Hip-Hop's Negative Impact on Kids

As a professional club DJ, dating back to the infamous Studio 54 period, I have seen a number of groups come and go over the years. Many of the groups, like Tavares, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Village People, and The Rolling Stones, are still selling out concerts to this day. Do you know why? It's because the music they made was fun, harmless and it made you feel good. Sadly, the last 20 years has seen a negative shift in music, and some disturbing events have occurred as a result.

Hip-hop music became popular in the mid-to-late 70's because of DJ's like Afrika Bambata, Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. It was because of the enormous popularity of Run DMC that rap had crossed over on the music charts and radio stations all over the world. Do you know why? It's because the music was fun, harmless and it made you feel good, but the 90's would change all of that with the introduction of gangster rap. DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith), UTFO, Curtis Blow and Biz Markie were no longer accepted in the rap game when the national anthem for hip-hop became Onyx's "Throw Ya Guns in the Air". The glorification of the thug, and all it encompassed, became the standard by which all rappers were judged, and many African-American communities, and eventually the suburbs, began to pay a heavy price.