Listeners of rap are more likely to encounter problems with alcohol, drugs and violence than listeners of other genres, according to a new study by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation's (PIRE) Prevention Research Center.
More than 1,000 community college students, age 15-25, participated in the study, titled "Music, Substance Use and Aggression." The students were questioned on their music listening habits, alcohol use, illicit drug use and aggressive behaviors, such as getting into fights and attacking or threatening others.
The results found that rap was consistently a**ociated with alcohol use, potential alcohol use disorder, illicit drug use and aggressive behavior.
The study, published in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, also found that young people who listen to reggae and techno use more alcohol and illicit drugs than listeners of other music, with the exception of rap.
Rap topped all other genres in a**ociation to alcohol and drug use and aggression.
The results, which were not affected by the respondents' gender or ethnicity, should raise eyebrows, said lead author Meng-Jinn Chen, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Center.
"People should be concerned about rap and Hip-Hop being used to market alcoholic beverages, given the alcohol, drug and aggression problems among listeners," Meng-Jinn said. "That's particularly true considering the popularity of rap and Hip-Hop among young people."
Hip-Hop artists have been featured in advertisements for malt liquor and other alcohol products, while urban radio is regularly used for alcohol advertising.
Meng-Jinn added, "While we don't fully understand the relationship between music preferences and behavioral outcomes, our study shows that young people may be influenced by frequent exposure to music lyrics that make positive references to substance abuse and violence."
Researchers emphasize that the survey's results can't determine whether listening to certain genres leads to alcohol or illicit drug use or aggressive behavior.
However, young people with tendencies to use alcohol or illicit drugs or to be aggressive may be drawn to particular music styles.
Recent studies of popular music revealed that nearly half of rap/Hip-Hop songs mentioned alcohol, compared to 10 percent or less of other popular genres.
Nearly two-thirds of rap songs mentioned illicit drugs, compared with one-tenth of songs from other genres. Rap and rock music videos depict violence twice as often as other music genres.
AmericanBrandstand.com, a web site that tracks the number of times products are mentioned in music, reported that Hennessy was the highest ranking alcohol brand in 2005, ranking sixth overall in a list of products mentioned by artists.
The brand was mentioned 44 times, nine more than Cristal, which ranked eighth.
The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which sponsors the PIRE Prevention Research Center, a national nonprofit public health research institut
