Hip-Hop Today

In Brent Staples’ How Hip-Hop Music Lost Its way and betrayed Its Fans, he discuses why he believes that hip-hop/rap music is negatively affecting society. Staples’ main goal with this article was to prove that the rappers of today are not only negatively impacting the music and industry itself, but also the fans. He goes about proving this by making a few main points. The first point that he makes is that this problem initially started in the 1990’s and shows through example that even deaths has not helped to stop the industry from continuing to benefit from violent and poisonous things. He goes on to prove his point by referencing the more recent rapper, 50 cent, and the controversy and tension that has risen in the industry because of him. He also references artists such as Jimmy Iovine and Dr.Dre. Through these different examples, I believe Staples was really able to achieve his main goal. He made claims and was able to back them up with facts and current news. In addition, all of the examples that were given were of major recording artists and legends in the industry. This was a good stylistic choice on his part because although most people who chose to read it will be rap fans themselves, other readers of The New York Times may not be familiar with lesser known artists. This helped with the audience awareness and credibility of the article itself. Each example that he gave were good illustrations of the artists wide, and for the most part negative, influences. They helped to lead up to his final conclusion. Overall, I believe Staples did a good job of making his claim and going on to prove it, thus achieving the overall goal of the article.