Should artists censor themselves for kids
"I don't ever want everybody to know everything that I'm joking about and serious about. That's the fun with creating and doing music.” Eminem has probably been one of the most controversial artists of his time. He is the first white rapper to make it mainstream, (besides the one hit- wonder Vanilla – Ice) is a five time Grammy award winner, and has sold millions of records. Ironically enough, Eminem could be considered both the most hated and the most loved rapper of the last 5 years. The controversy surrounding him stems from the lyrical content of his albums containing songs about killing his wife and his mother, insulting other pop stars, and homophobic rants to name a few. “Chris Kirkpatrick, you can get your ass kicked Worse than them little Limp Bizkit bastards, And Moby, you can get stomped by Obie, You 36 year old bald headed fag blow me Let go, it's over, nobody listens to techno” Eminem’s justifications for using these hate lyrics boil down to the fact that he is expressing himself as an artist and that there is a parental advisory sticker on his CDs, as he realizes that young kids shouldn’t be listening to them. Parents argue that these stickers, . . .
which don’t allow children under the age of thirteen to purchase the cds, are not enforced properly by retailers, if enforced at all. Spears has always continued to press the envelope with her sexual nature, however she continuously made extremely hypocritical statements. While that doesn’t seem like anything worth talking about in recent times, it was a definite alarm for parents. There is a thin line between freedom of speech and “overdoing” it. Spears’ music is surface level “fun” pop, contains no profanity, and little if any references to sex, yet she still manages to incorporate it into every performance and every video. Why is that Eminem’s or any other artist’s responsibility? Technically speaking, the artist is not responsible for the enforcement of these stickers, but maybe they should be. Parents should be responsible for their children and what they listen to, although that does not mean that artists should have free reign over everything they say and do. Parents and many activist groups like GLAAD, (The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) have tried to put a stop to or at least censor some of Eminem’s hateful songs, arguing that they feel it most likely has a negative impact on the young listeners. Spears should think about targeting her music toward an older audience; it would make her appear less hypocritical and “allow” her to perform with less ridicule. The controversy that surrounded her began when her first video came out featuring her in a school girl outfit, revealing her midriff. With every performance and appearance, it is now being expected of her to raise a few eyebrows and show just a little bit more skin. If you don’t want to listen to it because of that, then don’t. I think artists should take into consideration their main audience when performing/writing, etc. Considering that the majority of her fan base are mainly girls aged 8-15, where does that leave parents? When Spears was asked if she had thought about what kind of message she was sending to these young girls (concerning her provocative outfits and dancing) she replied: “I think it’s honestly up to their parents to explain to them that I’m a performer, and that when I’m on stage, that’s my time to perform and express myself.
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