“Is Hip Hop really the catalyst for the low qualifications, high teen pregnancy, psychological and spiritual issues and the emerging ASBO culture of our youth today? Or is Hip Hop and excuse politicians and pre ASBO generations use to avoid facing accusations of bad parenting, poor education systems, neglected mental and health problems by the government and the possibility of the glamorisation of other media forms passed on throughout the years that really contributes to youth crime?”
These were the questions asked at the beginning of the series and after scrutinizing facts and opinions given by your fantastic responses, the verdict would be… ‘Not really!’
There is barely a correlation between Hip Hop culture and youth crime but rather, a correlation between capitalism and youth crime, as can be seen from the corporate world’s emphasis on the gangster fairy tale and the glorification of sexuality and misogyny by way of modern media and technology.
You may be wondering why I said ‘not really’ instead of ‘no’: As we’ve seen over these series of articles and the comments sent in, there will always be arguments for and against the culture being a help or a hindrance to our British youths. Much of it probably boils down to Hip Hops reflection on the problems and lack of solutions combined with the fore mentioned commercialisation.
Of course, Hip Hop’s strongest element is the music and perhaps with more positive emcees like Bashy (look him up if you don’t know) the true meaning of Hip Hop will be re ignited which will have a domino effect on improving the lives of our young Britons for the better.
Moreover, higher powers like David Cameron are the culprits to blame for their lack of support over youths, (which has been evident since the days of Thatcherism). Lack of support in schools, failure to appreciate the importance of child development and the strength of ‘Subliminal Max Messaging’, all contribute to the youths present state and hopefully these factors will be taken more seriously and solutions will emerge from the endless discussions of the state of our young Britain and proper action will be taken to improve our way of life.
TV Presenter and Global Hip Hop Commentator, Jahnell Pitts once said: “… Hip Hop does, to a certain extent, represent a small amount of our youth…I think it represents the first signs of where that youth is heading.”
But where exactly are we heading? We’ve seen the gun and knife campaigns, we’ve seen our country collapse under the financial pressures and as we know poverty breeds crime, which breeds a need for expression, which breeds the likes of Hip Hop…which breeds commercialisation, which breeds money which breeds a get out clause for financial collapse which breeds capitalism which breeds the likes of gun and knife campaigns which was inspired by poverty and other social and political issues and so on and so fourth.
In short, I guess we’ll have to decipher what came first; the chicken or the egg? The music or the melancholy? The culture or the crime? Are youths violent because they listen to Hip Hop or is Hip Hop violent because of those who listen and perform?
Jahnell could not have answered this question better when he said: “Hip hop will always by a voice of the people, but never a dictator, nor a follower. It exists in the realms of hyper reality and entertainment and can only tenuously be linked with people's true actions, thoughts and intentions...like many of the arts.”
I thank you for joining me on this journey and making it an exciting one with your responses. In many respects, the end of this series is the beginning of a Brit Hop revolution and perhaps through what we’ve all learned, we can appreciate the art of freedom, expression and harmony and use it for good just as the intention was with Hip Hop.
Stay blessed,
Nadia Gasper.

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