Messengers: A Content Analyses of the Billboard Rap Charts Number One Songs from 2000 to 2017

Grantz, Connor M.

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Messengers: A Content Analyses of the Billboard Rap Charts Number One Songs from 2000 to 2017 Public Deposited

Analytics

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/76537226b

Abstract

Rap music, which originated under hip hop, has become one of the most popular genres of music in the United States. From the beginnings of hip hop, the hip hop generation was named, and a movement started. There has been much research on both hip hop and rap music and the messages that this radical genre of music produced. While content analyses have been done in the past, it is necessary to continue to analyze this music, as it is incredibly prevalent and impactful in the United States. These analyses are important in terms of examining commercial success, mainstream accessibility, and the messages and themes that are present in one of the most popular genres of music. This thesis examines the content of the rap songs that reached number one on the Billboard rap chart, from the years 2000 to 2017, providing both a historical and contemporary view of this music that has reached the pinnacle of success among the genre of rap music since the turn of the century. The findings document demographics of the artists and themes that are present in the most popular rap songs; indicating consistency in messages across the sample, with popular rap songs having many references to deviant behavior, explicit word use, and negative references to women, while lacking in socially conscious themes and pro-women themes. However, rap songs have also provided some powerfully consciousness-raising about important social issues. Overall, the themes that “plague” rap music are present in the most popular rap songs, and this has been consistent with time in the United States.

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