Music

Music plays a large part in a teenagers life, and is a world wide media that is used constantly. Music, compared to movies, TV, and games, is the only media that relies completely on the person's sense of sound. It has no visual interaction (except in music videos), and opens his/hers mind to that artists life, views, and feelings. Music includes an extremely large variety of genres and artists which leads to different moods, opinions, topics, and stories.
Music contains many elements that give artists their unique style and musical personality, some of which are negatively criticized by conservative individuals. One of the main issues is violence. Many artist in various genres used violent lyrics and stories that come directly from their own life, used to prove a point, or included as entertainment.
Of the many genres, rock and rap seem to be the two that are singled out when it comes to violent lyrics. One source if found titled "Diagnosing the Cultural Virus" in the World and I data base had a very slanted negative opion on violence in music. The source described how music (especially rock and rap) is definitely linked to violence and agression in teenagers, and has been proven through studies multiple times. The article goes on to say that destructive and negative themes in songs put those thoughts into peoples heads, and therefore leads them to perfom the acts described. Late in the article, the author states that rock and rap music promotes and encourages violence. I think that this is a very stereotypical statement. Although this may be true in some cases, many times the violence described comes from the artists own life, and is used to prove a point or reveal the reality of the world today.
There are many artists who have been singled out as violent and offensive. In this source, the author focusec specifically on Marilyn Manson and N.W.A founder, Ice Cube. The source states that Manson is described by the music press as an "ultra-violent satanic rock monstrosity", and also stated that one reviewer (unknown) called Ice Cubes platinum album Death Certificate an "excersise in rap brutality."
One of the main elements in the artists defense (in my opinion) is the freedom of speech. They have every right to sing about whatever is important to them (violent or not), and express that to the public. They are not the ones to be held responsible. The warning labels on explicit CD's let the consumer know what he or she is paying for, and rap and rock artists alike should not have the responsibilty of "watering-down" their lyrics to please critics and the general public. Along with Manson and Ice Cube, many other artists have been singled out aswell including Eminem, Ozzie Osbourne, Ice-T, and more.