lead to an increase in criminality as wrong messages are given out in music videos - "Do scenes like these suggest that music videos are encouraging their viewers to indulge in criminality? Senior members of the Metropolitan Police think so. They have laid the blame for a surge in violence in recent years outside club nights – particularly East London events associated with grime, the British rap genre – on videos showcasing violence and thuggery."

6. Audience Theories

• Cultivation Theory - "One finding of this research is that when people are exposed to heavy media violence, they seem to have an attitudinal misconception called mean world syndrome. This means that they overestimate how much violence actually occurs in their communities and the rest of the world. People who are exposed to less media violence have a more realistic sense of the amount of violence in the real world. 
• Hypodermic Needle Theory - "They express the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. There is no escape from the effect of the message in these models. The population is seen as a sitting duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information." 
• Using these quotes, show how these theories come into my investigation.
• Violence in grime and rap music should be censored as these theories suggest people could view music videos and see the type of violence that is taking place and could lead to a rise in criminality, especially in youths.

7. Conclusion - Should It Be Censored?

• Violence is used in different ways in music videos, if not shown in music videos, the lyrics of the artists create ideologies of violence and criminality.
• Rap/Grime music should be censored,due to some of the content that is shown in the music videos and the connotations of the lyrics. 
• Regulation should be stricter on the material that is shown to the public.
• Audiences should be protected through harmful material and once material is censored, uncensored material should be gotten rid of, as it is too easy for youths to find uncensored material e.g. the internet

Historical Text Analysis & Research

Tupac Shakur

Background on Tupac

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In the United States alone he has sold 37.5 million records. Rolling Stone Magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time. In addition to his career as a top-selling rap artist, he was a promising actor and a social activist. Most of Shakur's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos, racism, other social problems, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. Shakur began his career as a roadie and backup dancer for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground. In September 1996, Shakur was shot four times in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center, where he died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.

Tupac - Hit Em Up

This text is from the mid-1990's. 


In this music video, you can see that the lyrics are very aggressive and uses medium and long shots to show the whole of his gang. This come together with the repetition of the word 'west-side'. This is similiar to the N-Dubz - Love For My Slum video, in which Dappy was represented as a thug involved in criminality, whereas, in this video, Tupac, is just rapping and swearing aggressively using words such as 'fuck', 'bitches', 'motherfucker' etc. which all, coming together with the lyrics connote violence. In this music video Tupac is just shown jumping around expressing his hatred towards his haters, whereas in the music video N-Dubz - Love For My Slum, Dappy is shown to be expressing his hatred towards the police, by causing trouble for them. So, this connotes that over the years, censorship and regulation has become a big issue and for that reason, it is becoming extremely difficult for artists such as N-Dubz to express their feelings through music, if it causes harm to society e.g. could influence youths to behave in a certain way, which may not be acceptable in today's society. Also, as you can see that in the Tupac video there is a massive amount of swearing however in the N-Dubz music video there is none and if there is any it is censored with a beep. this again raises the issue of censorship, as artists are not able to express themselves as they like to, however, the lyrics in the Tupac video are more explicit, whereas, videos like N-Dubz seem to cause a moral panic in todays society as people believe it has a negative affect on the youths in todays society as if they see it, they will be encouraged to act in that way.  

Textual Analysis

N-Dubz ft B Trouble - Love For My Slum

This is one of the texts that I will be looking at. The music video represents life in the slums, which is where the group N-Dubz originated from and what life was like for them. This text shows 'Dappy' one of the members of the group N-Dubz being involved in a lot of criminal activities, for instance at the beginning of the video, Dappy is shown getting arrested by the police. With someone like Dappy seen getting involved in illegal activites in which the police have to get involved as the lyrics connote that he does not care about the police 'Ive Never Had Love For The Feds'. So, this could mean that he is doing this on purpose. So, by the audience seeing Dappy getting involved in criminal activities, this could create a hypodermic needle affect for the audience, in which they inject in what they see is going on in the media. Especially, young people, who idolise Dappy, will see music videos such as this getting involved with the likes of police and will think it is okay to do so, due to someone like Dappy being able to do it and has yet got so far. Moreover, it is scenes like this in music videos that causes debates in whether music videos should be censored, as the content in the music videos could lead to a bad affect on youths in society today.

Moreover, there are direct close-ups of Dappy, which draws attention to him. This makes him the centre of attention in the video, as everything, he is doing, people will notice. Another scene in which, Dappy is stood outside a block of expensive luxury flats with a "rich kid" who is trying to look like a gangster. Then he grabs the rich kid by his coat, pulls him toward him, and punches him in the face. The silent boy falls instantly to the pavement. This again connotes violence and could be the reason as to why crime rates are rising and relate to grime music, this is due to the type of messages that are given off in grime music videos. Using, this music video as an example, raises the issue of whether music videos such as this, should be censored and regulation should be more strict due to the content that is shown in these videos. Also, this music video raises the issues of moral panics, in which people are becoming concerned about the content that is being exposed to young people, as it could lead to them carrying out these act of criminality that is shown in the videos.