Jeph Owusu

13 January 2020
G/T Independent Research

Annotated Source List

Beaumont-Thomas, Ben, and Laura Snapes. “Has 10 Years of Spotify Ruined Music?” ​The
Guardian​, Guardian News and Media, 5 Oct. 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/05/10-years-of-spotify-should-we-celebrat
e-or-despair.

The article discusses the pros and cons of a streaming based industry, particularly the
effect of Spotify. The author of the pro argument emphasizes on the newfound convenience of
the average consumer. Besides ads, listeners who utilize an account on Spotify have access to
music from all different eras and genres. The author of the con argument emphasizes the effect
of streaming on artists and the way music listening has changed. Spotify pays a low royalty rate;
this means that either through touring or other sources of revenue, artists must find a way to
make ends meet. The average consumer only listens to certain types and sounds of music, so
artists have to create algorithmic songs that will land them notable positions on streaming charts,
limiting creativity.
This article is a great source for those not aware of the streaming phenomena. It explains
the multiple benefits and issues that surround the Spotify dilemma. However, for those that want
to know what new streaming platforms are being curated, or how Spotify and/or its listeners can
be improved, it would be highly suggested to delve into other sources as well.

Boothby, Suzanne. “How Does Music Affect Your Mood and Emotions.” Healthline, Healthline
Media, 21 Aug. 2017,
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-listening-to-music-lifts-or-reinforces-mo
od-051713#1.

The article explores the various moods and effects of songs. Boothby began by
discussing the effects of listening to "sad" music, observing through a UK/Finland study that it
provides a sense of comfort to most people while creating grief for others. However, regarding
mood, upbeat songs are seen as more helpful compared to melancholy melodies. These
observations​ ​led to further discussion of the therapeutic uses of music. Even one study
mentioned in the article had reported that people who listened to music​ ​they liked before surgery
felt less pain and fear than those who listened to music they didn't like. Creating music has
benefits as well, as people with dementia​ ​have formed orchestra groups to improve their mood
and self confidence.
One thing that stood out about this article was its frequent reference to a variety of
sources: from university articles to scientific journals to excerpts from press conferences to even
videos. This provides a greater number of sources to be able to use for future annotated source
entries, to understand the scientific concepts more clearly, and to further the credibility of this
research's findings. To say that this article was important to the research would be a sheer
understatement.
Brodsky, Warren, et al. “Music Genre Induced Driver Aggression.” ​Music & Science​, vol. 1,
2018, p. 205920431774311., doi:10.1177/2059204317743118.

While the study particularly looks at behavior in a driver’s setting the article does not
take away the fact that driving is not the only reckless behavior and references sexual
promiscuity a couple of times throughout the introduction. No matter what behavior it is,
understanding a genre’s effect on one type of behavior can lead to revelations about another.

Buchwald, Linda. "What Makes a Hit?"​ Scholastic Math​, 02 Sep 2013​. sirsdiscoverer​,
https://explore.proquest.com/sirsdiscoverer/document/2265322702?accountid=3284.

The brief scholastic magazine highlights on the shift to streaming from just an internet
download period not too long ago. Streaming is a more quick and easy process for music
listeners compared to locating loopholes around piracy. This shift has not just changed the way
people listen to music: it also has led to the change of criteria that affects what songs chart the
Top 100. Everything from downloads to radio to streams and even to Youtube views now play a
role in deciding who or what song charts on top. Bauuer’s song “Harlem Shake”, for example,
would never have charted on Billboard in the late 1990s’ CD phenomenon. But due to the
massive amount of viral videos of people doing the infamous dance, it became number one on
the first week of Billboard’s criteria change. The chart provided at the end of the article proves
the intensity of the streaming shift, as songs like Bruno Mar’s “When I Was Your Man” could
have more downloads then Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive”, yet “Radioactive still amassed
more streams.
As brief as the article was, it was important to finally see a big impact of streaming on the
music industry. Billboard is just one important music platform; perhaps even an award show like
the Grammys could choose to change their criteria based on the ongoing streaming era, and
maybe they already have. Nonetheless, this raises a lot of interest on the bigger impacts of the
streaming era and solidifies a strong passion in the topic.
Chen, Meng-Jinn, et al. “Music, Substance Use, and Aggression.” ​Journal of Studies on Alcohol​,
U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2006,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066304/.

