Provocative Music Is Nothing New
Countering The Argument That The Quality Of Music Has Deteriorated In The Modern Era.
With the 2010’s having spawned a plethora of new musical genres, including the highly ambivalent mumble rap and trap genres, along with more explicit and transparent lyrics, continuous debate has struck over the current quality of music, with many offering the misinformed assumption that music of today is more ‘tasteless’ than the music of times before. This debate came to a crescendo in 2020 with the release of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP”, with its explicit reference to feminine sexual pleasure.
People were taken aback by the song’s provocative nature, questioning the duo’s integrity by making reference to music of the past, citing it as having had greater depth and ‘decency’ than today’s music. Granted, “WAP” is not one of my personal favourite songs, however, it does open the door to the mistruth that assumes that musical quality of the current day has deteriorated due to its explicitness. Explicit music has, in fact, been around for a long time, and contrary to the argument that explicit music means bad music, the ability to speak plainly about sexuality, or using curse words without restriction, does not necessarily devalue the artist’s musical integrity, nor does it make the music less enjoyable.
Take for example, Lucille Bogan, who was known for her sexually explicit lyrics. One of her songs, “Shave ‘em dry”, which is said to have been released sometime between 1924 and 1935 begins with the lyrics “I got nipples on my titties, big as the end of my thumb”, only getting more explicit as the song continues. The blues tune in which Bogan speaks candidly about sex, is a testament to women’s sexual agency, which, although may present a shock to some, has always existed.
It is only now that we have entered an age during which speaking about sex and sexuality has begun to be slowly destigmatized, and these sentiments have become more easy to share over social media, that it seems as though musical explicitness is something new. Even Prince himself issued a number of controversial songs in the 1980s with titles like “Erotic City” and “Head”.Apart from sexually charged expletives, some music back in the day also exhibited vulgar language within its songwriting.
Rap group NWA, who were active between the late-1980s and early-1990s, were among the most notable artists of the explicit, never shying away from using plenty of curse words in their music, and oftentimes even making use of derogatory language towards women in particular. Their lyrics were deemed misogynistic and offensive by many, with American radio stations having banned a number of their songs. They are just one among a number of artists of the time who dabbled in explicit and vulgar language.
It was not only in song lyrics that this explicitness was exhibited, but many album covers also took risks, leaning subtly, or even outrightly into provocative themes. In 1965, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass released a jazz/latin/pop album called “Whipped Cream And Other Delights”, with the cover featuring a naked woman covered in whipped cream. Furthermore, an album released in 1962 with the title “Strip Along With Us” featured a woman wearing nothing but underwear and gloves with her hands covering her bare chest. Prince’s 1988 “Lovesexy” album cover also featured a naked Prince with flowers behind him.
For as much as there were explicit songs, there were explicit album covers, however, this did not deter from the talent exhibited by some of these artists. Granted, some artists may have been explicit and vulgar merely for the sake of shock factor, without having anything to offer melodically or lyrically, and some may have leaned into the vulgarity of their lyrics so much that it drew offense and rightful criticism, however, these cases do not take away from the number of artists that produced candidly explicit music that could actually be enjoyed if given the chance. The exact same can be said for music today. Some artists may be attempting to take back their sexual agency or practice their right to freedom of expression through explicit lyrics, whilst others may not, however, it is unfair to account this modern openness to explicitness solely to the artists of today without acknowledging their influences from the past.
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