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Boundaries of taste are continuously pushed by artists. With the growth of that inter-web thing most of the population have instant access to porn, violent video games and genuinely shocking video clips, either at home or on the move.
Most of us grew up in the digital age and as such don’t see anything wrong with an adult perusing the porn shelves online, or indeed blowing the shit out things in some virtual reality.
But this month saw the master of bland pop tunes (I should be so Lucky anyone?), Mike Stock, hit out at today’s sex driven Pop machine.
Speaking to the Guardian the Stock, Aitken and Waterman mogul dubbed modern pop a ‘relentless torrent of sex-driven imagery’ and frankly he’s got a point.
We’ve got to start asking who’s buying the singles where Rihanna reveals that ‘whips and chains excite me’, and who’s watching Katy Perry squirt whipped cream out of her breasts, because it’s not the grown-ups.
This year has also seen the LA collective Odd Future hit the mainstream hard with their punk-rap, ‘don’t give a fuck’ style of music.
Critics have lambasted leader Tyler the Creator particularly for his lyrics involving rape fantasies and Satan worshipping.
OFWGKTA will no doubt become the world’s excuse for rotting young people’s minds and take the brunt of the blame for everything from child pregnancy to global warming.
Now Tyler probably won’t get much radio play, especially before 10pm, but his music isn’t aimed at young teenagers anyway.
It might be offensive but it will of course have the iconic Parental Advisory sticker plastered across covers and the new online ‘explicit’ warning for digital copies.
But this isn’t true for pop darling Rihanna. The Barbadian beauty usually seen dancing around in little more than her underwear, is a role model for teenage and even younger girls across the globe.
However her album Rated R, with tracks as subtly named as S&M and Man Down has escaped the warning system.
But sex sells and always has. Just check out the big boobed lady on the Train Line’s TV ad or the goings on of pre-sixth formers on any episode of Hollyoaks.
But where as Tyler as a role model is a grey area, he’s not going to be endorsing Happy Meals or appearing on Sesame Street anytime soon, Rihanna and her over sexed pop contemporaries are being pushed through the marketing machine.
Their music is branded specifically for young teenagers with lyrics such as, ‘Can you get it up/Come here rude boy, boy/Is you big enough/Take it, take it.’
Which seem as more offensive than Tyler’s: ‘College wasn’t working/and I wasn’t working/so I sat at home jerking off until my dick was hurting /but I was determined to be great/so these classes can wait,’ when you acknowledge who it’s aimed at.
The difference is that Tyler will hold his hand up and say he’s out to shock and piss people off. Rihanna on the other hand will keep making appearances on T4, X-Factor and on the pages of teen mags.
Pop music gets away with its ‘porno’ image because of how it’s dressed up. When Tyler walks on stage in a balaclava with an upside down crucifix, assumptions about his personality and message are quickly made.
But with the bubblegum sound of artists like Ri-Ri, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, it’s easy to drift off, think it harmless and not listen to what they are actually saying.
With adults switching off to ‘kiddie’s music on the radio’, the lil ‘uns are devouring every word uttered. Add this to the costumes (or lack of) that are thrown on for videos and live performances, we might have a generation of 12 year old pole dancers roaming town centres before too long (if we don’t already).
Mike Stock is convinced that pop is on a ‘slow but unmistakable descent into pornography.’ But there should be a place for artists to make ‘pop-porn’ if they wish, and if they also want to just wear underwear or less while doing it then that’s their prerogative.
But this music, like the short skirts and high heels in the high street, has to be aimed at an older market, not at the nation’s teenagers.
Inevitably culture will become even more sexualised, mainly due to the constant bombardment of sex in movies, TV and music, and it does have its place. It just needs monitoring and networks need to wake up and see that pop music can be just as harmful as rap or any other genre.