Who is to Blame?

Many believe the violence epidemic has swept out nation’s youth from underneath moral control and has manifested itself as the social question of the modern era.  At the center of this social question is the ongoing debate of violence in music and its inevitable negative effects on today’s youth.  In turn, America’s focus has often been applying blame for such tragedies as Columbine High School and other disturbing violent youth trends particularly toward lyrical content.  The famous classical Italian composer, Antonio Vivaldi, has best defined “music” when he wrote, “Music is an expression of my soul’s light . . .my being is visible through my music,” (Vivaldi).  Music is an expression of its creator, his emotions and his beliefs; simply his persona.  Many feel that the music of today’s world is no more than a reflection of our own society, in that it is shaped and molded by the individual lives of its creators, but it is only accepted and shared by the masses because music expresses the experiences of our common goals and aspirations.  Music cannot be blamed for today’s youth unrest without blaming society as a whole, from which the music and culture is generated.

“The prevailing opinion in the media and the government is that listening to violent lyrics leads to violent behavior,” (Youth Violence and Music).  With one in five adolescents exposed to a violent act on a daily basis, arrest rates of young people for homicide and other violent crimes have skyrocketed since 1970 (Youth Violence).  It is obviously easy to make the correlation between youth violence and violent music lyrics in gangster rap, when most contain graphic depictions of murder, rape, and violence.  In addition to constantly calling women bitches, hoes, and tricks, Master P., for example, has written many songs about torture, rape, how to make crack-cocaine, and neighborhood violence (Ghetto Dope).  Extensive research by the American Academy of Pediatrics indicates that exposure to violence in music (as well as other forms of media) can contribute to aggressive and anti-social behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed (American Academy of Pediatrics).  Considering the mounting evidence by many leading researchers in the field of youth violence and American Academy of Pediatrics’ claim, it would be futile to contest that violent lyrics do not lead to violent behavior.  There is no dispute over this issue, merely a second point that is part of a much larger equation; that is, why is the violence in music being produced?

“They thought of me when they invented the gun / To tell the truth I prefer the knife because I’m a physical nigga / I’ll go in your chest and show you how to murder right.” This a quote from rapper Styles P’s new album, A Gangster and a Gentleman.  Styles P is currently awaiting a ten-month sentence stemming from a stabbing incident earlier this year (Creckmur).  Styles P is not alone.  Many other artists today are facing legal problems that are the result of the lifestyle they have written songs about.  R & B singer, R. Kelly is famous for making provocative songs like “Bump and Grind,” “The Greatest Sex Ever,” and “Feeling your Booty.” While today, R. Kelly is more famous for the twenty-one counts of child pornography he has been indicted on allegedly videotaping himself performing lewd sexual acts with an under aged girl (Reid).  A further example is former Bad Boy artist, Shyne.  Now facing up to twenty-five years in prison, Shyne’s violent lyrics from his, “Let Me See Your Hands,” manifested into reality at a December 27, 1999 shooting in a New York nightclub.  Shyne’s lyrics read:  “Gun cockin’ and poppin’ / Somebody call Cochran/ No time to waste / Nine in my waist / Ready for war any time, any place/ F**k it, just another case” (Hiatt).   Surreal though it seems to some, is it not possible that many artists are simply depicting the lifestyles they lead? Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that the consumers that purchase their music and keep them in business are doing so because they lead similar lifestyles and can relate to their life experiences. 

Soon after the tragic shootings at Columbine High School, the media immediately began to dissect the lives of the two teenagers who were responsible for the heinous crime.  The media’s response was very clear; they abruptly focused their blame toward the music group, KMFDM, whose violent song lyrics were posted on the shooter’s web site.  KMFDM instantly became the scapegoat for the Columbine incident, and was ostracized by most of mainstream America.  Though in the case of KMFDM, can one source of violence be blamed for an entire nation’s youth violence problem? Did the media ever explore the two teenager’s home lives, social activities or parents? The answer is no (Andersim).  This question ultimately relates back to our social question, in correspondence to a complex and vast equation in which youth violence and music are only a fraction of our nation’s growing enigma.  It is easy to point a finger; it is almost a subconscious instinct in humans.  The media and society in general tend to allocate entire blame to a single portion of the problem, neglecting the fact that music is a reflection of figures in society; they are quite simply touching only the surface of a much deeper problem within.  The social implications of blaming an entire society for a breakdown in old rules and limits that once governed our public lives and the way we raise our children are beyond the realm of a society that cannot accept blame for its own actions.

At the other end of the spectrum are the music industries that create the artists.  When applied to our social question though, the relationship seems to revolve around the same social implications that apply to society as a whole.  Many believe record companies have found a winning equation in violent music; the artists and industries are creating prominent fixations that sell.  After all, is this not the purpose of the American industry; to generate income, even if that sometimes means furthering the limits of what is morally correct? (Eminem and the Grammys …).

Some feel our culture has learned to accept that money is what make the world turn, as every aspect of our lives is determined by income and such high precedence is placed on wealth.  From social status to simply providing food for one’s family, money or the cultural ideology of seeking money is often the single most driving factor in our day-to-day lives.  Yet another reason related to the social goal of America and a further reason why violent music is a product of the society in which we live is that artists and record producers alike are merely pursuing the American dream of wealth.

Such disturbing scenes as those from Columbine High School have become an almost everyday event for Americans; though when considering the impact of violence in music, we must also consider the relationship between other factors in society that may contribute to violent lyrics and violent behavior in general.  “Social conditions such as poverty, racial discrimination, substance abuse, inadequate schools, unemployment, family conflict and dissolution all contribute to an environment that fosters violence” (Aggressors or Victims …).  All of which, with the exception of racial discrimination,  have steadily been on the rise since the 1950’s. In correlation to these findings there has been a sharp increase in homicides and violent crime since that time, yet the emergence of violent lyrical content in commercial music did not appear until the end of the mid 1980’s.  In addition, this was a period of time in which American culture had already been saturated with violence (Youth Violence).

There ultimately is a connection between a listener and his/her music.  Nonetheless, it all goes back to the same question, does the music create the audience or does the audience create the music? Some people live amid violence and use music to cope.  Others are just intrigued by violence and buy the music as a form of amusement.  It appears to be a continuum of violence:  society performs it, music reflects it, and society reiterates.