This study is unique in that it manages to grasp a broader perspective of the concept of
“young adults”. No longer are subjects just undergraduate students from the age of 18, they are
also high school students from the age of 15 and post graduates from the age of 22.

Chideya, Farai, and Daniel Levitin. “Exploring 'Your Brain on Music'.” ​NPR,​ NPR, 4 Apr. 2007,
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9348246.

Farai Chideya of NPR and the neuropsychologist Daniel Levitin discuss the
intellectualism of the connection between music and psychology. Levitin defines music as an
organized sound rather than a succinct melody, as to broaden the audience’s perspective of what
music is. According to Levitin, as long as the composer intended there to be a composition, then
anything can qualify as music: the whistle of a train, the strike of a hammer, etc. Both Chideya
and Levitin explore more of the artist’s intention through an introduction to music theory, as
Levitin reveals intricate strategies of artists from the likes of Frank Sinatra to Ludacris how a
rhythm can be manipulated to their advantage.
Being an interview with a neuropsychologist, it was interesting to see how well spoken
Levitin was with his answers. He conveyed that he knew a lot about psychology but also
understood that his audience would have varying degrees of knowledge of music theory and
knowledge. This will help expand the research into a musical aspect and a psychological aspect,
in hopes that a greater connection will be found between the two.
Cleage, Pearl. “What Can I Say.” ​Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist
Thought,​ edited by Beverly Guy-Sheftall, The New Press, 1996, pp. 429–432.

In this essay, Pearl Cleage, an African-American feminist playwright, responds to the

outrage from the O.J. Simpson double-murder case of his former spouse Nicole Simpson and her
friend Ronad Goldman. She argues that marching and lobbying to the government will not be
enough to solve the overarching issue of domestic violence, a term she discusses later as being
too soft to describe such events. To Cleage, it is self-defense that is their greatest weapon in the
fight against domestic violence. In fact, she claims that if Nicole had been trained with a gun to
defend her and her family, the O.J Simpson event would have turned out differently. What is
significant about her argument is that she wrote her essay prior to the O.J. murder case ever
being discussed in court. However, she tells her reader that she observed the case as if Nicole
was her daughter, and that is why she had such a response to offer.
While some evidence is left uncited in her essay, she does reference an important quote
by anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells when making her argument about slavery. Given the title
of the anthology as well, it is not a suprise that the essay is written in a pro-feminist manner.
However, it is good for readers who do not have much knowledge about domestic violence or
who take a different perspective to challenge their ideas, and Cleage’s piece does just that. It is a
well written piece that helps to keep the research in check, since people with views like Cleage
will have an interest in the findings.

Cundiff, Gretchen. “The Influence of Rap/Hip-Hop Music: A Mixed-Method Analysis on

Audience Perceptions of Misogynistic Lyrics and the Issue of Domestic Violence.” ​The
Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications,​ vol. 4, no. 1, 2013, pp.
71–93.

This study was unique in that not only did it survey students, but it conducted a rather
well organized qualitative analysis of hip hop songs to determine their levels of misogyny. It is
important to understand how much of a song contains misogynistic or violent references before it
is described as such.
“A Complex Emotion.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, 12 Nov.
2012, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/11/emotion.

