People influence Society as Society influences People

I am just a normal everyday working man who has something to say. I went back and forth with myself about blogging for a while now. Based on recent events I decided it was a good way to get things off my chest and hopefully start a healthy debate. Possibly the outcomes from the healthy discussion will be the change of a life or lives. So this is my go at blogging and I want this to be an interactive board and your opinions are welcome and will get a personal response from me. I don’t believe in censorship so say what’s on your mind and how you feel honestly. We are all entitled to our opinions and they will not always agree. Productive banter will lead to a better understanding of each other and to a better society in general. That being said lets get onto my first post…….

Some time ago on our radio show Live in the Vocal Booth with BKS1 radio we discussed gun control or lack of gun control. Due to the tragic circumstances that surrounded the loss of a friend to the show, we felt it necessary to bring this issue to light. During the discussion it seemed as though rap music was brought up by a few different participants. Here is my take on that.

I wouldn’t necessarily blame it on rap music on a whole. I would say it has more to do with the lack of variety in hip hop. Be more creative in your song writing and story telling. Back in the day there was a large variety of rap going on from Public Enemy to Kwame. Now a days everyone just wants to be harder than the next and thinks it’s cool to be the thug/gangster who doesn’t care about the next man. That in their eyes makes them the “man”. What the youth who look up to these artists see is a person who has all they want to have, i.e. cars, house, women. So to them they think this is what they need to do to get to that position. You can try to use the old saying “don’t do as I do, do as I say” but that doesn’t hold water to a young person. To them you did it and you made it so they have no reason to think that they can’t do the same thing. Artists and entertainers really need to take into account that it’s not always what you say but what you portray that is the most influential. They cannot keep running around here and glamorizing the gang life and drug game, when they are multi millionaires and do not live in the same environments that these issues are prevalent anymore. It’s easy to shout and start an uproar and then go “up in the hills” away from the problem.

Now I understand that the point will be brought up that this is what the rappers know from their experience. So this is what they talk about. Yada, Yada, Yada…I am fine with that and believe a person has the right to tell a story based on their personal experiences either from what they have done or seen. My only issue is that both sides of the coin are not being shown. Show the down side and the pitfalls of that life. Let them know and visually show then that if you choose to go this route and be that dude you are more than likely not going to make it out of the life a free man or even alive. Tell them the truth every rapper wasn’t the man on his block and he wasn’t the kingpin. To people that really know the game they know that it doesn’t add up. But to an influential mind they grab a hold and believe every word that comes out of these artists mouth.


I think it’s a reflection on society on a whole, the rise in gun violence. If you look at the movies, music and video games they are all trending towards more blood and gore. Taking all these things into account, I believe it leads to a very indifferent feeling among people and the lack of caring for one another.

The ways to counteract these forces is to have a stronger family core at home. I don’t want to hear that there are single parent households. That should not effect how the parent that’s in the house raising the child. They should still want to raise them with a strong set of moral, family values and respect. The problem comes in when the parent who is raising the children on their own, feels abandoned and neglected to the point of self pity. They have this woe is me attitude and fail to properly raise and supervise their kids. Always feeling like they have that crutch of oh I’m a single parent and it’s hard for me. You may need to just work a little harder, but when it comes to the development of a child is there any other option?, but to work harder. Parents need to grow up and accept the responsibility of being a parent and mentor. Too many want to be kids themselves and do what they want to do. Some parents are way to selfish and that leads to the music, movies, video games and outside influences controlling their kids actions. Now I am not going to say my assessment is 100% accurate in all cases, but I would bet that in a majority of them it’s true. There will be instances where my theory will be completely wrong. But I do believe when children go astray it’s because of lack of attention, love and guidance at home first and foremost.

This leads me to my title for this piece: People influence Society as Society influences People. Before we quickly blame society for the actions of the youth, let us look in the mirror and assess how our actions influence society. Go back to the saying “Each one teach one” and our influences on society will be great and in turn societies influence on the people would be even better. Just some words to ponder…..The_Ghost_BKS1