Considering Music Lyrics and Imagery in the Sexual Health of Black College Students

Abstract

Sexual risk taking and potential sequelae such as sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, may be related to music videos that display suggestive imagery and lyrics. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore characteristics of music lyrics and imagery that might have implications on sexual arousal in Black college students. For four consecutive weeks, the top 20 Hip Hop/R&B music tracks from the official Billboard Charts website were selected. A convenience sample of 27 self-identified Black college students aged 18 to 24 were asked to rate the sexually explicit content in each video. There was a modest association between visual sexual explicitness scores for each video and scores on the Sexual Arousal and Desire Inventory (SADI) for females, and a strong association between visual sexual explicitness for each video and scores on the SADI for males.

Social and Environmental Influences on Sexual Behaviors of College Black Women: Within Group Diversity Between HBCU vs. PWI Experiences

“…Research studies on the overwhelming influence of hip-hop and rap on HBCU campuses demonstrates that students and faculty are aware of, and grapple with provocative topics such as the depiction of women in music videos, rap's influence on Black male and female relationships, and misogyny [42]. Some studies have demonstrated that although Black students are more likely to listen to hiphop and rap music, that it may not directly influence sexual initiation [43], and that instead, those who listen to predominantly rap and hip-hop music may believe that their peers are sexually active, resulting in an increase in likelihood of initiating sex [43,44,60]. For Black college students who attend HBCUs, the content of hip-hop and rap music may promote certain misogynistic expressions that may affect gender relations and result in Black women conforming to certain social pressures resulting in them partaking in risky sexual behavior thus increasing their risk for STIs and HIV [40,43,44,61].…”