Richard O. Jones

Since the popularity of gangsta rap and hip-hop in the mid-1970s impressionable young Black males between 16 and 22 years old have dropped out of school and earned criminal records at the highest rate in African American history. We've all seen the dismal statistics. A contributing factor in those statistics is the lure of becoming a rapper. Hundreds if not thousands of high school and college dropouts and ex-gang members have become popular rap artists, which is a negative influence on hundreds of thousands of young Black and Latino males. Although hip-hop executives defensively state that most of the music is purchased by races others than African Americans and Latino; however, they fail to state that the White and Asian males are not dropping out of high school, college, and becoming a thugs in pursuit of a hip-hop career.

It is common knowledge in the hip-hop industry that artists who cannot boast that they came from a hard life, which includes gangs, crime, drugs, and violence, has little chance of being signed to a record deal. Hip-hop singer Kanye West experienced this difficult in getting a contract because he has a year or two of college and no criminal record. Below is an extremely limited list of well-known hip-hop rappers and executives. Notice the similarly in their profiles:

• Russell Simmons, 50, ex-marijuana dealer, Chairman of Hip-Hip Summit Action Network - college dropout
• Ice-T, 49, ex-gang member, ex-pimp - no college
• Suge Knight, 42, ex-gang member, prison record, CEO/Death Row Records - no college
• Jay-z, 37, ex-drug dealer, CEO/Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records - high school dropout
• P. Diddy, 37, numerous arrest, gang ties - CEO/Bad Boy Records - college dropout
• Nate Dogg, 37, high school dropout, weapons and drug arrest
• Snoop Dogg, 35, ex-gang member, convicted drug dealer - no college
• 50 cent, 31, ex-gang member, ex-drug dealer, high school dropout - shot 9 times
• Ja Rule, 31, high school dropout, drug arrest
• Cam'ron, 31, arrested on weapons charges, college dropout, shot 3 times
• The Game, 28, ex-drug dealer & gang member, kicked out of college - shot 5 times
• Young Buck, 26, high school dropout, ex-drug dealer, assault with deadly weapon arrest

There are rappers without criminal records and/or thug reputations such as Nelly, Kanye West, and Ludacris; however each of those three are also college dropouts and neither shy away from a chance to disgrace Black women in the lyrics. The commercial success of all the aforementioned artists lures millions of wanna-bees. The bottom line is such career aspirations contribute to the under representation of Black males with college degrees and over representation of Black males in prisons and graveyards.

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it