A 2003 study by the Rollins School of Public Health condemned influences of the mental and visual imagery used in rap songs and promotional videos. A study of 522 black teenage females living in a non-urban environment indicated that those watching videos or listening to gangster music were more likely to engage in antisocial or self-destructive behavior. Arrest rates among those studied increased by 150 percent and in a classroom situation, black teenage girls were three times more likely to physically assault a teacher. Findings indicated that those listening to rap music were twice as likely to have multiple sexual partners, which increased the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections by 50 percent.
Sexual imagery and lyrics of rap music and its videos indicate a trend in holding negative attitudes toward women. Rap records' themes themselves do not create a hostile attitude toward women; however, All About Music contends that gangster-music listeners frequently consume messages that degrade women or reduce them to sexual objects. Subsequently, listeners are much more likely to adopt expressions of sexual hostility in everyday conversation.
Perhaps the biggest concern that surrounds rap music is the glorification of gang culture. Many rap artists are former or existing gang members who vocalize their experiences to impressionable audiences who may be eager to emulate their heroes. The gang-related deaths of musicians Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls are engraved in the halls of hip-hop history and many teenagers fall into gang culture because their conceptions become confused. Violence is inadvertently romanticized while lyrical content that suggests drug trafficking and prostitution can lead to financial riches. These factors make gang membership appear highly attractive.
The true message of hip-hop has been lost to a commercial whirlwind that sells sex and violence as moneymaking commodities. In reality, rap music has a large number of success stories where former gang members have left the streets to achieve global success and improve their lives beyond recognition. For many teenagers, their music serves as a positive influence and many of them rap as a means of learning self-control and self-expression. Gangster music also highlights important social and political issues that increase world awareness among teenagers who might otherwise ignore these issues. Tupac Shakur is widely noted for tackling sensitive subject such as police brutality, teenage pregnancy and race discrimination.