Recently, two teenage girls were killed by gunshots in Birmingham, during a party. It just so happens that the alleged killers, and most of the partygoers, were young black males. Reports have revealed that the girls were caught in crossfire of two rival Birmingham gangs - The Burger Bar Boys and The Johnson Crew.

In light of this tragic event, the media has been all-too keen to blame the 'violent' nature of Hip-Hop or these killings. As a Hip-Hop fan, I am outraged and upset at the tarnishing of 'my' music's already bad reputation. Artists whom I consider to be TRUE Hip-Hop, such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common (and many others) do NOT glorify the use of guns and probably never will. If Talib Kweli raps about a gun, he is talking of the DANGERS of guns, the stupidity of gun misuse and the alarming availability of guns. Even rappers who talk more explicitly about firearms, such as Nas, often describe the hurt and pain caused by weapons. It seems to me that fake pop-rap artists such as Ja Rule are glorifying the use of guns, without first thinking of the negative influence that their words can bear on youngsters.

For example, we see Ja Rule at a yacht party on the video for Murder Inc's 'Down 4 U', surrounded by beautiful women, hollering 'will you bust your gun for me?'

As if ruining the reputation of REAL Hip-Hop wasn't enough, such artists continue to ruin lives with ludicrous lyrics, which don't even ring true.

In an inaccurate emulation of acts such as NWA, artists like Ja Rule get the wrong end of the stick and aimlessly holler about guns and violence, without backing up and justifying their rant, like earlier 'gangsta' acts did. Earlier artists were genuinely striving to make a change in Hip-Hop, as well as society, addressing issues such as police brutality, inequality and racism. Things which they had actually EXPERIENCED and not simply dreamed about.

So, it seems to be true that some 'hip-hop' (and I use the term loosely) does 'glorify' the use of guns. But such artists did not explicitly tell the gunmen to pick up a gun and start shooting. The media has all but ignored other factors which could be to 'blame'. If the media feels a burning desire to name a third party responsible for such tragic events, why do they not turn to other possible influences, such as film, television and video games. The game Grand Theft Auto is renowned for its violence. In the game, you can run around spraying bullets at random strangers without too much of a risk of getting caught by the police. Of course, if you do get caught, you can simply reset the game and start again. Not possible in real life!

    
Violent screenshots from Grand Theft Auto 3

In fact, the only indication that the world of films may be responsible for the atrocity was featured in the Daily Mirror. Guess what? They cited an Ice Cube film as an influence, a well known Hip-Hop artist...

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