50 Cent not a positive American icon

Breeze Perspectives

I’m sitting here looking at the latest release of Billboard’s Top 100 Albums. Sitting in the No. 3 spot is the latest release by New Yorker Curtis Jackson, more commonly known to us as "50 Cent." This got me to thinking. If a record such as this one is the No. 3-selling album in our country, then we need to stop ourselves and take a look at our culture. It has been in the Top 10 for seven weeks now, hitting No. 1 a few weeks ago. What does it say about us as Americans that music such as this does so well, and creates such a buzz, when it says so little? The first four days after its release, it sold 1.14 million copies. That is an absurd amount. The album clearly promotes nothing but sex and violence. I hope that most people realize that this is a misrepresentation of our society and that it clearly does not reflect our culture. I can understand why people outside of America have no respect for us, if they looked at our culture and music to determine what we value.

I am not saying that we should censure all music save for Raffi and Cat Stevens. What is important is to realize that music can represent our culture and values much more than we think. Taking that into consideration, it is a beautiful thing that people can release whatever they want to without having to fear the repercussions. I just wish that the people who are front and center in our society would care more about how the rest of the world sees us and sees them. I just wish artists such as 50 Cent would see and understand what they have the power to do and then at least try to make a difference.

The thing that makes me the most upset is what music used to say. During the days of the Vietnam War, there were such classic songs out about protesting the war, with hits such as "For What It’s Worth" by Buffalo Springfield and "What’s Going On" by Marvin Gaye. Music such as that tells us something. It tries to speak to people. And to let them know what is going on, and that we should do something. I don’t know exactly what 50 Cent is trying to tell us in his hits such as "Candy Shop" and "Disco Inferno." That’s not to say that all songs have to have deep and significant meeting. My wish here is that people in America would wake up to the fact that it is just plain awful, doesn’t contribute to our society and would ignore it. Instead, we make people who speak of sex and violence our cultural icons.

Travis Clark is a sophomore English major.