The researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of 95 African-American and Latino men (ages 15 to 25) as part of a four-year ethnographic study in New York City. The purpose of the current study was to explore how the men's perceptions and participation in hip hop culture -- "urban social and artistic expressions, such as clothing style, breakdancing, graffiti, and rap music" -- and contextual factors of hip hop may be associated with the men's condom use, condom-use self-efficacy, and sense of community.

The authors found that differences in participants' perceptions of and levels of affiliation with hip hop culture were not statistically associated with differences in their sense of community or condom-use self-efficacy. The strongest factor negatively associated with condom use was frequency of participation in the hip hop nightclub scene.

"Popular discourses on young men's health risks often blame youths' cultures such as the hip hop culture for increased risk practices but do not critically examine how risk emerges in urban young men's lives and what aspects of youths' culture can be protective," the authors concluded. "Further research needs to focus on contextual factors of risk such as the role of hip hop nightlife on increased HIV risk."

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