Rest in Peace Heavy D! Do You Allow Your Teens to Listen to Rap Music?

My kids are 4 and 5 so a non issue right now. They listen to kids music or my music which tends to be more pop type stuff (Katy Perry, Adele, Beyonce, Lady Gaga etc). I love Eminem also though, and the kids have heard some of his stuff and liked it. My old school rappers that I loved from back in "my day" were Busta Rhymes and the Beastie Boys...I still love hearing their stuff.

I am not ok with them listening to super degrading type of music. But I don't think I'd be overly strict.

We listen to all kinds of music...and I, like you, especially love some of the "vintage" rap that still has clean (and often funny) lyrics. Will Smith, Heavy D, etc...love them!

RIP Heavy D!

Quick... move your link into SWH... or there's a strong prob your post will get pulled.

I let my 9yo listen to rap. And every other genre out there.

A lot of it is oldschool, although there's quite a bit of newer music as well. But he DOES know that if I say

"Oh. My. God. BECKY!" exactly what I mean.

Yes our pre-teens are allowed to listen to rap. On the kids itunes account they have the 'clean' versions of Eminem (their favorite) and others. The wife and I have the adult versions. Music is a huge part of our lives, it defines generations.
R.I.P Heavy D

We listen to it all!! My kids love the current music and so do my hubby and I! RIP HEAVY D!

This in a non-issue in our house, because my son (almost 9) HATES rap--just as well--not a fan myself.

Heavy D was a "clean" rapper - he was a rapper back when it was about having fun, and about the skill itself. I listened to everything, including NWA, Tupac, etc., some clean & some not, when I was younger & it had no bearing on who I was or what type of person I became. My mom was open with me & gave me freedom (to an acceptable extent) & I plan to be that way with my daughter, which includes letting her listen to whatever music she chooses. I think if you are teaching your kids the right thing in your daily lives, a little inappropriate music isn't going to make a difference. Plus, they WILL find a way to listen to it, anyway, when you're not around. Especially nowadays, when it's so easy to access music.

My son is 8, he'll be 9 in 3 weeks. I love Hip Hop. He's not into it as much as I am but we do listen to it. I rarely listen to commercial radio. It's usually satelite or my iPod so most of the Hip Hop that he knows is old school or some of the lesser known stuff that I like. His favorite rapper is Eminem. He even went to see the Jay-Z/Eminem concert last summer. He dressed up like Run from Run DMC for Halloween. He was SO cute!

We have conversations about the lyrics so that he doesn't quote things that he doesn't understand.
He's also not a fan of bad words (this includes 4 letter words, stupid, shut up, freakin' and the like) so he won't listen to Hip Hop for very long at all.
I generally have a tendency to turn all potentially negative things into learning opportunities and love to teach my son that there are different kinds of people that think many different ways and he should always be open minded.

Got nuthin but love for ya baby

My husband and I have great variety in our music choices and our daughter has had some sort of MP3 player since she was 4 (she is 17 now). We have never really censored what we turned up or simply had on in the background in the car with her, ever. She is a great music lover, can debate music lyrics, knows ALOT of music trivia (old and new, songs, artists and dates, etc...her dad is the same way actually), and is terribly envious of the music kids at her Arts school who can sing! She, sadly like her father and I, can not carry a tune in any sort of bucket or other vessel! LOL.

But she does not appreciate alot of rap...unless the lyrics are meaningful, comedic, or otherwise silly and entertaining. Degrading, murdering, hurtful, etc does not fall into that. Shes a good kid, with a good head on her shoulders and we feel good about exposing her to all of it and letting her decide. She is not a "sheeple" (sheep people)...what she and we define as someone who follows along like a sheep in a herd...just because others say a type is music is "cool" or "must" be listened to...that has never held true for her, or for us.

