Brown 1

Andrew Brown

CAS 301H

Dr. Freymiller

November 18, 2021

The United States Shifting Perception on Explicit Mainstream Music

There are not many people in this world that don't appreciate music. New free streaming

services and cheap ways to access music allow almost everyone to enjoy it. People make

playlists, enjoy Taylor Swift, and aspiring young artists can craft their legacies. Music has

changed in contingency with humankind. One concept that's been evolving rapidly in

mainstream music is expletives. Expletives are a controversial staple in mainstream music. Since

1938, Artists have circumvented most music censorships to give expletives their prominent

status in the music industry. American Mainstream music has progressed from a zero-tolerance

policy to an everyday normalization of expletives. This shift emphasizes culture's growing

promotional behaviors regarding expletive rhetoric within popular music.

The 1930s: PUTTING THE "F" IN BUCKET

It's hard to trace the origin of expletives in mainstream music. Some classic folk songs contained

profane language, but these are not in mainstream music. People considered the music local since
 Brown 2

it spread within specific historical groups. Most original mainstream music was considered

"classical" by today's standards. Mozart and Beethoven didn't include any words in their

masterpieces. Soon Jazz and Ragtime took over the mainstream. Jazz combined funky music

with soulful vocals from famous singers like Louie Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank

Sinatra. Soulful singers broadcasting their stories, messages, and feelings required the use of

powerful syntax. It was only a matter of time before an artist broke the censorship barrier to

illustrate their message.

This time came in the 1930s with famous pianist Eddy Duchin. Duchin was a prominent

pianist known for creating covers of loved music. Duchin's covers were not just his act; he

frequently collaborated with vocalist Patricia Norman. In 1938, Duchin worked with Norman to

create a cover of "Ol' Man Mose" by Louie Armstrong. Covers were a big deal back in the 30s-

40s. Pop music asked famous artists frequently to perform covers of other notable artists' music.

America was excited about this new cover, but their attitudes flipped. While singing the phrase

"buck-it" on the cover, Norman pronounced the phrase oddly. When listeners heard Norman's

pronunciation, they thought she said: "fuck-it" instead of "buck-it" (Cross). Many listeners were

outraged, so many radio stations removed the cover. Just as with most scandals, the expletives

made a stir in American culture. People were intrigued over this mishap – whether it was

intentional or not.
 Brown 3

This first era showed the sensitivity of the American ear. Expletives were never in

popular music, let alone played on the radio. Many used to consider profanities taboo. People

were nervous they'd experience "low birth rates" or "low crop yields" by "upsetting their god"

(Adams 4). Norman – whether intentionally or not – broke the barrier in mainstream music. A

large portion of people spoke expletives in their daily lives. However, music was a whole extra

step since songs commanded an audience of friends and strangers.

The 1960s-70s: WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU?

After Norman, censorship was hardcore. Elvis frequently got in trouble for being too suggestive.

Artists tested barriers, so the radio responded. This censorship remained strong until an era of

radical change swept America. The 60s-70s featured rock legends such as The Beatles, Pink

Floyd, Bob Dylan, and The Who. These musical artists (s) had pivotal standings in society and

culture. Their songs stood as anthems for the nation to adore and worship. Their songs stood as

anthems for war, politics, and cultural controversies. Their band/artist personas captured a broad

audience of world listeners.

The goliath rock bands/artists of the 60s and 70s served as unconventional role models.

These energetic figureheads often promoted drug use, sexual activity, and other activities

deemed inappropriate by society. These artists took advantage of their creative licenses – which
 Brown 4

were fostered by fame. Songs filled with questionable content, including expletives, began to fill

their discographies.

Often the expletives were subtle inserts into the music. Roger Daltrey of The Who

partook in the shenanigans on the famous track "Who are You"; He filled the chorus with a quick

"Who the fuck are you line" after the main refrain (Daltrey). The unnecessary addition was

iconic yet denied. He hid the expletive in a fast-slurring part of the song. Hiding the profanity

allowed the track to be aired uncensored on most radio stations. Some listeners noticed this

expletive, but this didn't prevent it from being aired. The government was more focused on other

messages such as drug and anti-government-related content. President Nixon met with 70 radio

broadcasters in 1970 to convince them to censor paraphernalia and anti-government songs

("Censorship in Radio").

