Monday, June 3, 2019

Music and Censorship

Music and censorshipMusic and CensorshipMusic today is an important fraction of our lives. It is a way to utter ourselves as individuals and it is a form of art that helps us define who and what we ar. We use it to express our touch sensations, our views, and our ideas. Today, many artists are faced with censoring and is one of the controversial things that they have to deal with. Censorships purpose is to limit or restrict certain parts of a certain subject. In music haggle are either changed or bleeped come out of the closet so that it would be considered appropriate. But, if music considered an art form, then why censor it? Musicians are artists and music is their way of expres chant themselves. Censorship takes away everything that defines art and what makes artists artists.In music, there are different types of styles or genres. There is classical, pop, rock, country, metal, and the list would go on. But theres a certain genre thats primarily tar stoped by censorsand that is blame. Rap is probably one of the most popular music genres today, but is also one of the most criticized one. The reason why it is criticized so more than is because it has explicit content usually having references to sex, drugs, and violence. To some citizenry they believe that it promotes sex, drug usage, and violence acts while others believe that its only s open firetily self expression. So what if it does gabble about all these bad things? What happened to freedom of expression? Freedom to create andfreedom of speechare vital to our society. Music is art and there is no question about that. Censors contend to realize that art not only explores on ingenious and pleasant feelings, but also fear, anger, sadness, and truth in our everyday lives. It is essential to recognize that aside from lyrical quality, there are other things the makeup music. In Victor Lombardis Music and Censorship, he quotes Peter Michaelsons, author of The Aesthetics of Pornography in utter T he responsibility of society, if it accepts poetry as a mode of knowledge, is to remain open to what poets of all genres, including the pornographic, have to say. Otherwise all mirrors will soon reflect the similar imbecilic smile.Censorship isnt something new in fact, its something thats been implemented dating stake in the early 1940s. In Kathleen Anthonys article Censorship of Popular Music An summary of Lyrical Content, she states In the 1950s radio networks and stations commonly used this form of censorship, altering song lyrics or removing lyrics deemed offensive for broadcastoften the songs sum was changed considerably and without consulting the songs original lyricist for the revition(8). In 1985, albums began cosmos labeled with maternal Advisory for explicit content. In Steve Joness article Ban(ned)in the USA Popular Music and Censorship, he states the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) agreed to Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) Request for lables o n sound recordings warning of explicit content(6). However, The Parental Advisory labels and tracks that were edit have only made rap artists even more inspired and creative, and thats why listeners are even more drawned to it. Many listeners neediness to hear the original version of the music or track that is censored because it doesnt convey the truth. While some artists choose to write about love, nature, or happy thoughts, others choose to write about struggles in life. If the words in the lyrics are articulated in a manner that is offensive and makes the person uncomfortable, the solution is to simply not listen to it.One of the most controversial music artists today is Eminem. A lot of people absolutely love him and a lot of people hate him. Using his incredible skills in writing and rhyming, he is able to rap pretty more than about anything and everything, from his hardships in his early life and his disapproval for the mainstream media, he became one of the most well know n iconic rapper today. To artists, their work is their pride, it is what defines them and their work is their reflection of themselves. To censor their work is to deny them their ability to express themselves. In Eminems song Till I Collapse, he dialog about the importance of his music and how it affects him.Music is like magic theres a certain feeling you get when youre real and you spit and people are feeling your shit. This is your moment and every single minute you spend trying to hold onto it cause you may never get it again. So while youre in it try to get as much shit as you can and when your run is over just admit when its at its end.Eminem feels that it important to hold on that something that is dear you (which is the feeling he experiences when he raps) and not give it up because that is what you are and the feeling you get when you have that is something that you might experience again. Cause sometimes you feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like yo u wanna just give up. But you gotta search at heart you, you gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.In his song Stimulate he talks about how his songs are attacked by censors and people who dislike his music.My lyrical content is constantly under fire No wonder why I constantly bomb back To combat attacks with constant concepts When lyrics are constantly took outta context Failure to communicate with congress has Been a problem for the longest, I guessEminem is telling the listeners that his lyrics constantly attacked because of the things he says in his music and how everything taken out of context. This only causes him to retaliate by creating more songs based on the reactions hes getting. What people need to realize is that some topics that the artists sing about are purely for entertainment and are not meant literally.My mu sic can be slightly amusing You shouldnt take lyrics so serious, it might be confusing Just trying to seperate the truth from entertainment Its stupid, aint it? I get sick of trying to explain itAccording to one interview with Eminem, he was quoted as saying A lot of my rhymes are just to get chuckles out of people. Anybody with half a brain is going to be able to tell when Im intercommunicate and when Im serious. However, according to Todd Brauers article Rap Uncensored, This is actually quite uncommon. There are many rappers with lyrics like this and most dont bother to clarify what they say as being just entertainment. Rap does present the hard truth about many aspects of inner-city life and our nations hidden problems, but people, especially kids, need to learn that a walloping portion of the violence, drugs, sex, vulgar language, and images used in rap music are not something to admire.Even though some many of the rap songs are offensive, it talks about inequality, poverty an d politics which contain important messages that people can definitely relate to. This is why so many of the people who lash out against rap music are white people.In Robin Lakoffs book, The Language War, it was explained that the majority group has a tendency to overlook opposing views to keep their motive. One can look at Eminem as part of a majority group however, since he has such a strong relationship with the black culture it makes him an short target to get bashed. In Bell Hooks interview with rapper Ice Cube she stated The way that white people continue their power is, in part, through their control of our (the black races) images and representations. If someone has control over who gets to say what, then those people have the power to define society.This pretty much says the war over rapcensorshipis not only a battle over whether or not the First Amendment is being crossed, but it is also an attempt by those in power of language to prevent change and suppress those threat ening it.Efforts to ban songs by artists like Eminemand Ice Cube would balloon the us versus them mind-set even more, leading to people who do not support the songs lyrics but do support free speech (Chideya). The basis of America is to let everyone be able to voice their own opinion so I dont see any good reason for that to be completely taken away. Warning labels, edited album versions, and age restrictions on buying labeled albums serve as a fair compromise without largely limiting peoples access to rap music. I dont think there is a way to completely stop people from obtaining this music without violating some of our constitutional rights. Again, education about the lyrics and topics that exist in rap music seems to be a better combatant.

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