Welcome to the Xanny Family: A Content Analysis of Pharmaceutical Drug References in Rap Music

Presentation Type

Research Study

Release Option

Metadata Only

Description

This quantitative content analysis explored charting rap music released from 1987 to 2022 to measure the amount of drug references in the lyrics, but specifically analyzed the pharmaceutical drug references in response to the recent opioid epidemic. This study found that almost half of the songs coded referenced drugs in general, with only 23 explicitly referencing pharmaceutical drugs. This study also analyzed the framing of pharmaceutical drugs to better understand artists' motives behind mentioning harmful substances. There was an even split between lyrics that glorified drug usage and those that showed a more nuanced, realistic take on drug usage.

Presenters/Co-Presenters

Savannah Johnston, Georgia Southern UniversityFollow

Faculty Mentor

Jeffrey Riley

Department of Primary Presenter's Major

Department of Communication Arts

Symposium Year

2024