Interesting question @gouf78. Bill Cosby’s show was completely unobjectionable in its content but was taken off re-run channels because Bill Cosby is a rapist. Here the rap music content is vile, which seems like a higher order of objectionable. But it is still played.
It could be because rap music is so out of the mainstream or because objecting to rap music lyrics may brand one a racist. See the student editorial (a link was posted above).
If there is a programmed play list why would you assume the workers would be hyper focused on each song? I know that when I worked in a variety of service/hospitality jobs that music just faded in to the background, particularly when we were busy. I would not have been mentally reviewing lyrics while taking/filling orders and all of the other “to do” items that I’d be running in my head. He brought it to her attention, she agreed and changed the music. She handled it as well as could be expected.
Exactly. I worked my way through college in retail, and mostly just turned out any background music. The selective listening was a good skill to have in marriage. 
“Here the rap music content is vile, which seems like a higher order of objectionable.”
I would disagree. Behavior is more objectionable than lyrical content.
R Kelly seems to finally be facing repercussions for his actions. Note actions rather than the content of his music.
Most of the #metoo stuff has more to do with the behavior of the artist/producer, etc than with content. Weinstein’s problem isn’t that he made offensive movies.
I also wouldn’t call rap music “so out of the mainstream” FWIW. Aa a genre it’s been around for decades and generates a whole lot of revenue. Heck NPR even named a rap album best of the year.
Funny, sometimes I’ll be listening to music in the car, humming along with a song, and my younger son will say, “Mom, do you even understand what that song is about?” And when he explains it to me, I’m horrified and disgusted. I tend to tune out, not hear lyrics, sing along completely different lyrics than what the song actually has. However, I do think I’d probably recognize the music in question as being obscene.
I probably need to get that SNL skit’s version of Alexa for senior citizens, the silver edition. It is hilarious, and spot on!
@TatinG --“It could be because rap music is so out of the mainstream or because objecting to rap music lyrics may brand one a racist. See the student editorial (a link was posted above).”
I don’t think rap music is so out of the mainstream. It’s been around for a LONG time and has quite a following.
As for being labeled a racist–I don’t see how women of any color or race could defend the lyrics and see them as a positive for anyone. And these aren’t words or actions that happened long ago in a different era–they are current.
And popular.
As for the firings–something is wrong in this story. Mostly from the coffee shop side. Basically the coffee shop fired the baristas–and then blamed it all on Duke. And then re-hired them making themselves the “good guy” in a set-up “us vs them” scenario. There was no need to fire them from the start and they knew it.
If they’re closing up shop on campus and moving elsewhere it’s not because of Duke. It’s because they don’t make enough money there and were going to close it anyway. It’s always business.
So true @busdriver11. And some songs, although not even obsene in terms of their literal lyrics, have completely different meanings than I realized even though I understood all the words being said. Ariana Grande’s “Side to Side” being a prime example.
As for the Me Too movement being about actions and not just words–just do a quick google search on some of the most popular rappers–who have restraint orders, felony convictions etc against them for abuse–a slap on the wrist and promoted in concerts the following week.
I suppose Weinstein’s movies are still marketable because Weinstein’s face is not in them. Cosby’s presence in his show makes it not marketable any longer.
I don’t understand why more uproar hasn’t been generated over objectionable lyrics in music, especially on university campuses. When using the wrong pronoun is derided, one would think lyrics like these (that can’t even be repeated on this website) would be the subject of protests by students.
Huff Post reported that there are protests in favor of the song on Duke’s campus today, and that the artist gave the baristas 20k and introduced them at his recent concert. I wouldn’t even try to enforce common sense standards today. It seems there is no consensus on anything, and that anything goes
IDK, maybe there is something about lyrics in music that is different from other art forms. It seems relatively easy, perhaps counterintuitively, to separate what one likes about an overall song and what the lyrics are/mean.
I don’t know how many times I played Rubber Soul (Beatles) over the years (album then cassette then CD), and happily listened to “Run for Your Life”.
I mean, seriously, it must have been the 90s before I actually heard the lyrics and the meaning registered in my brain. Before that, it was just a catchy tune from one of my favorite bands.
There are probably a lot of offensive lyrics in the songs on the Red Hot Chili Peppers channel on Pandora, but like a little kid, it mostly goes over my head.
Speaking of little kid and going over my head, oh how I loved to dance and sing to Hair (8-track!) when I was wee. Later, I was all “I can’t BELIEVE my mom let me listen to that!”
@Midwest67 one of my favorite songs ever is Wasn’t Me.
Which sure isn’t a philosophy I espouse in life
Hahaha, good example!
“and what the lyrics are/mean.”
We aren’t talking little kids or a naive listener who didn’t get the “sex” reference in a song.
And it isn’t about a single song.
I’m referencing an industry and culture and genre that demeans women on a daily basis.
Music companies. Artists. Producers.
The “artist” who penned it, the record company that promotes it,
And the fan base that lets it go. If you don’t care about culture or women --it doesn’t apply to you.
Quite welcome to call it “free speech” or whatever. And it is. But no need to put your money into it.
Go look at the music videos or concert clips and the background singers–it’s a bunch of WOMEN BACKING UP misogynist lyrics. For “artists” who have histories of abuse It’s not fiction. It’s money.
(What if they all said “Nope, not gonna gyrate for those lyrics. I’m worth a ton more than that.”)
Maybe the back-up singers don’t care–they’re making big bucks. Just don’t want to hear them “protest” on any front.
Or their fans who have excuses for everything but no foundation for anything…
There’s an interesting episode of the Hidden Brain podcast called “Rap on Trial”. Apparently, people tend to view rap lyrics as more offensive than the lyrics of other genres, even if the words are the same, or similarly taboo. There have been several studies about this.
We think of Johnny Cash as perfectly acceptable, but just imagine someone rapping the lyrics to “a boy called Sue” (the fight scene) or “Folsom city…”, and it’s just received differently.
@greenwitch --You obviously haven’t listened to “A Boy called Sue” next to current rap.
“Rap on Trial” had a stacked jury.
Wow, overreaction much? He says the music is objectionable and asks that the employee turn it off, which she DOES.
So he takes the complaint higher and attempts to get employees fired instead of just complaining about nasty “music”?
Not understanding the scorched earth response to this musical offense.
I agree that unoffensive music should be played, not music calling women names, as a matter of common sense. The employee likely has no authority to determine which music shall not be played on the playlist. Yes, it’s awful that a society like this is so insane as to promote women’s rights and simultaneously approve and purchase misogynistic music, but that isn’t the fault of the two employees who did what they could do a the time.
The audacity to suggest they should also lose their jobs and the coffee company should vacate is just astonishing. Why not just have a rational conversation and request this sort of music be eliminated?
More than 60 different rap songs have hit #1 on the pop charts, going back almost 30 years to 1990. That’s mainstream.
http://www.complex.com/music/2013/04/every-no-1-rap-song-in-hot-100-history
Not sure that is correct. In fact, it appears that the business owner took it upon himself to fire the employees.
But in fact we have no way to knowing what is report to ‘higher ups’ was. It could have been something as simple, as, ‘Hey Facilities Director, just wanted to give you a heads-up that the local coffee house was playing some offensive music. I mentioned it to them and them immediately turned it off. Just giving you a fyi.’
This assumption too, falls under ‘facts no in evidence.’ (We have no way of knowing what music programs that employees have access to. It could be their own personal CD’s.)
My teenagers don’t own a single CD…they do have records;)