Good Vs. Evil: Rock And Hip Hop
...hit, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction", is taken off of many radio station's play lists after they received complaints of the lyrics containing sexually suggestive lyrics. 1980, Pink Floyd's hit single "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II), with its chorus of kids chanting "We Don't Need No Education", is banned by the South African government; Children upset about inferior education, adopt the song as their anthem. The government says the song is "prejudicial to the safety of the state". George Michael's single "I Want Your Sex" is removed from the play lists of radio stations in Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Denver, and New York, because of its explicit sexual content; the BBC also bans it in Britain. Later that year, heavy metal icon Ozzy Ozbourne is unsuccessfully sued by the parents of a 19-year-old boy who claimed their son committed suicide after listening to Ozbourne's song "Suicide Solution". In one of the most famous cases of music censorship, police in Dade County, Florida set up a sting to arrest three retailers selling copies of a record by 2 Live Crew to children under the age of 18, in 1990. Objections to 2 Live Crew started with the break-thru of their hit "Me So Horny". Similar prosecutions regarding 2 Live Crew record sales happen in Alabama and Tennessee. No prosecutions result in standing convictions. Members of 2 Live Crew were also prosecuted for performing the material live in concert. Soon after, the members of NWA received letter from the F.B.I stating that the agency did not approve of the lyrics to their song "Fuck the Police". (www.classicbands.com) However we as viewers of the media must keep in mind that there are always two sides to a story.
On speaking of mobilizing the Hip Hop Generation, writer Jesse Alejandro Cottrell of wiretap states:
To anyone who watches MTV all day -- where P. Diddy, Ja Rule and Nelly...
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