Now I am going to go search my ZUNE library and make sure I have some Heavy D to listen to! RIP

I have a 19 month old and whatever my husband i are listening to she listens to ,.lol. he is a rapper and we listen to a lot of rap. I'm more of and r&b and country fan but i cn definitely get into hiphop when its on. My daughter already sings and looooves music. We dont rlly worry abt the words bc , mean , i rmbr growin up listening to all kinds of crazy vulgar music nd not even knowing wht they were tlking abt until recently. Kids js like the music itself. Plus , i just feel tht they r just words . So whtever my daughter chooses to listen to in regards to her musical choice , isupport. We're a pretty music oriented fam.

I allow my 16 yr old to listen to whatever she wants to listen to. She is a responsible girl. She listens to everything ecept country... we are NO country music in our house.

Interesting.... for those who forbid things like this, rest assured, the children a smart enough to find and listen to what they want to listen to behind the parent's back.

I choose to pick my battles and keep my lines of communication wide open. That is just what works for us.

My kids listen to rap because I do. :) They dont have a preference yet. We also listen to everything else except for country (gag me pleasssse).
Mostly on the radio, I wont listen to cd's around them because they arent sensored like the radio is. I wont listen to anything spewing bad words in front of them.
I am HUGE on lyrics, I dont like songs just because they way they sound, if I dont agree with the message of the lyrics, then I dont listen to it.
I will teach my kids to be the same way, and raise them right, and hope they dont encourage artists who say foul messages.
I LOVE music!!!

I don't have teens, but I will allow my kids to listen to anything they want. That's what my parents did. I turned out pretty good. In fact, I'm a big nerd. The music that you listen to does not reflect the whole person. I've listened to everything from death metal to rap to classical to "post rock" (which is the type of music that my husband's band plays). Different periods of your life also dictate what you may need in terms of musical fulfillment.

Nope! Hubby and I both cant stand rap music...its like polka (which I enjoy more than rap music. They lyrics are horrible. If they wanted to listen to Christian rap or oldschool rap that was "clean" i suppose with head phones in there room. My kids arent teens yet but I am really dreading if they are going to be loving rap music!!

My kids aren't teens, but we listen to many genres. Like Molly, our listening is based on the content. I don't allow my children to listen to songs that are sexual, violent, degrading or racist no matter the style or artist.

Our kids are 6 and 8 but if they were preteens or teenagers I would discourage it. I can't understand what they are saying half the time. Honestly, rap and heavy metal make me grumpy.

The only raps that are okay are the educational ones they learn at school to help them remember concepts. :)

I have allowed my now 18 year old daughter to listen to whatever she wants. She has a wide variety of tastes and loves hip hop/rap as well. She went down to L.A. for a concert this weekend for Mac Miller...a booming young new rapper that she found on you tube over a year ago. It hasn't corrupted her it all!!

My son hates rap.
He plays clarinet (first chair) in the band and he's listening to big band music right now.
We just LOVE Benny Goodman!
I'll be thrilled when he can play Clarinet Polka, but it's still a bit advanced for him for right now.

My oldest is into metal bands, Disturbed, Slipknot, Ozzie. But I had a Celtic Women CD on in the car and he loved it. He will also listen to Kenny Rogers and John Denver, but dont tell his friends that. hehe He's 22.

My girls like TobyMac and other Christian rock groups, artists. We listen to Christian music in the car. Either that or the "oldies" station, the 70's and 80's stuff I grew up with.

My youngest is 10 and asked a while back, Mom I want to listen to that guy with the hat, who sings about eagles. HA-- John Denver.

We listen to instrumentals or classical during schooltime.

And I don't like most rap music so don't listen to it. I don't censor, but I don't have to.

My kids haven't really got the thing for rap...yet. I'm sure they will one day.

no, if the lyrics are degrading and swearing, no, it won't be played in my home or car.

My son listens to whatever we do which does include some older rap. I have a video of him from around 2 singing i like big butts, it's really cute:) he used to asked people if they "want to roll in his moresades" (Mercedes)