By: Inky Rose
Imagine you are in your car driving with your child/younger sibling and you're just minding your own business. You are just listening to the radio and spending quality time together. Then suddenly the song "Super Freaky Girl" just starts playing. Children everywhere are being exposed to this overly sexualized music. Musicians and artists are on the rise thanks to apps like YouTube and TikTok, meaning you can get famous over-night. But sadly, this also means that the artists are subpar, and the lyrics aren't meaningful anymore. When someone ends up becoming TikTok famous, they decide to make more songs like it, mainly about the same thing. Sex...
Now don't get me wrong, sex is natural and a normal thing that humans do, as adults hopefully. However, we shouldn't be shoving these lyrics into their brains. They might use this language in school, or around their friends, and that becomes a bigger problem. Here is an example of the song "Super Freaky Girl," by Nicki Minaj:
"I can lick it, I can ride it while you slipping and sliding
I can do all them little tricks, and keep the dick up inside it
You can smack it, you can grip it, you can go down and kiss it
And every time he leave me 'lone, he always tell me he miss it"
It only gets worse from there, but I dare not go further. Unfortunately, this is proof that even seasoned and professional artists are becoming subjects to this trend. Regrettably, I have heard this song, among others, that were complete smut. I go places with my family, which includes younger siblings that aren't even teens yet, and I hear that song and other songs like "Need to know," "Sweetest pie," and many others that were about the same thing. My father works in a job that takes him all over the place to many states and cities, I often go with him to help, and we put the radio on so we don't get bored. Most of the songs are the same, and I get tired of hearing them. I've had to hear those songs on loop for an entire week! As someone who loves all types of genres and time periods of music, it is sad to see music suffer because of the new generations of artists. Granted, I am not saying that all artists are bad and sexualizing their music. There are some genuinely good artists that talk about meaningful things. Some a good example would be Olivia Rodrigo. She sings about her experiences of heartbreak and loss. I feel like that is what we should see more of.
Music from the 70's- early 2000's are somewhat meaningful and even need a bit of deeper thinking to understand it. Some examples, and some of my favorites, are the songs "Californication," by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and "Numb," By Linkin Park. These artists were popular in the early 2000's The song "Californication" talks about what you would find in California:
"Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation
And little girls from Sweden dream of silver-screen quotation
And if you want these kind of dreams
It's Californication"
The second line goes from the fact that people from all over seek recognition and the credentials that Hollywood, and some of the most famous actresses from Hollywood were Swedish like Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman.
The song "Numb" by Linkin Park talks about being completely under someone's control that they are trying to make you more like them.
"I'm becoming this All I want to do Is be more like me And be less like you
Can't you see that you're smothering me Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control? 'Cause everything that you thought I would be Has fallen apart right in front of you"
Lately, the songs have become more mundane, generic, and just overall bad. I believe the only reason these artists get by with their songs is because they make their songs extra-catchy, so that you get an earworm that lasts for a long time. More specifically, our brain releases dopamine when we hear a song that we’ve heard a few times before, and the effect gets stronger with each listen. The quality of music has been steadily declining over the years. So, I think it's safe to say the "quality over quantity" saying applies to the music industry.
Another issue that doesn't sit right with me is how women depict themselves in these music videos. They wear overly revealing clothing to a point where all they wear is a thong or underwear. I believe this is a set back for women. It's making them go back to a time where they were just objects of pleasure, something to look at. According to unicefUSA.org,"The objectification and sexualization of girls in the media are linked to violence against women and girls worldwide. Every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence. Nearly one in five girls is sexually abused at least once in her life." These women are both a good and bad thing. They may inspire young girls to be like them in all the wrong ways. They may want to dress like them, act like them, and dance like them. The video below is an example of this.
(Doja cat- Need to Know music video below)
Now, the "Parental Advisory" warning on music albums help to prevent children from being exposed to vulgar language or topics they really shouldn't know about. But the majority of people listen to the radio. According to NPR.org:
"Approximately 156 million people age 18+, 63% of U.S. adults - listen to AM/FM radio daily."
However, the Parental Advisory warning isn't that useful anymore. The reason is because of the radio, YouTube, and other platforms. So the question rises, do we really need it?
The answer is no, since it is rendered useless because of technology. Therefore, children will still see this nonsense. You can try to put parental controls or use YouTube kids, but even then, your child's innocence isn't guaranteed.
Nowadays, you have to be careful as to what your child or younger siblings is listening to, or putting in their mind. It's not just with music. Movies and TV shows put a lot of sexually explicit where they don't need to be. But woefully, sex sells...
Some cases, we can't control what our children or younger siblings see online, or on TV. Even their own friends could challenge their innocence because they were exposed to things children shouldn't know about.
Now, let me express one last statement about this type of music, teens. Teenage girls are going to listen to these songs, which are about sex, and it will make them think about having sex themselves. Now, this is an issue in it's own, but there is a chance of unwanted pregnancy because of unprotected sex. Ideally, they shouldn't be learning about sex through songs, or even consider the thought of it. But with the rise hyper sexualized music, this future may not be so great. According to CDC.Gov;
"Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school dropout rates among girls. Only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age, whereas approximately 90% of women who do not give birth during adolescence graduate from high school."
So not only is the teen herself giving birth at a young age, but she is also dropping out of high school, and not getting the educational criteria that needs to be earned to get a job. Which ultimately leads to insufficient care for the child. All this is the result of influence by the media, or by peers who have also been influenced and spread the influence.
Either way, hyper sexualized music of today is causing negative impacts in more ways you can think of. If these types of media keeps being spreading, the innocence of our youths will be compromised, and we might not get the future we were expecting.
This was an interesting topic for me to write about and was something I've always wanted to express. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope you learned something today.
Thanks for reading!
Have a wonderful day/night!
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