Music is the soundtrack to life, and it makes life more vibrant, more creative and more enjoyable. If music is perceived to be a part of our personalities, and if it can affect our moods, our actions and our interests, can it actually affect our perspectives? I believe that lyrics — and the values they communicate to the listener — have effects larger than perceived on how we think and act.
Many — maybe most — popular songs one can think of contain, in some context, some reference to materialism, violence, racial, sexual and other slurs or engagement in immoral actions. Honestly, many songs I listen to on a regular basis contain several of these problematic features. When I think about it, I recognize how the messages in music can — and do — affect myself and others, without our awareness.
A 2008 report from the the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that “one in three popular songs contains explicit references to drug or alcohol use.” A 2005 study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that “the average adolescent is exposed to approximately 84 references to explicit substance use per day and 591 references per week, or 30,732 references per year.” The same study found that “9 percent of pop songs had lyrics relating to drugs or alcohol … 14 percent for rock songs, 20 percent for R&B and hip-hop songs, 36 percent for country songs and 77 percent for rap songs.”
This is based off the 279 most popular songs from 2005, which were determined by Billboard magazine, a measure of popular music. It also found that only around “4 percent of the songs contained ‘anti’-drug and alcohol messages.”
Even today, one need not search long to find lyrics that promote sexism or racism, liken women to gold-diggers or promote the chase for quick, easy money. As Brown students, we may think ourselves above this. We may think that listening to music with negative messages on our headphones or dancing to such music at parties doesn’t affect us.
For one thing, we’re not even really listening to the lyrics, right? And if so, we’re not thinking about them. But repetition ingrains not just words but also ideas and messages in your mind. That verse you love to recite when that song comes on — like the verse about how much money Jay-Z has or how many “hot (witches)” Kanye West owns or how a woman is likened to “an animal” by Robin Thicke — is not just a verse that sits there in your mind until you’re ready to pull it out at a party and sing along. It is playing a part in how you perceive things.
Music is a form of media, and any message, through repetition, takes root in its consumer’s mind. The line that divides things we hear but don’t buy into, and those that we hear and believe, becomes increasingly blurred with repetition and constant exposure.
Youth are especially susceptible to being affected by the messages of music with negative lyrics and portrayals, especially because they have not grown to realize that these claims may be wildly inaccurate. Rick Ross is probably leasing that Bugatti that he’s using in his video, Drake probably hasn’t actually “made $2 million since last Wednesday” and illegal activities such as selling drugs or gang violence are more likely to get you in jail or in a grave than in a mansion. Many of these artists who promote certain acts have not actually engaged in the activities they glorify. Equally likely is the possibility that these musicians do lead the dangerous lives they claim, and their lives may actually serve as cautionary tales once one looks beyond their fabricated, glossy celebrity images. We may not be “youth” any longer, but we still are not immune to some of these subtle influences.
It is important for us all to think about what that song that we’re dancing to is really saying. Could you dance to a song that contains offensive material or perpetuates ignorance? If it’s catchy, maybe that doesn’t matter to you. But while you’re dancing, just think about what forms of ignorance that song’s lyrics may be perpetuating or what immoral ideas and actions the song may encourage, and render those words powerless in your mind. Do not let your mind be imprisoned by negativity and ignorance.
Armani Madison ’16 is primarily a fan of rap music, especially when the music has a positive message. He can be reached at armani_madison@brown.edu.
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