HOW HIP HOP MUSIC HELPS YOU EXCEL IN STUDY

By Rishma • On Education

Hip Hop has been among the dom­in­ant music genres on the world scene for over five years now. Rap songs often lead the loc­al and inter­na­tion­al charts. Mil­lions of Hip Hop fans can’t ima­gine their days without favor­ite songs as a life soundtrack. Of course, such ser­i­ous affec­tion for a single music genre must have cer­tain effects on a person’s char­ac­ter, every­day life, and maybe even pro­ductiv­ity. Stu­dents, for example, seem to be the biggest rap fans in soci­ety. How­ever, does such love for Hip Hop affect in any way their abil­ity to study? Is it a pos­it­ive influ­ence? How does music, and Hip Hop, in par­tic­u­lar, affect one’s chances at suc­cess in school? Let’s take a closer look at how Hip Hop can help stu­dents excel in their studies.

Does music help you study? 

Most of us can’t live a day without listen­ing to music. Many young people also choose to keep the music play­ing even when they are study­ing or doing their home­work. How­ever, there is an ongo­ing debate about how good a decision it is. Does music help learners study? Does it dis­tract them?

Well, it turns out that music can activ­ate both halves of our brain, left and right. So what does it mean for us? The activ­a­tion of both brain spheres max­im­izes its full poten­tial. Hence, learners can enjoy high­er brain activ­ity and improved memory. It’s all without even try­ing! Such brain activ­a­tion already res­ults in increased focus and atten­tion reten­tion. As a res­ult, you can have a bet­ter time study­ing, mem­or­iz­ing, and under­stand­ing inform­a­tion. How­ever, that’s not all.

Secondly, music can increase one’s motiv­a­tion and pro­ductiv­ity. Music can also lead to mood improve­ment and decrease stress. It relaxes people and puts them in a bet­ter state of mind, block­ing out­side stresses. Study­ing is often accom­pan­ied by high-pres­sure events, like exams and such. Listen­ing to music dur­ing stress­ful peri­ods or right before an exam can help stu­dents calm down and focus on the task instead of nerves.

What genres can help?

Now that we know what a great pos­it­ive impact music has on the learn­ing pro­cess, can we talk about genres? Does it mat­ter what type of music you listen to to achieve such pos­it­ive res­ults? Well, it’s both yes and no. Sure, dif­fer­ent music will have a dif­fer­ent effect on your brain. Each genre has its spe­cif­ics. One type will bet­ter relax you, while oth­er genres may ener­gize and excite you. Depend­ing on what you need, each music genre can play a big role in your study success.

How­ever, every individual’s music pref­er­ences really play the biggest dif­fer­ence in the final res­ults. Thus, as long as you listen to music that pleases you and makes you at peace, it helps you in any pos­sible way. Sure, it shouldn’t dis­tract you from study­ing. Yet, as long as you enjoy what you hear, all the mood bene­fits will remain true for all kinds of music.

Hip Hop works as a stress relief

So, let’s talk about hip hop. Right now, the most listened-to music genre in the US is Hip Hop. For the record, it’s also the second most pop­u­lar genre in the world. Moreover, the major­ity of rap fans are below 30 years old. Hence, it’s fair to assume most Hip Hop listen­ers are the youth and stu­dents in par­tic­u­lar. So, how does such music pref­er­ence help or inter­vene with their study progress?

Well, stud­ies have shown that Hip Hop has sev­er­al bene­fits regard­ing men­tal health and con­cen­tra­tion. Unfor­tu­nately, anxi­ety is a big part of study­ing. Many young people feel pres­sure, stress, or exper­i­ence anxious thoughts every week due to school. Luck­ily, Hip Hop music can help reduce those anxious states of mind and bring more peace into stu­dents’ lives.

It has been found that this genre can activ­ate very spe­cif­ic parts of our brain. Thus, it con­nects with our emo­tions, nerve and motor func­tions, lan­guage, and even motiv­a­tion! The com­bin­a­tion of those brain activ­it­ies can res­ult in a spike in pro­ductiv­ity and mood improvement.

There’s just some­thing about the com­bin­a­tion of unique Hip Hop rhythms, upbeat tracks, and lyr­ics that truly speaks to our brain. In fact, rap fans have been found to have few­er men­tal health issues than oth­er music lov­ers in the same age group. Isn’t that something?

So, when it comes to study­ing, a set of head­phones with upbeat rap music can sig­ni­fic­antly reduce your study anxi­ety and lower the tension.

Usu­ally, stu­dents slack in study per­form­ance due to stress and low esteem. They second-guess them­selves and waste more time on self-doubt­ing than  on study­ing. Need­less to say, pan­ic has nev­er been a friend of pro­duct­ive study­ing. This is when stu­dents tend to give up and go for an essaypro review instead of giv­ing an essay anoth­er shot.

For­tu­nately, rap fans know little about such an emo­tion­al roller coast­er. Their music pref­er­ences help young people stay more pos­it­ive and con­fid­ent about the near future.

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

About Rishma

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless.