The Sad State of Today's Music: Rap Brings Out the Worst

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- 2006.05.05

Imagine this: You're at work, and everything is already driving you crazy. Then your coworkers decide it's time to break out their boom box and turn on the local rap station.

I'm 18, so those of you who are over 35 might find it hard to believe that I don't enjoy rap music, but in fact I despise it. And in this world we live in, it's impossible to escape rap music.

It's on TV, in commercials, in movies, all over the radio, and even on the Internet. (There are some websites that automatically play rap music when you visit them; try listening to iTunes using your headphones only to have that come on!) People even use rap for their cell phone ring tones.

Enough Is Enough

Were do we draw the line and say enough is enough?

Don't you hate it when you can hear a bass line from a rap song coming from a car six blocks away or drowning out your own car stereo while you're waiting at an intersection?

I have to put up with this all day, every day, because I work at McDonald's. I work the lobby (cleaning tables, sweeping the floor, etc.) at a McDonald's in a Wal-Mart. Working the lobby can be a pain - a lot of people make a giant mess and won't even take their tray and empty its contents into the trash.

This might not sound like a hard job, but try putting up with inconsiderate people, picking up after them, cleaning tables full of crap, and dealing with trash cans filled with rotting food for eight hours straight, and I doubt you would be in a very good mood either.

Anyway, take all of that and then add in the (c)rap music that everyone is listening to today, the fact that their call phones are ringing it, and your coworkers are playing it - it makes for a very bad day at work.

The worst part isn't that I don't like this music, but that there are so many kids listening to it that I can't avoid it.

Rap's Impact on Language

My Mom is a substitute teacher for Denver Public Schools, and she tells me how these kids use every bad word in the book.

I work in a movie theater and in a McDonald's, and I hear kids talking that way, too. Many of them have no respect for adults. Some of them can't finish a sentence without using the F word several times.

Kids hear the rappers use this language, and they think it's okay to use the F word and GD every time they speak. Some of these kids are 12 and 13. It just isn't right!

Did you know that this is the type of music that the US military uses to repel the enemy in Iraq?

Good Music

What kinds of music do I like, you might ask?

Well, just about anything from the 80s (Huey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, The Moody Blues, Deniece Williams, etc.), some 60s and 70s music (Guess Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, etc.), and a few select albums from the 90s (The Barenaked Ladies).

That's the kind of music is the music I like, not today's 50 Cent and Daddy Yankee.

Remember when music used to be good?

For those of you who do enjoy today's music, I would like to point out that I have nothing against you personally. I just don't share your taste in music.

If you like that music, fine, but please don't email me if all you are going to do is flame me. It's not right to flame someone just for sharing their opinion.

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