The brief article distinguishes between two concepts of emotions: complex and basic
emotions. Basic emotions occur immediately after the event that triggered the emotion occurred,
such as embarrassment. Shame, on the other hand, would be a type of complex emotion that is
thought over and evaluated. However, shame can be birthed from embarrassment, due to a fast
heart rate that becomes slower, but a high blood pressure that is constantly increasing. The body
conditions will make the thought cycle work faster, often with a negative outlook in life. The
article did not explicitly provide ways to regulate emotions, but it did delve into the scientific
origin of natural emotions. Through an experiment on a group of people with dementia, it was
discovered that the smaller the right pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (small in each person
with frontotemporal dementia) the less embarrassed people felt. Amid the science, the article
clearly states embarrassment as a response to social mistakes and shame to deal with moral
mistakes.
The article is brief but the distinction between basic and complex emotions is
fundamental to understanding about the connection between music and psychology. Although
more research needs to be done to confirm this, it can now be inferred that the emotions we feel
as we play a song are basic emotions, as they are just natural reactions to listening to the music,
not given much thought. The introduction of new scientific vocabulary will also require more
through research in the structure of the brain in order to provide a clear and concise funding.

Harvey, Alan. “Your Brain on Music.” ​YouTube,​ TEDx Talks, 27 June 2018,
https://youtu.be/MZFFwy5fwYI.

iIn the video, Mr. Alan Harvey, a neuroscientist and choir singer, provides his audience
with multiple examples and scientific research to put the power of the brain in a new light. He
establishes music as a “universal human skill,” whose evolution can find connections to the
evolution of the mind and of language. Harvey also assists his audience in understanding the
scope of music’s influence on psychology; for example, it activates the part of the brain where
traits of charity are developed.. There is even evidence that conveys a connection to a higher
performance in school, including math.
The video was engaging and informative. He was accompanied by the Perth Symphony
Orchestra that, through their musicianship, demonstrated how the emotions a person experiences
while watching a movie can change based on what music is playing in the background. In the
future, it would be interesting to look more into the ways brain activity is measured, as well as
what other instruments of music besides an orchestra do on a psychological level.
Heid, Markham. “Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?” ​Time​, Time, 24 Jan. 2018,
https://time.com/5115013/song-stuck-in-head-earworm/.

The article attempts to discuss why some songs are more likely to stick in one’s head
compared to others and what that means for music listeners psychologically. Those melodies are
distinguished professionally as earworm songs and are reported by some to be enjoyable and by
others to be bothersome. Heid states that even odd things like posters and haircuts can remind
one of songs not heard of in years. The sounds tend to be fast, upbeat, and maybe contain a sharp
shift that the brain clings onto. Heid makes clear that there is no general consensus as to why
these songs get stuck in heads, but mentions ways that, if necessary, people can rid themselves of
these tunes. This article serves to help the reader be more aware of the melodies they constantly
remember in hopes of providing peace to them.
This article is useful for those interested in the psychological impact of music but have no
where to start. Heid introduces great sources like the ​Psychology of Music ​journal and Elizabeth
Margulis of the University of Arkansas that others could use to further their research. However,
for those who are looking for the answer to the question “Why Do Certain Songs Get Stuck in
Our Heads,” be aware that Heid leaves that open-ended.

“How Hip Hop Music Perpetuates Relationship Violence.” Edited by Katie Hood,
Joinonelove.org​, One Love Foundation, 16 Apr. 2018.

The article highlights the ways in which hip hop can appear to embrace domestic
violence and call it out at the same time. For example, Jay Z in his song “Drunk in Love,
references the abuse of Tina Turner by her ex husband Ike Turner in a playful manner that
received backlash for its perceived insensitivity. As for embracing toxic behavior, people like
crisis management veteran Howard Bragman believe that hip hop artists employ violence in their
lyrics to give their art credibility. The article makes clear, however, that hip hop is not the only
genre of music where toxicity is prevalent, citing “Before He Cheats” by country artist Carrie
Underwood as an example. The article also praises Chance the Rapper, Rebecca Lane,
Macklemore, and others as rappers who have taken a stance against domestic violence through
their lyrics or public campaigns.
The article cites other sources where it got its information throughout the passage. While
these sources are not necessarily from scholarly research organizations, they detail important
stories about how domestic violence plays a part in some artists’ lives. Understanding the artist's
perspective and seeing how their own experiences are a vital inspiration for their lyrics are
interesting and leads the research to be more and interesting. Therefore the research will move in
that direction.
Majerol, Veronica. "How the Web Changed Music Forever."​ New York Times Upfront,​ 11 Mar
2013​. sirsdiscoverer,​
https://explore.proquest.com/sirsdiscoverer/document/2265982901?accountid=3284.

