IS YOUTH MUSIC DETRIMENTAL?

WHAT keeps you going when your dreams soil into dust of the earth? What filters light through the curtains of dark clouds when the sun is masked in your life?

What has always been constantly there for you in happiness and sadness? Music has always been the heart of our society. We chorus our agonies, we rejoice in song and the dearly departed are accompanied with song to the parley gates of heaven. In short, music has always been part of our lives.

However, there are certain genres that have been deemed detrimental to human beings, specifically youth music. Are they really as bad as they deem them to be? One must understand the power music possesses; music can either negatively or positively influence people.

Artists have a huge responsibility as they have the power to build or destroy our society, with their lyrics as weaponry. In the 1990s the US Government proposed to ban Tupac’s music after some youth appeared in a court of law for shooting another man. The detained youth had claimed that they were inspired by Tupac’s thuggery glamorisation. This is the same Tupac whose dear Mama song pumps through the speakers every year on Mother’s Day and make the whole globe appreciate their mothers.

Judge

The society we live in tends to judge us by the music we feed our souls with. Unfortunately, music is not exceptional in the panel of the society’s judges. One is judged by the music he or she listens to. The Maskandi and Mbhacanga are deemed as uneducated, Reggae people are known to be herb users and hip hoppers are nothing but drug users, misogynists who have no respect for women. But is this really true?

Reggae gave us one of the greatest artists, Lucky Dube, who was not a herb user, his music was about the welfare of people. His music was socially conscious and it evaporated the mist in our eyes and broadened our scope. So whenever one asks you if you smoke weed because you listen to Reggae, ask that person if he or she ever heard Peter Tosh’s equal Rights and Justice.

Hip Hop is one genre that is globally known for violence and sexuality; true, especially the one being promoted by radio and TV. I never understand why these choose to play detrimental music when there is so much positive hip hop one can get life lessons from. It was hip hop that said ‘no matter how dark the night may be, there is always a brighter day after’. The not so bad music I am talking about never calls women names, the music I am talking about addresses women as queens.

The music is our window into the world; it keeps us abreast about real issues, from politics to religion. It says ‘self love is the first romance’.

Through the demeaned music, we hear the voices of the fathers we never had, the music you call rubbish parented us into the incredible beings we are today. It instils respect for every human being regardless of skin colour or nationality. While our parents heard violence in Zola 7’s music, I heard ‘Ntombazane ubuhle bakho isikhali sakho, ungisize ungazigwazi ngowakho’. Truth be told, there are certain issues parents shy away from when engaging their children. This music bridges the gap between the child and parent. It is the same music that rainbows our storming eyes.

Therefore, before you judge and discard your child’s music, sit him or her down and have a dialogue why he or she listens to that music. You will be surprised to discover that the music you have always thought was rubbish, wombs wisdom that helps you parent your child.

You may discover that you actually co-parent with the music you label nonsense. Knowing the music your child listens to could also be an entry into your child’s inner world. Music usually reflects our aspirations.

The music could help you discover your child’s fantasies, build communication lines and thus grow as a family. For feedback and comment mrmncedi12@gmail.com

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: