Exploring Whether or not Profanity in Music is Corrupting our Youth

A problem that Bennett makes clear is how impressionable the younger audiences are when they are exposed to rap and Hip-Hop. There’s many debate on the topic of children listening to the music, but before we can argue over whether children should be able to listen to the music we must go over the pros and cons to the music genre. The positive side is that rap is an accepted form of self-expression, and educators have shown that it has inspired kids to write. Many kids feel they can relate to the songs, and it persuades them to write their own in an attempt to make sense of the world around them. On the other hand Hip-Hop can have some negative effects as well. A large number of artists such as Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Eminem, and others involve the use of profanity, violence, references to sex and

Others believe that music should not be censored because it would infringe on the artist’s right to freedom of speech, but music containing explicit lyrics should be criticized for their negative content. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas delivered a speech to the City Club of Cleveland. In his speech he discusses how music has a major affect on youth, and how crimes among teenagers have increased greatly, since music with explicit lyrics have been out on the market. He also expresses that music should not be censored, because the artist have the right to say what they want in their lyrics, but society also had the right to criticize the explicit lyrics in their music. (1-9) The right to freedom of speech is given to all people under the bill of rights. If people weren’t allowed to speak what they felt this country would not be where it is today.

     Many people believe that music should be filtered because it provokes violence or sex within society. There may be some truth in this but for the most part it is merely myth. People who have any common sense or are not legally insane can understand fact from fiction and what not to imitate. Anyone who listens to Eminem and decides to go and kill their wife should have been locked up long before the actual crime. When people do things that resemble what an artist says in a song, it is usually by pure coincidence and all are negative incidents. Frank Zappa was quoted to have said “I wrote a song about dental floss but did anyone’s teeth get cleaner?”(Jackson 1).

The above article discusses a study conducted that tested whether exposure to rap music increases sexism within males. The study did not give any direct concrete evidence that rap music causes misogyny. Yet it brought up some useful insights that were supported by the study. Initially, they discovered that listening to non-sexist songs still led to some type of sexist behavior. This finding is relevant as it shows that it might not solely be the lyrics that are responsible for sexism within music. People can be instinctively associating rap music with being misogynistic. Another finding was that misogynistic lyrics prime young males to behave sexually aggressive temporarily. This reading is important for this topic as it disregards the popular belief that rap music causes sexism, but it also takes in account that rap music can prime young males to be slightly more aggressive. While this study cannot be used to promote any type of censorship in media, it can still encourage the music industry to reevaluate the material they are launching to public, especially the young generation.

Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.

Thesis:Rap music does not promote violent actions by teens because rap music is a very diverse genre, it is mainly for entertainment purposes only, and part of the music is involved in anti-violence efforts.

     The Parents Music Resource Center and other censorship groups became a thorn in the side of free speech when many parents (like Tipper Gore) were outraged and disgusted by this new music known as “rap.” Censorship organizations demand that these new performers like Ice-T and NWA become banned from the radio and their music be labeled as indecent and explicit in order to protect America’s Youth from listening to this so-called “filth.” Rap has since been the biggest target for censorship, with groups going as far as saying that, “there has been a marked increase in explicit violence and misogyny in popular music, and it stands to reason that exposure to such hate filled lyrics has had a effect on kids’ attitudes, assumptions, decisions, and behavior” (Senate subcommittee…). This is a crazy assumption with no facts to back it up. According to Vincent Shiraldi, the executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, “There has been a 30

Music censorship is the editing and cutting of specific words or phrases for a purpose in order to bound distinct subject matter from young minds and to prevent more wrongdoings in the inferior generations. The problem with censorship isn't just the reigns on the free mind, but on what the mind can bestow as a gift to others. Music serves more than just as a means of entertainment. Music conveys messages to the world, and professes problems that are puzzling to deliberate with parents. The bad thing about censoring music is the fact that our right to expression is denounced by other people uncomfortable with certain musical topics (Lombardo, 2017). Censorship is meant to mask certain words and phrases from younger audiences as to not warp young minds into thinking that doing drugs, drinking and suicide are acceptable (Lombardo, 2017).

The impact music has on the life of people is very powerful. It can easily revamp the way people act and take control of people’s emotions. Rap music is a very common and popular type of music within the world today. Rap music has existed since the mid 1970s, nowadays it is practically everywhere. It is easily a central focus of many young people’s lives. Rap music was essentially intended to create a voicing of one’s frustrations and disappointment with society, it has recently taken a turn and is creating a negative impact on the youth. It is the root that influences and encourages degrading women, violence, and is filled with sexual content.

The corruptness of music today seems to be linked to the crude language and aggression found particularly in hip-hop and rap music. Some rap artists use vulgar language in their lyrics that are easily adoptable by teens (Holden). Not only have certain lyrics influenced the way teens speak but also their actions. An article on Headliners.org stated that “lyrics in the music are too violent and are to blame for many problems.” The problems range anywhere from suicide and aggression towards women to underage drinking and drug use. Lyrics are not only to blame, but also what people see in artists’ music videos can affect what they do (Doaks). The urge to emulate these rap musicians has escalated quickly causing a spike in rebellious tendencies among teens.

Censorship in music has been a major problem plaguing America since the early nineteen forties. It came to a head during the nineteen sixties with the Vietnam War and the hippie movement. During the nineteen seventies and eighties heavy metal and hard rock were getting the brunt of the censorship heat. Now in the nineteen nineties the major focus of censorship is rap; primarily gangster rap. Some of the main factors of music in general that cause legal ramifications are sexual content, suggestive violence and obscene language. Censorship is an attack against our first amendment right guaranteeing the freedom of speech. However if a song or album is deemed obscene the first amendment does not protect this.

Music is subjective which means people will often voice their opinions on it, and undoubtedly one of the most controversial genres that has sparked a barrage of disapproval is rap. It is believed and further encouraged by the media that rap music promotes a bad lifestyle. With corruption being apparent around the world it is easy for the media to put the blame on a genre of music that is filled with explicit lyrics about violence, drugs, and rebellious subject matters. However, further investigation will reveal that because of its accurate depiction of reality, and wide variety of categories, rap music does not encourage an unhealthy lifestyle.

“Censorship, like charity should begin at home; but unlike charity, it should end there,” is a quote by Clare Boothe Luce (Fitzhenry, 84). Some parents are against the censorship of music. They believe that they should raise their kids, not some politicians who believe one nasty word will change a whole child’s future.

Music is one of the most popular ways of expression and has been for generations. It makes us want to dance, inspires, soothes, relaxes, and sometimes tells us a story. Music is something the whole world shares and has brought together different kinds of people. However, there has been a question on whether some music has affected society negatively and crossed the line with some of its lyrics, content, and the persona of the artists. Certain music has been boycotted and even banned in the U.S. Pro-censorship supporters say that music is something that can deeply affect our society especially children who should not have to be subjected to things like violence, sex, drugs, or hate. However, being that music is a form of expression,

There is no disputing that society is influenced by its choices of entertainment. Some ways in which people are influenced are positive, but others are harmful. In the society we live in, the harmful ways always outnumber the positive. If we gravitated toward the positive forms of entertainment a little more often than the negative, then our society would have fewer problems. Popular music has a negative effect on society and endorses a lack of creativity.