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Rap music has always had...well...a bad rap. The genre has long carried negative associations, largely due to lyrics that seem to celebrate immoral behavior. However, this stereotype may not be entirely fair. Hip-hop is an inclusive and creatively diverse community with many artists offering inspiring messages of love and kindness. With a wide array of clean, uplifting rap music available, experts are now suggesting older adults dip their toes in the hip-hop waters and enjoy the cognitive benefits the music style offers.
In 2017, researchers at Cambridge University reported hip-hop to be an effective therapy for improved brain function. How? The reasons are similar to the well documented benefits of any music therapy that soothes pain or distress. However, they found different types of music seemed to stimulate different parts of the brain. They are now suggesting different music genres may be used according to which area of the patient's brain requires stimulation. For example, the Cambridge researchers found that rapping, or "free styling" puts a rapper's brain in what is called a "flow state" which stimulates the areas of the brain responsible for emotion, language, motivation, motor function, and motor processing.
Many of the same areas of the brain, the emotion center and areas responsible for motion and vision, showed up in a different study conducted by NIH (The National Institutes of Health) who was also conducting a study on the effects of music on the brain. However, in their study, the subject, opera star Renee Fleming was asked to speak the lyrics, then sing them, then imagine herself singing them, all while inside an MRI machine. Surprisingly, the most neurologically engaged version was when she was imagining herself singing the lyrics. "I'm skilled at singing so I didn't have to think about it quite so much," shared Fleming as she reflected on the results.
Rap music is unique in its delivery requiring the listener to engage more fully, just as Fletcher had to do when she was imagining herself singing the lyrics. The lyrics are rapid, with regular use of metaphor and rhyme, therefore, the music serves as a verbal puzzle, often requiring the listener to replay the song over and over to fully capture the complexity of the message. This linguistically complex music style, more commonly adopted by younger people, could be a meaningful cognitive exercise for older adults.
Better yet, experts say learning to join in the lyrics by rapping along can bring profound benefits to your memory and cognition. The rhythm and repetition lend to memory enhancement and serves as good mental exercise. Finally, rap music can promote neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and rewire as a response to new experiences among other benefits.
Artists that produce clean music:
