Date of Award

2-22-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Mass Communication

First Advisor

Kwasi Boateng

Second Advisor

Tim Edwards

Abstract

Socially and academically, rap music has been linked to more negative symbolism than positive. This study examined sexual, violent, and prosocial text embedded in rap lyrics and videos, using semiology in the form of connotation and denotation. This study is a textual analysis of twenty-six of the most popular, chart-topping rap music videos from 1995 to 2015. It involved conducting four levels of analysis to code the music videos to determine the presence of sex, violence, and prosocial text. Prosocial text was found to be the most disseminated theme in the rap lyrics and music videos studied. Violence was second. A considerable amount of violent references aimed to emphasize violence committed by law enforcement and political struggles such as protests. The use of sexual themes were consistent among male rap artists from 1995 to 2015, but increased among female rap artists, particularly black females.

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