Despite loose expletive censorship, not everyone had freedom of speech on the radio.

George Carlin was a famous comedian in the 1970s. He was nationally known for his stand-up

comedy and social critiques. He commanded respect through his questionable comedy style; this

comedy style didn't receive everyone's praise, however. In 1972, the police arrested Carlin in

Milwaukee for performing his "7 Dirty Words" monologue ("Obscenity Case Files: FCC v.

Pacifica Foundation"). The media aired the monologue, so his exact words were immortalized in
 Brown 5

history. Despite his legendary status, the radio censored his performance. Censorships were

lighter in the 60s-70s but not non-existent.

1980s-90s: HIDE YOUR WALKMANS! MY MOMS HERE!

The 70s served as a progression of free speech in music. New artists continued to press societal

and industrial barriers with their expletive use. Soon the 80s and 90s came around the corner

with an onslaught of new music genres. Rap and heavy metal/punk rock were two genres that

headlined this era. Popular music taste changed as more support for these questionable genres

emerged. Instead of using the hidden expletive technique, the genres just blatantly used

expletives. Songs featuring profanities were everywhere for purchase and on some radio stations.

Not everyone was a fan of this change, so people reckoned they had to make a change. In

1985, several angry parents brought the case to the Recording Industry Association of America.

These parents wanted a full-out ban of this style of music by banning it. Famous music figures

John Denver, Dee Snyder, and Frank Zapp combated the opposition by backing the RIAA

(Soke). With growing parental pressure and government involvement, the RIAA had appeased

the masses by creating their parental advisory label. The parental advisory label is still required

to be visible on any album containing expletives.

The RIAA introduced the parental advisory label in 1990. The advisory had two goals

which aimed to prevent young audiences from hearing explicit music. The first goal was to find
 Brown 6

and label questionable music. The RIAA required all suspect music producers to put the parental

advisory label on the album or solo. The advisory was a liability warning to any young person

who may purchase or listen to the music. The secondary goal of the label was to create clean

versions of suspect music. The RIAA knew that banning explicit music from radios would hurt

the music industry. They also knew that many people were offended by the current music

censorship system. To compromise, they told producers to make clean edits of their songs for

radio use (Schonfeld).

As with many solutions for challenging issues, the advisory label had hidden

consequences. The RIAA's parental advisory label became a cultural icon. Culture viewed the

label as rebellious since it perceptually added credibility to an albums/song's names. The

building merit surrounding the label soon drew the attention of the same audience it wanted to

protect. Kids and teens began using the label as a one-way ticket to explicit content. Any

rebellious youth could walk into any record store, Walmart, or Target and find explicit content.

They didn't have to search for questionable music when it was already sectioned off and labeled

for them.

The truth of the matter remains that it's almost impossible to block explicit content from

those seeking to find it. This shift in music perception emphasizes the older generation's view of

this music. Unfortunately for the parents, young people will do as they please. The RIAA's
 Brown 7

creation of this label prevented them from liability issues. The advisory satisfied the parents by

healing the symptoms of the problem. The root cause of the dilemma at hand was the mass

marketing of the explicit music itself. RIAA couldn't ban this market since it made up a sizable

portion of mainstream music.

2010s-20s: SOCIAL MEDIA MELTDOWN

The parental advisory label was a step back in the censorship direction. However, this step would

be one of the last in this avenue. The parental advisory label cleaned up the radio. Most radio

stations were now playing the clean versions of songs. In the mid-2000s, tech companies created

streaming services that allowed listeners to play genre-based or musician-related radios.

Unfiltered and censored material comprised the majority of the radio stations. Soon more

advanced streaming services added on features such as playlists and free song selection. Classic

radio listening diminished as more people flocked to streaming services.

With almost unlimited power, steaming services made explicit content more accessible

than ever. The streaming service Spotify has all its songs available in their original uncensored

formats. Spotify allows the user to block explicit content and find some clean versions, but

almost all featured playlists include the unfiltered versions of the music ("Explicit Content").

Music media like this exposed people to all sorts of explicit music. In 2017 two thirds of
 Brown 8

Billboard's number, one hits contained explicit content (Bannister). Dirty music was everywhere;

clean popular songs were in the minority.

