Music Throughout the Ages

Music is an outlet for many people and everywhere you turn, there is access to it. We can turn on the tunes via the internet, car radio, Ipod, cell phone, mp3 and CD player. We don’t even have to be anywhere near our homes while doing so. The world is full of music. But there’s one message more prevalent in today’s music that sounds crystal clear - sex.

Why Sex Sells Music

Sex is woven into every pattern of our lives. Sex is so synonymous with television sitcoms that every joke, conversation, or underlying message between characters is about sex. TV Commercials use scantily clad women to sell cars, clothes, tools, food, electronics, soft drinks, cologne and more. Billboard advertisements planted along our streets, highways and expressways often feature a relation to sex with their ads.

Although this is the case, there are people who complain about such things and every once in awhile get results. Such as the medication for sexual dysfunction billboards that were recently put up throughout Australia. The Advertising Standards Bureau was receiving at least 5-15 complaints per week and has announced that the billboard ads will be removed.

Sex is everywhere and there is no wonder that sex also sells music. You, however, may want to purchase music that is not steeped in sex. Maybe you’re searching for fun pop songs or mellow music without all of the sexual innuendos. You may be surprised to know that there are recording artists with great style and cool songs that strive not to rely on sex to sell their music.

Beautiful Lyricist

India.Arie

India.Arie (born India Arie Simpson on October 3, 1975) is an American soul, R&B, and neo soul singer-songwriter, record producer, guitarist, and flautist. She absorbed musical skills early in life as she was encouraged by both parents. Her mother Joyce is a former singer (she was signed to Motown as a teenager and opened for Stevie Wonder and Al Green) and is now her stylist. Her father is former ABA and NBA basketball player Ralph Simpson.

Arie had taken up a succession of musical instruments throughout her schooling in Denver, but her interest in the guitar while attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, led to a personal revelation about songwriting and performing. “When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better. It was a direct result of writing songs”, she said at the press release of her debut album, Acoustic Soul. Her one-song turn on a locally-released compilation led to a second-stage gig at the 1998 Lilith Fair. In 1999, a Universal/Motown music scout spotted her and made an introduction to former Motown CEO Kedar Massenberg.

Acoustic Soul was released on March 27, 2001 and debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 and number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Within months, without the concentrated radio airplay that typically powers pop and rap albums, Acoustic Soul was certified double platinum, selling 1,970,000 copies in the U.S. and 2,799,000 worldwide. As a capstone to the album’s success, Arie had the distinction of having the most total Grammy Award nominations of any single artist that year. Fans and peers alike were stunned when she was not awarded a Grammy Award in any of the nominated categories.

Arie followed the success of her debut in 2002 with the release of Voyage to India. Debuting at number six on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart, it eventually earned her two Grammy Awards in 2003—”Best R&B Album” and Best Urban/Alternative Performance” for the song “Little Things”. Soon after its release, Voyage to India was certified platinum selling 1,200,000 copies in the U.S. and 2,083,000 worldwide.

Arie’s third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, was released on June 27, 2006. It gave Arie her first number-one spot on the Billboard 200 and was her second chart-topper on the R&B chart. This album was also the first number-one album for Motown in twelve years since Boyz II Men’ 1994 II. Its first-week sales of 161,000 copies are Arie’s best sales week to date and was certified gold in August 2006, selling 730,000 in the U.S. It has also sold 1,484,000 worldwide. Her acclaimed cover of Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter” from this album has returned in 2008 as a feature in the trailers to the film Sex and the City: The Movie.

Arie is also featured on Stevie Wonder’s album A Time to Love, released on October 18, 2005. Arie and Wonder duet on the title track “A Time to Love”, written by Arie, which was nominated for “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals” at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

Arie  has performed several duets with recording artists and musicians such as with rock singer-guitarist John Mellencamp on the song “Peaceful World” for his 2001 album Cuttin’ Heads. Arie performed a duet with jazz singer Cassandra Wilson on the song “Just Another Parade” for her 2002 album Belly of the Sun. She performed a duet with Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes on the title song “Timeless” for his 2006 album Timeless. Arie performed the vocals for “It Might Be You” on Dave Koz’s 2007 album At the Movies and also performed a duet with singer Anthony David for his song “Words” for his 2008 album Acey Duecy.

Modern Taste of Music

Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice Brown (born in small town of Tappahannock, Virginia on May 5, 1989) is a Grammy nominated American R&B and pop singer-songwriter, dancer, music video director and actor. Brown was influenced by the artists his parents played on the home radio, such as Michael Jackson, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. A dancer since the age of two, Brown was not aware of his vocal talents until the age of eleven.

At thirteen, Chris Brown was discovered by a local production team who visited his father’s gas station searching for new talent. Since then, he began his recording career and moved to New York, staying there for two years. At the age of 15, Brown was then sent to perform for L.A. Reid and was subsequently signed in 2004 to Jive Records. By early 2005, Brown began work for his debut album.

