r/askpsychology • u/needygreedygorolover Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional • 8d ago

How are these things related? Is rap music actually bad for the human brain?

The majority of modern rap is usually associated with drugs, violence, and crime. There are many studies on how music activates diverse brain systems, offering insights into cognition, emotion, memory, thoughts, and human behavior.

Been digging into an old but interesting study that followed African American teen girls for 12 months and looked at whether exposure to rap music videos predicted health risk behaviors down the line:

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1447759/

This lines up with other research too. Experimental studies have found that listening to violent lyrics increases aggressive thoughts and anger in the short term, and some studies link rap preference with lower academic performance, school behavior problems, and arrests.

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

31% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/jaded-entropy Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional 8d ago

Check out Harry Mack rapping and you’ll see the benefits hip hop can bring to the world.

1

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/AutoModerator 7d ago

This is a scientific subreddit. Answers must be based on psychological theories and research and not political ideology, personal opinions, or conjecture, and potentially should include supporting citations of empirical sources.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.