The lyrics in popular music today are lackluster, insulting and inescapable. Popular music in today’s culture is nothing but sex and vulgarity, and it’s ridiculous. Chris Brown has one of the most played songs out right now, it’s called “Look At Me Now” and features Lil’ Wayne and Busta Rhymes. I think it’s safe to say that all three of those people are respected musical artists in some way, but in the second verse of that song Chris Brown refers, vulgarly, to his man regions about four or five times in an interval of less than 30 seconds. That’s what people are calling in to radio stations to hear about? And Rihanna’s song, “S&M.” Really, a song about sadomasochism? For those of you who don’t know, sadomasochism refers to receiving sexual pleasure from the infliction of physical pain.

Is that something we want our children or younger siblings to be hearing and singing along to? I’m sure you’re probably thinking something like, “well it’s the parents’ responsibility to censor that kind of music from their kids.” That’s easy to say, but music is everywhere, it’s inevitable and children’s minds absorb things quickly. They only need to hear it once to catch on.

Another thing that bothers me with the language we hear in songs today is that I hate turning on the radio and hearing every other word in a song bleeped out. Is it really necessary to curse that much? The biggest thing that bothers me about rap music is the overuse of the N word. In a September 2009 interview on the Oprah show, Oprah and rapper Jay Z both explained their views on the word. Jay Z feels that we, as humans, give words power. He believes that we can and have taken a word that’s normally construed as hurtful and made it into a term of endearment.

Oprah feels that, having followed a generation that was persecuted and degraded by the N word, it should be used more sparingly. I agree with both of them. The intention behind the word is what gives it its power and as a young African-American male I can admit to using the word myself. However, it isn’t a word I want to hear thrown around a hundred times in a song, as if it meant nothing, or used by blacks to put down other blacks. We may be able to remove the power from the word, but we can’t remove the history.

And the B and F words are prominent in music today as well. When you turn on a song and hear someone calling someone else a mother—well, you get the point—but how can we truly call that music? I remember when the lyrics to songs actually got across the point that the song was trying to make.

When you name a song something random and then just sing or rap about what’s on your front porch with a catchy rhythm in the background, you’re not making art; you’re just trying to sell whatever you can to make a few grand. And hey, I guess if you get radio time and people buy your cd, then you can call yourself successful. But I still miss the days when songs actually made sense.

As I said earlier, music is inescapable. Just think about how many times a week you’re minding your own business and you hear music blasting from out of nowhere. You hear it at campus events and random people’s headphones. This brings me back to the vulgar lyrics spiel. I hate when I’m sitting in the library or waiting in line in the McDonald’s drive-thru, and someone is sitting next to me or parked in front of me playing their music loud enough that it sounds as if it’s coming from my own stereo.

Honestly, if you can’t hear your music without turning it up that loud, maybe you should get your ears checked. No one should ever have to play their music so loud that an entire city block can hear. This really only bothers me when I’m in the library trying to study, but I can’t help but to get aggravated when people blast music with offensive lyrics. Why do people feel the need to impose themselves on everyone around them? Do you think it makes you look cool? I’m positive I’m not the only one shaking my head at this.

I miss the music of past generations. Artists like Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert and Sade who could sing about love and get the similar messages across as we hear today, but with more class and sophistication.