This magazine from the SIRS Discoverer database briefly analyzes three shifts that have
occurred in the music industry within the span of 100 years: CDs to digital music to streaming. It
is important to note that digital music and streaming are not always considered one in the same.
Majerol decides to place the digital era simply next to the Internet era as artists like Justin Bieber
used platforms like YouTube to launch their career forward. She would consider the beginning
of the streaming era to be along the creation of iTunes, as that platform was created in response
to listeners using platforms like Napster to illegally share (“pirate”) music with others. However,
iTunes wanted to attract the listeners that desired for the demonetization of music, so they sold
songs for a small fee of $1.29. Such streaming platforms have not necessarily helped erase the
piracy issue, but commentators like Steve Knopper believe that there will be yet another shift for
musicians to gain back proper salaries.
This was the first source for this research that was acquired out of a database, but it was
very simple and enjoyable to read. SIRS discoverer was able to provide an accurate MLA
citation and seems to have a variety of sources, such as magazines, newspapers, and books.
Using databases like SIRS and more will help keep the annotated source list full of variety, and
help to find more scholarly sources, especially on streaming.

Moore, Lecrae. “Heroes and Villains: Is hip-hop a cancer or a cure?” ​Youtube,​ uploaded by Tedx
Talks, 20 November 2019, https://youtu.be/BFas9cd8ZZ8

In the speech, rapper Lecrae Moore, known by his stage name “Lecrae”, offers the
audience his perspective on hip hop culture in hopes of them making more informed decisions on
how to critique the genre. He recognizes in the beginning that hip hop music tends to be a
frequent proponent of female dehumanization and the reverence of street drugs, but rather than
assigning blame to specific rappers that may have caused such, Lecrae spends most of the speech
providing an engaging history lesson on how hip hop has molded into its perceived current
culture. The main era Lecrae discusses is what is known as the War on Drugs, started by
President Nixon and enforced by President Reagan to combat drug trafficking, especially
trafficking of cocaine. However by 1983, the unemployment rate in urban communities had
reached an all time high of 21%. The only way urban youth could make a living for themselves
and follow the American dream was by capitalizing on the drug trade. Hip hop went from being
a narrative against drugs and for social wellness to a glorification of reckless behavior. At the
end of the speech, however, Lecrae reminds his audience that rappers like Kendrick Lamar and
Lauryn Hill actively combat this change through their lyrics, as well as others through charity.
It was interesting to hear about the stigma of hip hop from someone who had grown up in
the culture itself. He was able to communicate history and his message of inclusion in educated
yet simple terms palpable to most of his audience. It would be interesting to continue to find
more sources that critically analyze the shift of hip hop and couple the information from sources
explicit about domestic violence to find or not find connections.
Niehoff, Ph.D., Debra. ​The Biology of Violence: How Understanding the Brain, Behavior, and
Environment Can Break the Vicious Circle of Aggression​. Free Press, 1999.

