It’s safe to say that themes within mainstream music have become less modest over the decades.
The days when The Beatles expressed their desire “to hold your hand” have evolved into more explicit sentiments like rap group The Ying Yang Twin’s “wait til you see my dick.” What brought on this drastic transformation of content?
The cultural revolution of the 1960s fueled a more open minded and tolerant atmosphere especially in regards to the arts. Mainstream music transformed from a family friendly affair into sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. This wasn’t an instant and complete transformation, though. Slowly, throughout the 60’s and 70’s, America began to embrace the music of the counter-culture. Society’s youth developed an obsession with the rock star mentality and lifestyle. Economic prosperity was reflected in the art of the period, and the rock star was excess personified. Then came the 80’s…
As a country we really let loose and engaged in some questionable behavior. Skirts shortened, colors brightened, and our morality transformed as we questioned ourselves and searched for our place in the cosmos. This is when mainstream music really took the gloves off so to speak. The music video became an extremely popular outlet during the 80s. Along with explicit lyrics came explicit images of women, partying, and drugs. This carried on full force into the 90s. Hip hop’s mainstream success became fuel for the fire. Blunts, 40s, and bitches hijacked our air waves and showed the world our true carnal desires in the most catchy and energetic form of art we had constructed to date.
With the creation of the internet music proliferated across the globe with a speed previously impossible. Record labels and radio stations lost their iron grip on the control of content and ideas that an artist can present. Any individual is now able to create and freely distribute music worldwide. With this capability, predictably, the sickos and degenerates have come out of the wood work.
Explicit sexual and violent content is commonplace in even mainstream music today. Certain satellite radio stations are uncensored, virtually all internet content is uncensored, and good ol’ television is even uncensored in some cases during the late night hours. Cursing, nudity, and the gambit of what used to be considered immoral behavior is now being broadcasted and/or streamed 24 hours a day. Is this a good or bad situation? Are we being more honest with ourselves by showing the darker more raw side of life? OR are we losing our minds and our sense of decency as a culture? That, my readers, is for you to decide…