In addition to music media, social media also promoted explicit music. Most Americans

are on a social media platform of some kind; their favorite music idols are on there too. Social

media allows these artists to promote their music directly to the app users. The social media

platforms also do the artists favors indirectly by broadcasting content that features their music.

These broadcasts – or "discovery pages" – are almost always uncensored. A cute video of a

puppy may have a highly explicit rap blaring in the background.

Tiktok is the fastest-growing social media platform among younger generations. The app

comprises music and creative videos into a feed for the viewer. The popular songs on Tiktok

usually dictate the most popular songs in America. Despite attracting younger generations, the

app's creators designed it for a mature audience. Explicit content is normalized all over the app

and promoted by staff and users. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallions 2020 hit "WAP" made head

waves in the Tiktok world. Cardi B loaded her song with expletives and profane content, yet

people praised it for "The hate and discrimination that women feel on the axis of sex and that

Black people feel on the axis of race" (Bragg). Tiktok promoted the song by creating a dance

challenge for it, which had millions of participants posting their videos.
 Brown 9

The key to the mass normalization of explicit music from social media has been a lack of

censorship. In 2020, a research team for the Wall Street Journal created a Tiktok account as a 13-

year-old boy. After searching for explicit music and pornographic videos, they found their

discovery page displayed 40% adult content and plenty of provocative sound bites (Barry et al.).

The most ironic part about this discovery is that the app mixed in explicit content and dirty music

with innocent videos featuring non-harmful concepts. Young audiences will eventually

normalize such explicit content since they see it with non-alarming videos.

CONCLUSION

American mainstream music has rapidly become more explicit since the 1930s. Expletives have

become more normalized and steadily more promoted. The shift reveals that culture is more

accustomed to uncensored music. Hits like "WAP" foretell an extreme future for expletives in

mainstream music. Profane music can always leave an impact on the listener despite people's

triggers. As for whether that impact is positive or negative, society must decide.
 Brown 10

Works Cited

Adams, Michael. In Praise of Profanity. Oxford Unversity Press, 2016.

Barry, Rob, et al. "How TikTok Serves up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors." The Wall Street

Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 8 Sept. 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-

algorithm-sex-drugs-minors-11631052944.

Bragg, Ko. "'WAP' and the Politics of Black Women's Bodies." The 19th, 21 Mar. 2021,

https://19thnews.org/2021/03/wap-and-the-politics-of-black-womens-bodies/.

"Censorship in Radio." Censorship and Government Regulation of Music RSS, Clark University,

1990, https://wordpress.clarku.edu/musc210-cgr/rocking-the-media-censorship-of-rock-

music-in-the-us/censorship-in-radio/.

Cross, Alan. "Commentary: A Gentle and Careful History of the F-Bomb in Music from Alan

Cross - National." Global News, Global News, 19 Apr. 2021,

https://globalnews.ca/news/6943507/music-f-word-f-bomb/.

Bannister, Mark. "Dand-P4-Billboard/BILLBOARD_ANALYSIS__100417_.MD at Master ·

Mspbannister/Dand-P4-Billboard." GitHub, 2017, https://github.com/mspbannister/dand-

p4-billboard/blob/master/Billboard_analysis__100417_.md#the-billboard-hot-100-

exploring-six-decades-of-number-one-singles.
 Brown 11

"Explicit Content." Spotify, 2021, https://support.spotify.com/us/article/explicit-content/.

"Obscenity Case Files: FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words)."

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, 2021, http://cbldf.org/about-us/case-files/obscenity-

case-files/obscenity-case-files-fcc-v-pacifica-foundation-george-carlins-seven-dirty-

words/.

Schonfeld , Zach. "Does the Parental Advisory Label Still Matter?" Newsweek, 20 Apr. 2016,

https://www.newsweek.com/does-parental-advisory-label-still-matter-tipper-gore-

375607.

Soke, Dablek. "Parental Advisory: The Story of a Warning Label - JSTOR DAILY." Soerasu, 19

Sept. 2020, https://soerasu.blogspot.com/2020/09/parental-advisory-story-of-

warning.html.

Daltrey, Rodger. "The Who – Who Are You." Genius, The Who, 2016, https://genius.com/The-

who-who-are-you-lyrics.