Rap music glamorizes drug use - study

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Rap music glamorizes the use of illegal drugs and portrays marijuana, crack and cocaine as symbols of wealth and status, according to a new study.

The report, published in the journal Addiction Research & Theory, found that rap artists had moved away from the lyrics of the early days when they often warned against the dangers of substance abuse.

"This study showed that in fact much early rap music either did not talk about drugs at all, or when it did had anti-drug messages," said Denise Herd, of the University of California, Berkeley, who headed the research team.

"So intrinsically rap music is not necessarily associated with these themes," she added.

After sampling 341 lyrics from rap music's most popular hits between 1979 and 1997, the researchers found references to drugs had increased six times over that period.

Of the 38 most popular songs between 1979 and 1984, only four contained drug references. But by the late 1980s it had increased to 19 percent and after 1993 nearly 70 percent of rap songs mentioned drug use.

Lyrics describing drug use increased and the context changed from concern about the devastation of drugs to a more positive portrayal.

Earlier songs such as Grandmaster Flash "White Lines," recorded in 1983, warns cocaine does nothing except "killin' your brain" but more recent tunes by popular rappers such as 50 Cent's "As the World Turns" refers to cocaine and heroin as nice things.

"This is an alarming trend, as rap artists are role models for the nation's youth, especially in urban areas," Herd said.