Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the possible relationship between Hip hop music and identity formation of adolescent youth. Young people tend to imitate and/or reproduce what they learn and experience through the world as a part of their learning process (Kane, 2000). The sample of eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders were from English classes from the Leon County School System. An adapted version of the Music Video Influence Measure Surveys and the Ego Identity Incomplete Sentences Blank was administered to all students. Based on the survey answers given, it was concluded that 30.3% of the sample (N=66) preferred Hip hop, the highest percentage by any one music genre chosen. Based on gender, there was no significant difference in the mean values of the scores from the Identity Achievement. Students who identified themselves as African American scored slightly higher on Identity Achievement scores than did students who identified themselves White. Twenty percent of White students and 75 percent of African American students chose Hip Hop as their music genre of choice.
Based on the results of this study, teachers and other professionals who work with adolescents on a regular basis need to examine those mediums, including music such as Hip hop, that are not always popular with society because of how something like Hip hop might significantly contribute to an adolescent’s development of identity. “Rather than simply discounting rap as a corrupted form of cheap culture, it should be recognized that, for better or worse, rap is an educational medium capable of affecting the values and attitudes of many of our young people” (Powell, 1991, p. 257). With the information from this study, it is hoped that those who work with adolescents will begin to use Hip hop as tool by which to relate to these young people and to include it in different forms of intervention applied to this population.
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