iggaz and crab stunts.” Nas did not know anything else, with fame came lyrics that address this knew experience and violence takes a back seat because he reports what he experiences now. With more positive experiences the more positive is the message in his lyrics. Nas went on in his third album to write lyrics that drastically differ from his earlier years. “Still some how I believe we’ll always survive, no matter what my people just stay alive.”RESULTS :20 songs by two artists were analyzed for the violent themes in earlier songs and the difference in their later work. Five old songs and five new songs were taken from Jay-Z and five old songs and five new songs were taken from Nas. OLD SONGSNEW SONGS10 out of 102 out 10VIOLENT100%20%NONVIOLENT0 out of 108 out of 1080%What the results show was that the ten selected songs from Jay-Z and Nas from their first albums all had violent content. What the study shows is that the 10 songs from these artists, which are most recent, only have violent content of 20%. This argues my suggestion that violence occurs in lyrics because that is all they know and with success and more positive experiences, they lyrics will follow that pattern.CONCLUSION:What this study argues is that when someone is surrounded with violence and that is all they know, then that is all they have to write about. As they gain knowledge of more things the more room there is for diversity in their lyrics. Rap is not a collection of immaterial tales of violence, but is more a graphic depiction of reality in the urban streets of this subculture. The music portrays real life and what is real to its fans. When taking out of that environment and given more positive experiences, than the lyrics will take a more positive turn. Instead of criticizing the content of rap lyrics, we should study them because they are a primary source to what really occurs in this subculture.DISCOGROPHY:Nas, 1994, “N.Y State o...
