Lyrical Affect
“Listening to rap music won’t automatically turn someone into a misogynistic person, but these studies do show that it does make an impact, even if it is subconsciously.”
Elena Bernier and Omolara Osofisan,
authors of How the Songs We Listen to Affect the Way We Think
Sure, we blast exciting music to get us pumped up, or get swallowed by slow sad tunes when we are feeling down, but after the fleeting moment, what about the song we just listened to lasts? Subconscious priming is what lasts. This is the subconscious action your brain takes when exposed to any environment, new or old. When you're in the woods alone at night and you feel scared, you most likely are going to try to get out of there, or when you're sitting watching a comedy, you may find yourself laughing or grinning. These actions are your body's subconscious adaptations to your environment. When you are listening to music, similar types of subconscious thoughts and actions are happening. But what type of subconscious action happens when Rick Ross says, “Put Molly all in her champagne/ she ain’t even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that/she ain’t even know it.” You certainly don’t listen and think, “sweet lyrics, this makes me happy” but what do you think?
Donald Saucier at Kansas State University conducted a study to see the effect the type of music people listened to had on them. In this study, he looked at people who listened to patriotic music and music more associated with childhood or children's music. Saucier found that those who listened to patriotic music were more close-minded and less empathetic, while those who listened to children's music were more accepting, empathetic, and social. Another study done by Christy Barongan and Gordon Hall examined the rap music, and rap music videos' effect on men and women's aggression tendencies and tolerance. The results concluded that men, shown misogynistic rap videos, engaged in more aggressive sexual behavior. Females who listened to sexist, misogynistic rap, were more tolerant of violence towards them.
