Music has always influenced those listening to it- whether just by getting them into specific moods, by amplifying feelings of joy and enthusiasm, by lifting morale or by soothing and relaxing, there is no doubt that there is miraculous potential in that which man has created. It’s no wonder that music is therefore constantly evolving- back in the 1600s we had Baroque with its 60bpm tunes, in the 1990s artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera ruled the charts and nowadays more and more types of tunes are gaining notoriety due to our liberal way of thought.
But is this going in a good direction? Is it acceptable for a society such as ours to take a dance like, say, twerking and not consider the fact that it sexually objectifies women? Moreover, should we turn a blind eye to the fact that more and more artists are promoting the belittling of women in so many of their videos? This pandemic has gone so far that some artists, in their extremely liberal ways of expressing their “art” have crossed some lines. Here are 3 Misogynist Songs that may (or may not) offend our female readers. You decide.
1. Kanye West- On Sight
Taken from the artist’s sixth solo album (entitled “Yeezus”), this song is a collaboration between him, Benji B, Daft Punk and Mike Dean. Some of the remarkable lyrics are:
“A monster about to come alive again
Soon as I pull up and park the Benz
We get this bitch shaking like Parkinsons”
The lyrics have created controversy with the American Parkinson Disease Association which declared that the verse is not only distasteful, but also a testimony to the obvious ignorance of the artist).
“It’s too many hoes in this house ofAnnotate sin
Real nigga back in the house again
Black Timbs all on your couch again
Black dick all in your spouse again”
And the last verse: “But I got her back in and put my $#@! in her mouth”
It is clearly very respectful of women.
2. U.O.E.N.O. by Rocko
Taken from his album “Gift of Gab 2”, this single was released on the 5th of March 2013 and is to date one of the highest-charting singles this artist has produced. This song has also sparked some controversy because of its lyrics:
“Put molly all in her champagne
She ain’t even know it
I took her home and I enjoyed that
She ain’t even know it.”
In fact, the song inspired the creation of a petition that demanded the artist be dropped as Rebooks spokesman because the lyrics were interpreted as condoning date rape.
3. Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke
If you haven’t heard anything about this song yet, you have either not been watching any music channels or you have your radio stations set to classical music and nothing else. This summer hit is one of the most controversial songs there is since it plays jump rope with the limit of consensual sex and assault. You may say- “wait a minute, this is certainly not the case, these are just misinterpreted lyrics”. But are they really? The verse “I know you want it” is a line that countless rapists use in order to rationalize their actions to their victims.
Other verses like
“OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you
But you’re an animal, baby, it’s in your nature” or
“You the hottest b#$@ in this place” and
“Do it like it hurt, like it hurt
What you don’t like work?”
These lyrics are clearly not misinterpreted since the entire song contains similar expressions that do not honor women in any way. But the question behind all these hit list Misogynist Songs is, when did we as a society allow our women to be spoken of in such a manner?