Sex sells, you don’t have to be a genius to realise that; but is it just me that thinks writing a song about S&M is taking it a step too far? Rihanna released her latest single last week, causing much controversy and scandal within the media, possibly just hours after they had caught smell of it, (because as Ri-Ri says “sex in the air i don’t care, i love the smell of it”). Admittedly it is a catchy tune, and doesn’t take much to remember the lyrics, as 50% of them are “oh na-na-na-na, come on,” a classic sign of “i had nothing else decent to write”. Other than that, the lyrical content is written purposely to shock/offend. Yet in all honesty, these days I’d be more shocked if her next single WASN’T about her sexual desires. It has been flagged by Youtube, so you have to be over 18 to view it, which i assume will only make it sell more copies. Take Frankie Goes To Hollywood for example, “Relax” got banned by the BBC for having inappropriate content, and it became the number 1 for weeks. In terms of if i think this song is true to her personality, i really don’t know. Since her last album “Good Girl Gone Bad”, she seems to have upped the raunchiness, raised the bar for sex appeal; no more “Shut Up And Drive”, just drive. Although, i do wish she’d shut the fuck up.
Rihanna “S&M” from 9 Agency on Vimeo.
Picture Courtesy of MiKeARB
michael
February 12, 2011
that wasent her last album! it was ‘rated r’ daaam i could do a better job then you!!!! hay its music people make the music they wonna make! they dont make music to pleese little old you lol! people say negitive things about hip hop…..its just life….people telling there own story & expressing themselves thats why there called “artist” if you dont like it dont lissen……..SIMPLE
CL3MMIE
February 12, 2011
I unfortunately am at the age where my friends are brainwashed by this supposed ‘music’. When will the world remember proper music, that talked about happiness and peace not sex and others things that i cant talk about! I have seen 6 years olds dancing like the ‘hip-hop honeys’ and I can only just say my friend was wearing clothes last night. I hope that one day my generation of people will understand music and how Rihanna was really a good girl gone BAD. Thanks x
Ps: I am not this mean and grumpy usually!
hmm..
February 13, 2011
Wow! This is just the most amazing piece of journalism I have ever read. I admire your writing style and baltent honesty.
SpicyChilli
February 13, 2011
I think your right. Rhianna has really just gone down the same road as Gaga and Perry, The shock factor. It doesnt matter how good the artist is as long as they bring out something controversial it’ll sell.
lord sparticus
February 14, 2011
michael, show a bit of respect to the write hey, she put a lot of effot in this, you can tell.
lord sparticus
February 14, 2011
Michael, If you don’t like the way she writes simple don’t read it.
I’m sure you couldn’t do a better job , Every type of music should have stuff good and bad about it.
As you said it’s their way of expressing their story?
Well this is theirs.
Back the hell off.
Fake Polystyrene Man
February 14, 2011
@CL3MME, I agree that Rihanna obviously isn’t good music, but you seem to be saying that all good music is about ‘happiness and peace’ while all bad music is about ‘sex and other things [you] can’t talk about’? This is frankly preposterous… Some of the most influential bands in the history of music sung about sex and drugs and the like… Look for example at The Beatles, several of their songs have implicit references to sex and drugs (e.g. ‘Love You To,’ ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’); the same can be said of The Rolling Stones. An even more pertinent example would be The Velvet Underground. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of them, but their debut album, ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico,’ is both one of the most influential, and indeed the best, albums from the ’60s; many call it one of the best albums ever released, and if you’re into ‘good music’, you owe it to yourself to at least listen to the opening track, ‘Sunday Morning’. On the album there’s a song entitled ‘Venus In Furs,’ which is explicitly about S&M, while I’m sure you can guess what another song on the album, called ‘Heroin,’ is about. It’s clear, however, that The Velvet Underground didn’t write about these topics with the intent to shock and offend people (though I’m sure many were shocked and offended); their songwriter Lou Reed was actually just writing about the experiences of himself and his acquaintances, which is perfectly legitimate, and one could argue, necessary. The lyrical content certainly doesn’t detract from the music, in any case. Another influential (though sadly not particularly well-known) band who don’t shy away from these themes would be ’80s alternative/indie rock band Pixies; their song ‘Hey’ deals, albeit cryptically, with sex, prostitution, and, depending on your interpretation of certain lyrics, even S&M, and it’s one of my favourite songs by them anyway. Thom Yorke, the singer of Radiohead (probably the best band around these days), said that Pixies had as much an influence on his song writing as The Beatles did, which should give you some idea of the impact this band had on ‘good’ music.
Now, I’m not trying to defend Rihanna, or any of her chart-topping buddies; the vast, vast majority of music in the charts nowadays is utter crap, and I personally think the way women degrade themselves and sell their music with sex is quite disgusting. However, I would certainly not say that all music and lyrics which touch on ‘controversial’ topics such as sex and drugs are by default bad, or made just for the shock value. I would also agree with ‘MICHAEL’ when he said that hip hop artists are only telling their stories and expressing themselves. Again, this is totally legitimate, and while I’m not a massive fan of the majority of hip hop artists (frankly, a lot of their songs are quite misogynistic and chauvinistic), I think artists like Eminem and Jay-Z actually have a lot of interesting things to say; take ’99 Problems’ by Jay-Z, in which the second verse deals quite potently and wittily with the issue of racism.
Anyway, I’ll give you guys a link to ‘Sunday Morning’ by The Velvet Underground. I mentioned it earlier, it’s a fantastic track by a band who didn’t shy away from controversial subject matter, whose music certainly wasn’t damaged by it. I’ve also added links to ‘Hey’ by Pixies and ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ by Radiohead, in case you guys are unfamiliar with either band. I hope you enjoy them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF_CQGHqzts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6xU96KLBL4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUJP0BwWB5Q
Shell
February 14, 2011
tbh i raise my glass to rihanna to be able to release songs like s&m.. it takes guts to sing about it and i see no reason why not, sex is not taboo nowadays, although as she is such a commercial artist it is a bit strange seeing young girls singing along when they probably have no clue to what the lyrics mean. i have no problem with the song, its a fun, catchy tune and in my opinion, harmless.
bluelagoon
February 17, 2011
“It takes guts to sing about S&M”! I couldn’t disagree with you more. Rihanna is selling out – it’s all about the money (unfortunately).
Michael – take your own advice – if you don’t like it then don’t read it – SIMPLE!