Is it okay for young children to listen to Hip-Hop/Rap?

[dadlovesbbq]

I (the father) was having a debate with my DP about music being on in the house with our newborn son. She says that loud music (not no music) shouldn't be played when the baby is in the house. She says music like Mozart and Erik Satie (?) help the development of the brain, I don't want my child to listen to neeky music like Mozart. I think any music (if it does at all) will help the baby be smart.
I am an avid Opium (a collective of artists) listener, it must be on all times of the day. My S/O says if Hip-Hop/Rap has to be on it must be something 'good' like Wu Tang Clan or Tupac (she prefers R&B and pop). This debate between us has been going on for a period of time and we would like other opinions.
Thank you 😁

Depends on the lyrics.

All music is good for brain development. I have no idea what neeky means, but that includes Mozart.

Just play whatever you like! A varied style of music helps babies learn. Classical is meant to be good for brain development but any music is good so long as the baby isn't scared or deafened by it (e.g. not too loud). Banning a genre of music because you feel the baby shouldn't listen to it is OTT IMO.

a newborn won't be able to distinguish swear words etc but as it gets older I guess there's a case for not playing gangsta rap unless it's the clean version etc.

The baby will pick up on both your musical tastes.

Depends where you draw the line on foul language and misogyny. I don't know where Opium sits on the scale. Inherently as far as the actual music as opposed to lyrics goes, variety is the spice of life I guess.

And of course, baby won't know about the lyrics just yet, but they are always learning - :)

I'm in between both of you. I'm a father and a big hip hop fan, but I stopped playing any songs with swearing or n words in them after my son turned one. I don't think it's appropriate for him to listen to it at that age. Now if I play hip hop it has to be clean versions, if they exist.

That said, I don't agree with your partner's snobbery related to classical music and brain development

Although my boy is now 3.5 and he's much more into my other musical passion (operatic metal) than he is into rap

My favourite tik tok trend is the songs from the 80s and 90s we would gave sung at the school disco with very adult content that obviously went completely over our heads as children. So I wouldnt be worried about lyrical content at ALL with a baby, I would just make sure it was good! Soooo much you could expose them to musically at this age.

Mozart isn’t neeky! .

My kids grew up on a mix of music, including hip hop. I stuck to the more conscious stuff when they were young.
I think the wordplay and rhythm are probably really good for brain development, but I haven’t conducted a study!