Relationship between Watching ‘Gengetone’ Music and Drug Abuse among the Youth in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Leonard K Koech

doi:10.37284/eajis.3.1.312

Leonard K Koech Bomet University College

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/eajis.3.1.312

Keywords: Gengetone,, Music, Drugs, Substance, Abuse, Youths

Share Article:

Abstract

Drugs, substance and alcohol abuse by many youths is as a result of various factors. Research conducted in the past have looked at how mass media channels (video and TV) and their influence on abuse of drugs and other substances among the youth. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how drug-related information portrayed on Gengetone music influences drugs and substance abuse among youths in Eldoret town. The research objectives were to investigate how the acceptability level of ‘Gengetone’ music and videos among youths, to examine ways in which ‘Gengetone music lyrics communicate information on drugs, substance and alcohol abuse and establish the effect of listening of Gengetone music on drugs and substance abuse among youths in Uasin Gishu County. The study adopted George Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory. The study utilised descriptive survey. Questionnaires and interviews were utilised to collect data from selected youths aged 20 – 30 years residing in Eldoret town four estates numbering 80 and one county officer in charge of NACADA North Rift office. Analysis of data was done through qualitative (content analysis method) and quantitative approaches (descriptive statistics); The study found out that indeed lyrics, images and videos contained in some Gengetone music promoted drugs, substance and alcohol abuse by young people in the study area. This means that music preference performed a significant role in determining the level of drugs and substance abuse by youth in Eldoret town. This calls for stakeholder involvement in educating the upcoming artist on the importance of developing Gengetone music that is clean and creates awareness on the dangers of youth addiction to drugs, other substances and alcohol.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Atkin, C., & Block, M. (1981). Content and effects of alcohol advertising (Report PB-82-123142). Washington, DC: Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms.

Chang, Y., & Reber, B. (2000). Assessing cultivation theory and public health model for crime reporting. Newspaper Research Journal, 21(4), 1-13.

Craske, M. (2014). Music’s normalization influences on college students’ risky sexual behaviours. Master’s Thesis, University of Central Florida available at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/1563

Cundiff, G. (2013). The influence of rap/hip-hop music: A mixed-method analysis on audience perceptions of misogynistic lyrics and the issue of domestic violence. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 4(1), 71 – 93.

Eliíasson, G.B. (2020). How personal music preference and SES affect substance use among university students. Bsc Project, Reykjavik University, Iceland.

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1994). Growing up with television: The cultivation perspective. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 17- 41). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Harakeh Z. & Ter Bogt, T.F.M. (2018). The effect of rap/hip-hop music on young adult smoking: An experimental study. Substance Use & Misuse, 53 (11), 1819 – 1825.

Kamaara, E. K. (2005). Gender relations, youth sexual activity and HIV/AIDS: A Kenyan experience. Eldoret: AMECEA Gaba publication.

Kemei, C.R. (2014). Effectiveness of drug and substance abuse prevention programs in selected public and private universities in Kenya. D.Phil Thesis, Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Kenya Film Classification Board (2016). The effects of Lewd, Vulgar, Violent and Obscene Local and International Music on Children, Youth and the Society in general in Kenya. Preliminary Research Report. Nairobi: KFCB.

Kimani, J.M., Tumuti, S. & Ndambuki, P. (2020). Relationship between levels of exposure to mass media and students’ drug abuse in selected secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. ESSRAK Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 43-52.

Knobloch-Westerwick, S., Musto, P., & Shaw, K. (2008). Rebellion in the top music charts: Defiant messages in Rap/hip-hop and Rock music 1993 and 2003. Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, 20, 15-23. doi:10.1027/1864-1105.20.1.15.

Maithya, R.W. (2009). Drug abuse in secondary schools in Kenya: developing a programme for prevention and intervention. D.Phil Thesis, University of Souh Africa.

Mueller, L.A. & Ketcham, K. (1987). Recovering: How to get and stay sober. New York: Bentam Books.

Mugusia, T. (2011). A rapid situation assessment of sociodemographic, behavior risk characteristics, HIV Status of IDU’S in Mombasa County. Paper Presented during National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Workshop 2011 Report held at Kenya Institute of Administration from 29th – 30th March 2011.

O’Callaghan, C., Barry, P., & Thompson, K. (2012). Music’s relevance for adolescents and young adults with cancer: A constructivist research approach. Supportive Care in Cancer, 20(4), 687–697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1104-1.

Russell, A.C., Regnier-Denois, V., Chapoton, B. & Buhrau, D. (2017). Impact of Substance Messages in Music Videos on Youth: Beware the Influence of Connectedness and Its Potential Prevention-Shielding Effect. Retrieved online on 4-02-2021 from https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2017.78.674.

Storm, C. (2020). Gengetone is the new sound accelerating out of Kenya’s streets. Retrieved online on 24th Feb 2021 from https://boilerroom.tv/article/rise-gengetone.

Wanjala, H. & Kebaya, C. (2016). Popular music and identity formation among Kenyan youth. Muziki, 13(2), 20 – 35. Doi:10.1080/18125980.2016.1249159.

World Health Organization. (2011). Smoke-free movies: From evidence to action. Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/marketing/smoke_free_movies_2nd_edition/en/