The book discusses the topic of violence from a scientific, genetic viewpoint. Over the
course of 343 pages, extensive information is explored, including the timeline of
aggression-related research, structures of the brain that trigger frustrated responses and even how
ideologies like eugenics and racism have formed and linked due to fears of violence. Arguably,
the most important point of the book is made in the beginning, where Dr. Niehoff notes how
little biology is part of the discussion of violence in modern times. For example, in cases like gun
violence, she sees the public debate over what would cause such incidents: some argue the
availability of guns, some argue the negative effects of video games, some even argue a lack of
religion. However, according to Dr. Niehoff, she has not found an argument that fundamentally
explains what it is about the brain that would cause one to take the availability of guns or their
experience of video gaming to an advantage to kill others. In other words, there is yet to be a
clear answer to this question: What is the psychological process that makes one a violent person?
Although having encountered scientific information before, Dr. Niehoff explained her
information in such a way that is understandable and can even be shocking when read. Her over
30-page bibliography only further proves that her book contains timeless and relevant
information to the topic of violence.

Rea, Christopher, et al. “Listening to Classical, Pop, and Metal Music: An Investigation of
Mood.” ​Enporia State Research Studies​, vol. 46, no. 1, 2010.

The scholarly journal describes an experiment designed to discover how listening to

different genres of music can have different impacts on mood. The student research team from
Emporia State University picked fifty-four undergraduate students that took a course or courses
related to psychology. Thirty-seven of them were women, and the age range of the participants
stretched from age eighteen to age thirty. The researchers played ten minutes total of music,
splitting up sections of the time for listening to each of the three genres chosen for the
experiment: classical, pop, and heavy metal music. During and after the experience, participants
were asked to fill out multiple forms and surveys that measured the basic emotions they felt
while listening to different genres of music. All songs had lyrics and no other genres were
chosen than the three listed above. In the end, the study found that classical and pop music
tended to increase feelings of comfort while heavy metal tended to increase feelings of
discomfort.
It is interesting to think about how such findings can be found in things or places the
average person engages with on a day to day basis. It is clearer to see now why Alan Harvey
made the case in his TED Talk that music is what is most important to creating a mood for an
audience to .It is even possible that the reason why medical offices use classical music in their
waiting areas is to alleviate the stress of patients, which can easily be increased by waiting a long
time for appointments. It would be interesting to look more into how different genres are
incorporated into everyday life and why its important that is.

“Research Reveals Pain and Pleasure of Sad Music.” Research Reveals Pain and Pleasure of Sad
Music - Durham University, Durham University, 15 June 2016,
 https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=28329.

The Durham source reflects on the United Kingdom/Finland study that explores the
effects of sad music on ordinary music listeners. Through the study they saw pleasure, comfort,
and pain exemplified while listening to melancholy melodies. In other words, when people listen
to sad music they either enjoy the way that the song sounds, use the song to help them heal over
a loss (death of a loved one, breakup, etc.), or avoid the song because it triggers a painful
memory. However, Durham University made it clear that the effects that sad music has on
people are not determined by age or gender, although younger generations and women tend to
not have positive experiences. More likely, they claim, musical interest and expertise would
amplify such feelings.
The article was just one of the many sources obtained through the source of Annotated
Source Entry #5. More Annotated Source Entries will be coming from that source in hopes of
building a strong foundation for the research to stand on. As for the source individually,​ ​it
assisted in categorizing the effects of listening to sad music which could perhaps be used when
considering more than just the sad music genre. But more research would have to be done to
confirm such a claim.

Smith, Patricia. "Fashion Police?"​ New York Times Upfront​, 12 Dec 2011​. sirs discoverer,​
https://explore.proquest.com/sirsdiscoverer/document/2265989903?accountid=3284.

