I have always been a huge fan of older music. My favorite genre is folk rock, which is arguably a dying genre. My favorite artists, Simon and Garfunkel, have been disbanded for more than a decade, and many other iconic artists in the genre have done the same. I find that many people within this fanbase have a straight-edge, conservative view about what music should sound and look like. Many fans of older music are quick to judge current pop, hip-hop, rap and other genres as too profane, or more specifically sexually explicit, which I find to be a very hypocritical statement.
Due to the smaller and typically older audience of music I listen to, many fans believe older hits and genres are undeniably better than any current hits being produced. They tend to believe that older music is “real” music and that new-age music is hypersexualized, and only serves the purpose of promoting negative actions and behavior. While some current artists aren’t my favorite, I believe the critique of hypersexuality only existing in current music is flat-out hypocritical. Music in the majority of genres have rarely maintained a sense of purity.
Most people consider “Oldies” music to be from the 1950s-1980s, and see these eras as more moralistic. However, the truth about these eras is that they spearheaded a more liberal approach to music. Take one of the largest stars of the late 1950s, Elvis Presley, for example. He was controversial during his time for his on-stage, sexual hip movements and provocative lyrics. Looking back, we see his stage presence as having only minor sexual themes. Yet, it was artists like Presley that cracked doors open for present-day expressions of sexuality.
I believe that by claiming music should only focus on modest themes, we are disrespecting those artists who introduced the idea of pushing the boundaries of societal norms about sexuality and liberal expression. This should be true for all genres, whether it be Oldies rock and roll or current rap and hip-hop. I find it ironic to try to categorize certain genres or eras of music as being too sexually explicit or deviant, or to stick your nose up at current, popular hits. In any art form and any era, you are going to have people who push the boundaries of norms.
Due to my personal taste, I don’t really like listening to current music in the pop, rap and hip-hop genres. However, I recognize the value of expression in those genres, as well as the artists I normally tune into. Not only that, but I completely support my friends who listen to new music, and hold no judgement over their tastes. This makes the superiority complex that many Oldies listeners have very frustrating to me.
Music, or any art for that matter, isn’t always going to be based on conservative or modest values, and that doesn’t make it wrong. Deviant and explicit expression in art should be normalized, as artists tend to approach boundaries in expression by pushing back against them. Rather than viewing this as wrong or less than compared to other art, it is simply ignorant. As they say, rules are meant to be broken.
