Modern Day Influences
Wiz Khalifa is quite famous for his rapping. He is also famous for his heavy drug use. Many people claim his music career is hurting because he uses too many substances and too often. Khalifa is stoned all of the time and he has been making terrible moves that have ended with him going to jail. He takes it all lightheartedly by taking jail selfies.
But is the fact that he is getting high most of the time influencing his listeners? A study done between October and December of 2014 at Rutland High School in Rutland, Vermont proves he is. When asked who their favorite artist is, Khalifa received the highest number of votes for all rappers. Of the seven kids who took the survey and said he is their favorite musician, only one said they do not do drugs, one kid did not specify as to what substances they use, but admitted to either doing drugs or drinking, possibly both, one teen said he or she smokes pot and four admitted to both drinking and doing drugs such as pot, dabs, mushrooms and LSD. When Khalifa raps about getting high he is indeed impacting the lives of his listeners.
But is the fact that he is getting high most of the time influencing his listeners? A study done between October and December of 2014 at Rutland High School in Rutland, Vermont proves he is. When asked who their favorite artist is, Khalifa received the highest number of votes for all rappers. Of the seven kids who took the survey and said he is their favorite musician, only one said they do not do drugs, one kid did not specify as to what substances they use, but admitted to either doing drugs or drinking, possibly both, one teen said he or she smokes pot and four admitted to both drinking and doing drugs such as pot, dabs, mushrooms and LSD. When Khalifa raps about getting high he is indeed impacting the lives of his listeners.
Above is a picture of Taylor Swift. Swift received the largest percentage of votes with 12% of the students here at Rutland saying she is their favorite artist. Of those 25 teens, 12% did not specify but admitted to
drinking and or doing drugs, 20% say they do pot, coke or ecstasy and drink, 8%
say they only drink and a whopping 60% say they do not use any substances.
Taylor Swift has been reported saying she is addicted to relationships, but she is not tempted by substances. According to my surveys, by Taylor saying no to drinking and doing drugs, she is influencing a good portion of her listeners and major fans.
Taylor’s music is mainly about love and relationships with other people. It is a rare occasion that a substance is ever mentioned. In one of her songs, “Mean,” she mentions a bar, and a person being washed up and drunk, but it is not herself that she is referring to. Here she is picturing one of her critics who is a no-good, cruel man with no future ahead of him. He has to put her down to make himself feel better about his life and career.
On her latest album she has a song called clean. You may jump to the conclusion that she is singing about how she used to be an alcoholic, but after a stay in rehab she is finally sober. That’s not the truth. This entire song is about how she is finally out of a relationship that wasn’t right. She has been ten months sober of his poisonous ways in her life and now that she is essentially clean of him, even though it may be tempting, there is no way she can go back.
Regardless, people are influenced by celebrities on a daily basis, whether they know it or not.
Taylor Swift has been reported saying she is addicted to relationships, but she is not tempted by substances. According to my surveys, by Taylor saying no to drinking and doing drugs, she is influencing a good portion of her listeners and major fans.
Taylor’s music is mainly about love and relationships with other people. It is a rare occasion that a substance is ever mentioned. In one of her songs, “Mean,” she mentions a bar, and a person being washed up and drunk, but it is not herself that she is referring to. Here she is picturing one of her critics who is a no-good, cruel man with no future ahead of him. He has to put her down to make himself feel better about his life and career.
On her latest album she has a song called clean. You may jump to the conclusion that she is singing about how she used to be an alcoholic, but after a stay in rehab she is finally sober. That’s not the truth. This entire song is about how she is finally out of a relationship that wasn’t right. She has been ten months sober of his poisonous ways in her life and now that she is essentially clean of him, even though it may be tempting, there is no way she can go back.
Regardless, people are influenced by celebrities on a daily basis, whether they know it or not.
Rihanna is a very opinionated woman, so she has no problem speaking out on this issue of how influential celebrities are.
In her video for “Man Down,” Rihanna is seen shooting an unarmed man. You later find out it was in retaliation for a previous sexual assault. The Parents Television Council said she had “a golden opportunity” to teach girls how to seek help instead of revenge in such a situation. Rihanna, a victim of domestic violence does not condone murder. She has said that she doesn’t dream of killing or seeking revenge on her abuser every morning when she wakes. She claims the rape was added to make the video’s message stronger and hit closer to home. Sexual assault is a serious matter that many people do not want to address, but adding that to the story line it took the image of a cold-blooded killer away from Rhianna, but struck up a lot of controversy.
Rihanna said, "I just really want girls to be careful. Have fun, be sassy, be innocent, be sweet, be everything that you are. But just try not to be naive. That's not coming from a parent but from a peer." She believes it is her job to bring forth these awkward or embarrassing subjects. It gets people talking and is a great conversation opener for mothers to talk to their daughters or for girls to ask trusted adults questions about heavy matters. In this past example Rihanna is trying to teach girls to have fun, be sassy, innocent, sweet, just NOT naïve.
Rihanna also said, "U can't hide your kids from society, or they'll never learn how to adapt! This is the REAL WORLD!... The music industry isn't exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! It's your job to make sure they don't turn out like US." She knows celebrities are not perfect, she herself has used drugs. But for her to be able to do her job, parents need to make sure their children are abiding by their own family’s rules and morals while enjoying the music which is created freely by artists all over the world. These issues are all around us every day, celebrities have influenced our actions for countless years.
Now it’s time to look at your life and think, why do I do the things that I do? Is it because I want to? Or is it because I see everyone else doing them and just assume I should be doing them too…?
In her video for “Man Down,” Rihanna is seen shooting an unarmed man. You later find out it was in retaliation for a previous sexual assault. The Parents Television Council said she had “a golden opportunity” to teach girls how to seek help instead of revenge in such a situation. Rihanna, a victim of domestic violence does not condone murder. She has said that she doesn’t dream of killing or seeking revenge on her abuser every morning when she wakes. She claims the rape was added to make the video’s message stronger and hit closer to home. Sexual assault is a serious matter that many people do not want to address, but adding that to the story line it took the image of a cold-blooded killer away from Rhianna, but struck up a lot of controversy.
Rihanna said, "I just really want girls to be careful. Have fun, be sassy, be innocent, be sweet, be everything that you are. But just try not to be naive. That's not coming from a parent but from a peer." She believes it is her job to bring forth these awkward or embarrassing subjects. It gets people talking and is a great conversation opener for mothers to talk to their daughters or for girls to ask trusted adults questions about heavy matters. In this past example Rihanna is trying to teach girls to have fun, be sassy, innocent, sweet, just NOT naïve.
Rihanna also said, "U can't hide your kids from society, or they'll never learn how to adapt! This is the REAL WORLD!... The music industry isn't exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! It's your job to make sure they don't turn out like US." She knows celebrities are not perfect, she herself has used drugs. But for her to be able to do her job, parents need to make sure their children are abiding by their own family’s rules and morals while enjoying the music which is created freely by artists all over the world. These issues are all around us every day, celebrities have influenced our actions for countless years.
Now it’s time to look at your life and think, why do I do the things that I do? Is it because I want to? Or is it because I see everyone else doing them and just assume I should be doing them too…?