The scholarly article discusses a law passed in both Florida and Georgia that bans
students from “sagging” their pants, or letting their pants stay loose without a belt, often
revealing undergarments. Even small towns in Alabama and Chicago, as well as Florida and
Georgia, have passed bans banning individuals from sagging their pants anywhere, and Fort
Worth, Texas school buses must refuse to pick up any child who wears their pants loose.
Important voices like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , Gary Siplin (Florida state
senator), and the Arkansas Education Association have debated back and forth on this issue. But
while this is not the first of many dress code policies, the author, Edmond Newton, decides to
focus on the end of the article discussing the connection to hip hop culture. He claims that hip
hop culture sees sagging pants as a sense of delinquency, since baggy clothes were worn in jail,
and also of authority.
The article does mention specific quotes from the voices behind the discussion of dress
code in education, it doesn’t give any evidence that supports its claims that people sag their pants
as a form of delinquency or authority, suggesting that those statements were more likely
generalizations than close analysis. Seeing how people outside of hip hop culture are still very
interesting, and this article encourages for more generalizations to be found and how to
prove/disprove them.

Stubbs, Jared K. “The Effects of Rap Music on the Reckless Behavior of College Students.”
​Semantic Scholar,​ 7 June 2004,
 https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3ad5/9f266f38622d91af8a0cd9362b4db4babbc9.pdf.

In a Florida Graduate thesis, Jared K. Stubbs describes an experiment designed to

discover whether there was a connection between preferences in music choice and frequency of
one’s reckless behavior. The article first gave an extensive background on the history of hip hop:
in short, rap was born out of the disco era in the 1970s and was utilized by adolescents and adults
alike to communicate the suffering and pain they felt living in the slums and ghettos of boroughs
like the Bronx. As for the study in particular, Knobbs was inspired by a similar experiment done
in 1992 by Jeffrey Arnett. Arnett used a survey that asked a multitude of music consumers how
frequently they committed specific acts of reckless behavior, such as driving over the speed
limit, having sex without contraception, Stubbs used a similar survey, except he included rap as
one of the genres to be considered. He specifically looked at rap versus rock music listeners and
split up the balance so there would be 50 per specific group. For example, for rock music
listeners, he had 50 Caucasian males, 50 Caucasian females, 50 African males, and 50 females,
and this was the same breakdown for rap listeners as well. The results of Stubbs survey conveyed
that those who preferred rap music were more likely to have reckless behavior, but that was only
for five out of the ten question surveys.
One thing to note is that although he had perfect balance of subjects, he only looked at
Caucasians versus African Americans. This is also a 2004 survey, so it is slightly outdated. A
future study should be done or should be found to statistically prove the relationship would be
the same across all races.

Sturm, Virginia E., et al. “Role of Right Pregenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Self-Conscious
Emotional Reactivity.” ​Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience​, vol. 8, no. 4, 2012,
pp. 468–474. ​National Center for Biotechnology Information​, doi:10.1093/scan/nss023.

The scholarly article describes an experiment designed to discover how the right
pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (rPACC) of the brain affects humans’ self conscious
emotional action. Self conscious, or complex, emotions are based solely on the person
experiencing them and their actions. The rPACC was specifically chosen because the two types
of subjects chosen for the experiments were healthy and those with the behavioral type of
dementia. The researchers had the subjects watch a sad two minute clip from the movie ​Champ​,
and their reactions to the clip were used to measure non-complex emotions. Then, to measure the
self conscious emotion of embarrassment, all subjects were to record a video of themselves
singing and researchers measured their reactions to watching their videos. The findings showed
that those with smaller rPACCs (those with dementia) were not as embarrassed to watch them
sing as healthy subjects with larger rPACCs.
This source serves as the first official experiment for this research project. Although the
text contained scientific terms and jargon that was hard to comprehend, the more variety of
sources acquired, the better well rounded the project that will be produced in the end. This
source comes from a college psychology department with more than 30 studies cited in the
journal, so the accuracy of the paper should prove itself. Again, more types of sources will be
used in the future.

Sule, Akeem. “A Hip Hop State of Mind.” ​The Lancet​, vol. 1, 11 Nov. 2014,
 https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2215-0366(14)00063-7.

