Music And The Youth by Marshal “Sharky” Muchenje

A young Zimbabwean rapper looks at the impact of music on the youth. He also challenges artists with some ideas.

In a world where new music comes out every day,new videos every week and they are easily accessible because of the internet, one cannot ignore the impact that music has on today’s youth. This is in terms of fashion , lingo and general behaviour .

Every young man and woman has got what they call their favorite artist or role model. Check their iPods and cellphones and that artist’s music is all you see. Now something interesting can be seen here. The said young man or woman’s admiration for the said artist can border on obsession and hero worship and this is fueled by constantly listening to the artist’s music , watching their videos , attending their concerts and even reading up on them in the magazines.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing ?

Music is a way of conveying messages. Now whether or not the obsession that a young person has with a certain artist is good or bad depends on the kind of message the artist conveys in their music. If they are talking about spreading love and respecting your elders, then I guess we can say the young man or woman would be under some really good influence from that. However , if the music is about drug use,alcohol abuse, premarital sex, we can’t deny that that would be a bad thing. What is actually worrying is the fact that today’s music,regardless of genre, is mostly about the bad stuff that corrodes good morals. How many young ladies do we see today walking around half naked because that’s what so and so was wearing in their music video? Women call themselves derogatory terms which the guys call them also because that’s what the music is telling them to do. Maybe that is what’s cool.. Now the young dudes walk around sagging their pants.

So who is to blame if music is influencing the youth badly ?

The onus falls on the artists themselves. When they get into the studio to make a song, there are several things they need to consider. Firstly .. Which audience they are targeting with that song. Secondly are the lyrics in the song appropriate for that audience ? In this case if its targeted at young people then its only right that the message be constructive rather than destructive..
Think about a topic like sex for example.. Some people argue that  “Hey,this is the 21st Century. Kids are sleeping around. Deal with it.” Fine. That may be happening ,but that doesn’t mean nothing can be done about that. Artists can at least make songs about using protection then. Teach the kids  that there are consequences to indulging in premarital or unprotected sex. That’s the artists job. The youth now also have to choose wisely what they listen to because whether we like it or not,music influences us in ways that we cannot understand. And the messages are almost always subliminal.

But its just entertainment.. Right ??

Yes it is. But are we able to draw the line between harmful and harmless entertainment? Young people have malleable minds. It’s only right that we listen to what we know to be harmless..if however we listen to the bad stuff ,are we strong enough to let it stay in just listening?

Keep checking this site for more on music and the youth,music reviews and anything that has anything to do with music.

Please note: The writer of this piece is a JCole fan…. He has a goatee…He was listening to Born Sinner as he wrote this piece…sigh