Explicit Rap Lyrics Op-Ed

With all of the technology advancements in todays society, music has changed a lot in the past decade or so. The internet allows for easy transfer and purchase of music from virtually anyone and anywhere. Radios have more music stations and new mp3 products are developed all of the time and are built into almost every phone. Music is expanding throughout society and one kind of music that is becoming more popular and acceptable is “explicit” music. Words that never were spoken before are now loosely said all of the time. As many people argue that using explicit language is wrong, I believe that certain words and ideas are needed to express the true work and message coming from the artist.

Lyrics are becoming more and more vulgar as artists gain more freedom, reaching points that were unheard of not too long ago. Although these lyrics can be offensive and wrong, it is ultimately your choice of what music you want to listen to and that is the beauty of it. Despite new genres of Music coming into play like electronic/ E.D.M and others going out of play like disco, a type of music that has stuck around since it’s birth in the early 80’s is hip-hop/rap.

Rap music has evolved quite a bit in the past decade and you can find many important messages inside this genre. However, the main message of a lot of these songs are that these artist are above the law, taking part in illegal activity. These are lessons that nobody should admire or take part in. It is also common for rappers to objectify women. Too often this is seen as acceptable and the ideas are glorified by the artist and their fans. Although a lot of the messages delivered come off as bad, many are good too. For example, Macklemore’s song, “Same Love” goes against the common stereotype of what a rapper should talk about in his music. This song conveys a good message about equality which is almost never touched on in rap.  

Marshall Mathers, known as Eminem, is considered one of the best rappers of all time. His jabby and assertive tone creates a different kind of feel when listening to his music. Artists sometimes need bad language and other controversial ideas to convey certain messages within their music. Eminem definitely uses this tactic which is how he gets his story and ideas to the people listening to him. In the song “Spacebound” he talks about a past relationship where he explains the pain and anger from being rejected by somebody he loved and trusted. He uses words that nobody would say out loud and this conveys how serious his emotions were when writing it.

Now that it’s more acceptable to use explicit rap lyrics, musical artists have more freedom and range in the music that they create. Even though explicit music may not be for everyone, I think that there is a time and place for everything and the language that the artist wants to use is very important.