The scholarly article analyzes how hip hop music can have a positive impact on
psychology. A simple glance into the War on Drugs will highlight how cocaine, crime,
segregation, and poverty contributed to the neglect of such communities as in the South Bronx in
New York, South Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, or South Side, Chicago in Illinois. Hip hop has
served as a form of self expression, of encouragement, and of empowerment for communities
affected by the policies of the war. Due to J.W Pierce’s study that explored how music therapy
has a better effect on people than psychoeducation, hip hop has found its way into the medical
and public health industries. Let’s Move is one such campaign, which is focused on ending
childhood obesity in America and is supported by former First Lady Michelle Obama. HIP HOP
PSYCH is another, sparking dialogue about mental health in the nightclub as much as in the
lecture hall.
This source was backed by multiple resources and therefore challenged the current
hypothesis. The article looked at how hip hop spoke messages of empowerment but one could
easily focus on the sexually immature lyrics of hip hop as well. Looking at more sources
considering both sides will most likely help unravel this mystery.

“TEDWomen.” TEDWomen. 4 Dec. 2019, San Francisco, Our Story of Rape and Reconciliation.

The videotaped speech recounts a graphic chronology of a high school rape and its
consequences on both parties. Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger, the speakers, were romantically
involved during their senior year of high school in Iceland. Tom was an exchange student from
Australia and met Thordis while auditioning for a school play. They went to their school’s
Christmas dance together, where Thordis decided to try rum for the first time. Her senses
deteriorated, Tom took her home, only to rape her while he was also drunk. They broke up soon
after and Thordis was left mortified for over nine years, before she decided in a cafe to begin
writing letters to Tom. She emphasized that she wanted to forgive him, not because he deserved
it but because she wanted peace. Before long, the two wrote to each other frequently and after
seven years, they finally began to speak face-to-face. Through their conversations they both
found healing, and wanted to be able to tell their stories from both sides. They hoped to make
known that domestic violence was both a male and female issue, and that not everyone around
the world has the privilege to confess about their experiences, making their voices matter that
much more.
This was not an easy video to watch, considering how much tension and emotional
weight tied to the narrative of the speech. But it is important for the research to be able to
understand both sides of domestic violence cases, in hopes that when findings are gathered, they
assist both parties. The research will now move into the scientific, analytical aspect of the
correlation between hip hop and domestic violence, in hopes that through interviews and other
methods, a final claim can be made.
Tropeano, Eliana. “Does Rap or Rock Music Provoke Violent Behavior?” ​Journal of
Undergraduate Psychological Research​, vol. 1, 2006, pp. 31–34.

This not only examines the effect of audibly listening to music, it also looks at the impact
to which visually seeing violent songs come to life through a music video can impact its
consumers.

Zimmerman, Amy. “How Hip-Hop Rewards Rappers for Abusing Women.” ​The Daily Beast​,
The Daily Beast Company, 9 Sept. 2017,
https://www.thedailybeast.com/xxxtentacion-kodak-black-and-how-hip-hop-rewards-rap
pers-for-abusing-women?ref=scroll.

The article discusses the way in which hip hop often embraces a toxic culture of behavior
in artists’ personal lives. Many examples were cited, but the most prevalent and most
emotionally horrific was the testimony of the late rapper XXXTentacion’s ex girlfriend, who was
not named in the article or testimony. Her testimony recounts months of brutal beatings, screams,
and tears that all occurred within the duration of their relationship. One example occurred when
she met Jahseh Onfroy, X, online and moved in with him two weeks later. Shortly after they
moved, she complimented a male friend of his for their jewelry, prompting Onfroy to break her
phone, slap her, and almost sexually abuse her with household items. This, among many other
events, caused Onfroy in 2016 to be charged with battery, false imprisonment, and tampering
with witnesses. Situations like X’s prompt Zimmerman, the author of the article, to believe that
the hip hop community as a whole should be held accountable for seeming to celebrate behaviors
that lead people to violence.
The article was written with a biased purpose, but nonetheless was very detailed. It would
be interesting to look more into Onfroy’s later charges and how that affected or did not affect his
audience listening to him.