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Ryan McCrerey
Karen Tucker
ENC 2135
13 July 2016

Research Project Proposal

My topic for the research question is, The influence of drugs on music. The reason
I chose this is because I love music, Ive always had a strong interest in it, and Ive
always found it interesting how drugs have always seemed to play a part from jazz
in the 30s and 40s to conventional rap music.
My essay will be predominantly narrative as I have nothing to persuade my
audience to. This essays intention is to simply inform people on different artists
careers and how their drug use affected and changed the music they made.
I have done some preliminary research to know that it is a valid research topic and
that there is an actual question to answer. Since just about everyone can
acknowledge that drugs have had an impact on music over the generations, I intend
to answer the questions, How drugs have affected music and what were the
affects. I need to fill in gaps regarding scholarly resources and I also see this being
the greatest difficulty as there are not many esteemed scholars in this field.
The intended audience for the essay is people who are fans of music and probably
more so people who are fans of the exact people I will reference. The topic maybe
touchy for some as there will be many drug references throughout the essay
although they will be presented in an academic manner. The audience will most

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likely be the younger generation who are more familiar with drugs and music than
previous generations.
My goal for this essay is to inform people and give them more information on
famous artists and how their drug use affected their music. I also intend to get the
message across that either for better or for worse, the music these artists made,
under the influence of such drugs, would have not been the same if they werent
using these drugs. People reading my essay should take interest in the fact that
while these artists were under the influence of these drugs whether they be
downers, stimulants, or psychedelics, they made music that was not only different
but reflected by the drugs they took. Readers should also take interest in the fact
that drugs have always been involved in music. Whether its your grandmother
whos an Elvis fan, your parents who are Nirvana fans, or you whos a John Mayer
faneveryone should take an interest in how substances affected some of our
favorite music.