Dylan M.
My research question is: How does music and social media affect gang violence in New York City?
This topic interests me because over the years I’ve been witnessing gang violence get worse. I have also noticed music is getting more and more disrespectful, not only in my area, but all over New York. It seems like wherever violence goes music follows, or vice versa. The music brings attention and even glorifies some of the violence happening to young people. I know that people like lyrics about guns and violence, so they gravitate towards the people rapping. But why do people actually admire artists who commit crimes? I know that people like to feel that they are a part of the artists’ conflict, but lyrics idolize violence. It is becoming a competition to see who can be the rudest. The controversy attracts consumers, and they start taking sides like they really know these people. I know that the artists are signed by multimillion dollar companies that monetize off of the violence. The rappers that become successful influence others to rap about violence, which results in an endless cycle of violence and trauma throughout communities, making kids die and go to jail at ages as young as 13. I plan to research why people admire artists who commit crimes, how social media affects gang violence, and how social media and music lead to arrest and incarceration of gang members.
Source entry #1:
Part 1 MLA citation
MEMINGER, DEAN. “Gangs, Rap, and Social Media Causing Violence in Brownsville, Police Say.” Police: Gangs, Rap, social media Causing Violence, Spectrum News, 16 Sept. 2020, ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/09/16/gangs–rap-music–and-social-media-causing-violence-in-brownsville–police-say.
Graphic organizer
Main idea: How social media and music make gang violence in New York City worse.
| Detail 1 “That’s right, social media is helping to fuel the gun violence. Although gangs beefing on social media is not new, it has become a big problem this year, especially as the weather turned warm, the spike of coronavirus cases ended and more New Yorkers ventured outdoors.” | Detail 2 Artists in Brownsville are gaining a following and getting record deals off of these songs glorifying their lives. ““The music gets a lot of hits. It goes viral. People from this neighborhood have actually been getting deals based on Drill music or whatever you want to call it,” Stephans said:” | Detail 3 Rappers use these outlets to antagonize rivals ““They go to somebody’s block in the middle of the night, they are playing music that’s disrespecting whatever gang is opposing them. And once that gang gets wind of it, it’s just, like, mayhem.” said Deshommes. “They usually play it in someone’s territory and then they will post it online afterwards.”” |
Part 2: Summary
In the spectrum news article “Gangs, Rap Music, and Social Media Are Behind Sharp Increase in Violence in Brownsville, Police Say”. The author Dean Meminger states that the police of the 73rd district believe that social media and music is somewhat responsible for the surges in gang violence. Officer Deshommes stressed that “A few of these gang members are musicians, they sing, they’re rappers, they’re hip-hop artists, they’ll make songs that go against somebody else.” acknowledging how detrimental it has become to the community. His partner Stephans added on with “The music gets a lot of hits. It goes viral. People from this neighborhood have actually been getting deals based on Drill music or whatever you want to call it,”. He knows that this causes a lot of bloodshed, especially as their music reaches the masses and people begin talking about it. Rappers use these outlets to antagonize rivals ““They go to somebody’s block in the middle of the night, they are playing music that’s disrespecting whatever gang is opposing them. And once that gang gets wind of it, it’s just, like, mayhem.” said Deshommes. “They usually play it in someone’s territory and then they will post it online afterwards.””
Part 3 reflection:
One of the main reasons I picked this article is because I feel that it covers multiple things I addressed in my proposal. From the increased incarceration of gang members to the increased numbers of gang related violence throughout the city. Gang members continue to antagonize their opposition on social media and in songs, this article does a good job on showing how prevalent it is in our communities. This was just one part of a borough, not even half of what has been going on across the whole City. This source Also tells us that these rappers are becoming successful and receiving mainstream success. Which ties into my paragraph discussing the influence and massive audiences that Drill music attracts. I agree with all of the information the author provides, as I have been a Brooklyn resident all my life, I have kept up with things like this. I learned that the officers are aware of how bad things can get, they listen to the music and try to understand these things, so they can prevent more people from being hurt. They are also aware of the social media platforms the gang members are on, you can see this when officer Deshommes says ““We’ve been plagued with a lot of gang violence. So it’s just like one side is clashing with the other side of a territory or a post on Facebook or something on social media.” Enforcing the idea of how detrimental these outlets that are supposed to just be a means of entertainment or expression can be. I understand everything in this article, but I want to research more about, why rappers are so idolized by their fans. Also, why the origin of drill music and if it was always as violent and as disrespectful as it is now.
Part 4 rhetorical analysis:
The author, Meminger main source of writing has been with the two cops he is interviewing; along with a few statistics and random facts about Brownsville, New York. The cops he interviewed about the neighborhood were officers Deshommes and Stephans, experienced police officers from the 73rd district. He asked them about their experiences, their opinions on gangs and what is causing the crime rates to grow higher. This article isn’t written as an interview but more as a normal conversation. The officers explain their usual encounters on their ride along’s through the neighborhood. I believe that the author is trying to inform everyone about this new wave of gang violence. As it is only getting worse and affecting more kids. He wants as many people as possible to be aware of this. The occasion that occurred around the time of him publishing this article is the sudden incarceration of 34 Gang members all from Brooklyn, NY. Which is one of the plot points in the beginning of his article. The author uses a combination of Ethos and Logos. Ethos with not only his credibility but the firsthand source of two police officers, even participating in a ride along with them. Logos because he is giving us information pertaining to this such as “Numerous alleged Woo and Choo gang members were indicted by Brooklyn prosecutors and police earlier this year for several attempted murders and other crimes.”
Part 5: Notable Quotables
“Numerous alleged Woo and Choo gang members were indicted by Brooklyn prosecutors and police earlier this year for several attempted murders and other crimes.”
“That’s right, social media is helping to fuel the gun violence. Although gangs beefing on social media is not new, it has become a big problem this year, especially as the weather turned warm, the spike of coronavirus cases ended and more New Yorkers ventured outdoors.”
““They go to somebody’s block in the middle of the night, they are playing music that’s disrespecting whatever gang is opposing them. And once that gang gets wind of it, it’s just, like, mayhem.” said Deshommes. “They usually play it in someone’s territory and then they will post it online afterwards.””