Brown left school in late 2004 to begin working on his self-titled debut album which was released on November 29, 2005. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling over 155,000 copies in first week of sales. His debut single, “Run It!”, was #1 in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Following “Run It!”, “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” became Brown’s second top 10 hit in the U.S., peaking at #7, and #13 in the UK. It has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

His third single, “Gimme That”, was released in March 2006 which featured Lil Wayne for a remix, originally not featured on the album, but was later included. The single debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #80 and climbed the charts quickly peaking at #15. Brown also co-directed his music videos for “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” and “Gimme That”. His fourth single is the ballad “Say Goodbye”, which is also a part of the Step Up soundtrack.

Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was set to be released on August 28, 2007 until it was pushed to November 6, 2007. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums selling nearly 300,000 copies in its first week domestically, 140,000 more copies than his debut album.

According to MTV News, Brown stated: “I am still going to keep it so my younger fans can continue to listen to my music, but I got a couple of joints on there that’s for some of the older people.” The album’s first single, “Wall to Wall”, debuted on the ‘Billboard Hot 100 at #96, and peaked at #79 and #22 on the Billboard R&B and Hip-Hop Chart becoming his lowest charting song to date. “Kiss Kiss”, featuring and produced by T-Pain, was released as the second single. “Kiss Kiss”, has become more successful surpassing the success of “Wall To Wall”, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 to become Chris’ second #1 single and his highest chart peak since “Run It!” in 2005.

On December 4, 2007, Brown released the third single from “Exclusive”, entitled “With You”, a song produced by Stargate. So far, “With You” has reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has entered the charts in various countries around the world, becoming one of Brown’s most successful released to date, entering the top ten in Croatia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Cyprus, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Malta, Malaysia, Australia, and the United World Chart.

In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several hits such as “No Air”, a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, “Shortie like Mine” with the rapper Bow Wow. The songs have peaked on number three, number nine  on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively. Due to his vocal and dance routines, Brown has been compared to renowned R&B artists such as Usher and Michael Jackson, citing both as large influences on his music.

Coldplay

Coldplay are an alternative rock band formed in London, England on 16 January, 1998. The members of the band met at the University College London (UCL) in September 1996. Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland were the first members of the band, having met one another during their orientation week. They spent the rest of the college year planning a band, with their efforts culminating in a band called Pectoralz. Later, Guy Berryman, a classmate of the two, joined the band without considering what musical direction it was taking. The band’s lineup was complete when Will Champion joined the band to take up percussion duties. The band declared an all-for-one approach: Coldplay was a democracy, and profits were to be shared equally, taking a page from bands like U2 and R.E.M. Second, the band would fire anyone who used hard drugs.

Coldplay scored their first Top 40 single, “Shiver”. Released in March 2000, it reached a modest #35 on the UK Singles Chart and earned the band their first airplay on MTV. June 2000 was a pivotal moment in Coldplay’s history: the band embarked on their first headlining tour, which included a triumphant return to Glastonbury. More notably, the group released the breakthrough single, “Yellow”. The song shot to #4 on the UK Singles Chart and placed Coldplay in public consciousness.

Having found success in Europe, the band set their sights on North America, and Parachutes was released there in November 2000. The band embarked on a US club tour in early 2001, beginning with a show in Vancouver, Canada, which was coupled with appearances on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Whilst Parachutes was a slow-burning success in the US, it eventually reached double-platinum status. The album was critically well-received, earning Best Alternative Music Album honours at the 2002 Grammy Awards.

Coldplay returned to the studio in October 2001 to begin work on their second album, once again with Ken Nelson producing. A Rush of Blood to the Head was released in August 2002. The album spawned several popular singles, notably “In My Place”, “Clocks”, and the ballad “The Scientist”. In December 2003, they were named by readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best artist and the best band of the year. A Rush of Blood to the Head won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2003 Grammy Awards. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Coldplay earned Record of the Year for “Clocks”.

X&Y was released in June 2005 in UK and Europe. This new, delayed release date had put the album back into the next fiscal year, actually causing EMI’s stock to drop. It became the best-selling album of 2005 with worldwide sales of 8.3 million. The lead single, “Speed of Sound”, made its radio and online music store debut on 18 April and was released as a CD on 23 May 2005. The album debuted at #1 in 22 countries worldwide and was the third-fastest selling album in UK chart history. Two other singles were released that year: “Fix You” in September and “Talk” in December.

The band began to work on their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Some songs, such as “Violet Hill”, contain distorted guitar riffs and bluesy undertones. On 15 June 2008, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends topped the UK album chart, despite having been on sale for only three days. In that time, it sold 302,000 copies — making it “one of the fastest-selling records in UK history”. By the end of June, it had set a new record for most-downloaded album ever.