Author Topic: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse  (Read 816 times)

Mr. Humonculous

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New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
By Chris Richburg

Listeners of rap are more likely to encounter problems with alcohol, drugs and violence than listeners of other genres, according to a new study by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation's (PIRE) Prevention Research Center.
More than 1,000 community college students, age 15-25, participated in the study, titled "Music, Substance Use and Aggression." The students were questioned on their music listening habits, alcohol use, illicit drug use and aggressive behaviors, such as getting into fights and attacking or threatening others.

The results found that rap was consistently associated with alcohol use, potential alcohol use disorder, illicit drug use and aggressive behavior.

The study, published in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, also found that young people who listen to reggae and techno use more alcohol and illicit drugs than listeners of other music, with the exception of rap.


Rap topped all other genres in association to alcohol and drug use and aggression.

The results, which were not affected by the respondents' gender or ethnicity, should raise eyebrows, said lead author Meng-Jinn Chen, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Center.

"People should be concerned about rap and Hip-Hop being used to market alcoholic beverages, given the alcohol, drug and aggression problems among listeners," Meng-Jinn said. "That's particularly true considering the popularity of rap and Hip-Hop among young people."

Hip-Hop artists have been featured in advertisements for malt liquor and other alcohol products, while urban radio is regularly used for alcohol advertising.

Meng-Jinn added, "While we don't fully understand the relationship between music preferences and behavioral outcomes, our study shows that young people may be influenced by frequent exposure to music lyrics that make positive references to substance abuse and violence."

Researchers emphasize that the survey's results can't determine whether listening to certain genres leads to alcohol or illicit drug use or aggressive behavior.

However, young people with tendencies to use alcohol or illicit drugs or to be aggressive may be drawn to particular music styles.

Recent studies of popular music revealed that nearly half of rap/Hip-Hop songs mentioned alcohol, compared to 10 percent or less of other popular genres.

Nearly two-thirds of rap songs mentioned illicit drugs, compared with one-tenth of songs from other genres. Rap and rock music videos depict violence twice as often as other music genres.

AmericanBrandstand.com, a web site that tracks the number of times products are mentioned in music, reported that Hennessy was the highest ranking alcohol brand in 2005, ranking sixth overall in a list of products mentioned by artists.

The brand was mentioned 44 times, nine more than Cristal, which ranked eighth.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which sponsors the PIRE Prevention Research Center, a national nonprofit public health research institute.

http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=5577
 

QuietTruth

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2006, 10:46:39 AM »
Listeners of rap are more likely to encounter problems with alcohol, drugs and violence than listeners of other genres

Bull shit!!!!!

Tell me how many rock n roll artists died of suicide (becuz of liquir and drugs), overdose, depression. Compare them numbers to Rap artists! Thats BULL SHIT.

They don't tell to go out and do drugs!
 

Eihtball

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2006, 10:49:46 AM »
Listeners of rap are more likely to encounter problems with alcohol, drugs and violence than listeners of other genres

Bull shit!!!!!

Tell me how many rock n roll artists died of suicide (becuz of liquir and drugs), overdose, depression. Compare them numbers to Rap artists! Thats BULL SHIT.

They don't tell to go out and do drugs!

Yeah, but that's more in the past than now.  This study is misleading in that sense...I think it's clear that NOW, there are probably more rap listeners getting high than rock listeners, because a lot more kids listen to rap these days than rock.

Is there a difference in drug references?  Not sure, but I most def remember more cats getting into sherm after "The Chronic" came out.  And also, since I live in the South, I've noticed a lotta people getting fucked up on cough syrup ever since DJ Screw and Three-6 Mafia made that shit popular.  Hip-hop definitely has the ability to encourage shit like that and make it more widespread.
 

CRAFTY

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2006, 10:56:13 AM »
Tell me how many rock n roll artists died of suicide (becuz of liquir and drugs), overdose, depression. Compare them numbers to Rap artists! Thats BULL SHIT.

Hmmmm...well, not exactly. Rock & Roll artists indeed took (and some still take) a lot of drugs back in the '70s & '80s, but they didn't really talk about it in their lyrics (well, some did of course, but definitely not as explicit and as much as rappers do).

Anyway, thanks a lot for posting this article. I might use this for my thesis on the Evolution of Hip-Hop culture 8)
« Last Edit: April 17, 2006, 10:59:05 AM by CRAFTY »
 

Throwback

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2006, 10:58:18 AM »
Tell me how many rock n roll artists died of suicide (becuz of liquir and drugs), overdose, depression. Compare them numbers to Rap artists! Thats BULL SHIT.

Hmmmm...well, not exactly. Rock & Roll artists indeed took (and some still take) a lot of drugs back in the '70s & '80s, but they didn't really talk about it in their lyrics (well, some did of course, but definitely not as explicit and as much as rappers do).

Anyway, thanks a lot for posting this article. I might use this for my thesis on the Evolution of Hip-Hop culture 8)
 

QuietTruth

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2006, 11:00:51 AM »
Actions speak louder than words
 

CRAFTY

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2006, 11:07:03 AM »
And your point is...?
 

QuietTruth

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2006, 11:08:59 AM »
These rockers is going out and doing it.....Half of these rappers (say so themselves) don't go out and actually abuse what they are sayin in they records
 

CRAFTY

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2006, 11:12:35 AM »
Don't generalize. There are also rock artists who claim to get drunk every evening after a concert but who in reality go to their hotel room to get a good night sleep.
 

QuietTruth

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2006, 11:15:52 AM »
Don't generalize. There are also rock artists who claim to get drunk every evening after a concert but who in reality go to their hotel room to get a good night sleep.

Just like many rap artist.
 

Eihtball

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2006, 11:21:52 AM »
These rockers is going out and doing it.....Half of these rappers (say so themselves) don't go out and actually abuse what they are sayin in they records

Like Crafty said, you would need to determine exact percentages, and I don't think you have.

And many rappers DO in fact use marijuana.  Getting loc'd on chronic, sherm, bud, buddah, etc. was pretty much a hallmark of the G-Funk era in the early- to mid-90s', and to this day, marijuana remains popular amongst a lotta rappers.  How often do you see Snoop with a rolled blunt in his hand in real life?
 

QuietTruth

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2006, 11:38:46 AM »
Tryed to find percentages. And I couldn't so I guess I lose. But I still don't think rap artists are the full cause of substance abuse.  >:(  >:(
 

Diabolical

Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2006, 12:00:50 PM »
It didn't say it was the full cause, only that Rap fans are more prone to it.


 

QuietTruth

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2006, 12:05:40 PM »
 :rant:
 

Eihtball

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Re: New Study Says Listeners Of Rap Music More Prone To Substance Abuse
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2006, 12:08:53 PM »
Saying entertainers are the "cause" of anything is always an incorrect statement...everyone knows there were gangs, violence, misogyny, hustling, and substance abuse long before N.W.A. or Ice-T.  But the fact is, gangsta rap has done more harm than good, and those things are certainly more prevalent because of it.