Pushing “Creativity” Too Far?

November 5, 2009 5:26 PM

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Trey Songz - Invented Sex

It has been a recurring issue with musicians who push the envelope of their creativity to the point that their fans and colleagues are often more offended then impressed. This has been the case with lyrics and especially music videos that have portrayed a very risky message that often leads to controversy in the industry.

The official lead single to Rihanna’s new album Rated R, entitled “Russian Roulette”, shows the very dark and tormented feelings of an artist considering suicide as an escape from her problems. The song has raised eyebrows since its release and brought on many critics – one of which is an artist named Tiffany Evans, best known for being on the TV show Star Search as well as her single “Promise Ring” with Ciara.

Evans spoke out against the song on her twitter page, saying “Russian Roulette = Suicidal Rate gon sky rocket! You gotta watch what u say. Because there are a lot of weak people in the world. They are susceptible to anything so anything you say or do some people actually do listen. So make sure its nothing bad. Its okay to be deep, but not murder deep”

Most of the responses to the criticism has come from the songwriter himself, Ne-Yo, who recently said: “It’s definitely dark, but if you think about it, ‘Thriller’ was dark, but it’s one of the biggest-selling records of all time. Nobody’s really going out to play Russian roulette or thinking about killing themselves or nothing like that. It was just an interesting topic over a crazy beat, and who better to pull that off than somebody like Rihanna?”

The debate will continue regarding the validity of lyrics and their impact on the community… but the next situation, regarding singer Trey Songz, is more for the visual.

Songz’s latest video from his album Ready is for the song “Invented Sex” which starts off, right away, with a disclaimer for content only suitable for viewers 18 and older. The clip was shot in black and white and only features Trey and a young lady getting “very friendly”, if you know what I mean.

Trey Songz – “Invented Sex”

The video only premiered yesterday (November 5th) but already has thousands of views on the YouTubes and it’s likely that not all of them are from viewers over 18. Songz, known for having very “grown-up” lyrics in his songs, still has a steady fan base of young listeners that will be watching his every move and the video he decided to put out is basically an invitation to sex – no matter how old you are – so I don’t really see a possible explanation for this one.

Trey’s many fans over 18 may not see the harm the video may cause, but you have to consider the 12-year-old watching at home and their reaction.

http://Myspace.com/thatboykaboom KjKaboom

I love the pushing of this creativity…it’s like I better Vision… I feel music has no limit and you can sing or rap about anything…as for video footage we all can’t control who watches what…it was made for adults so if a young child see’s this footage…Who is to blame?? It wouldint be Trey Songz
TJ

Ok did I just watch skinamax in video form? I’m not a huge fan of Songz, but I have been known to nod my head to a few of his toons. I’m not a parent, but I work as a tutor in an elementary school. Kids these days do have a different mindset then we had growing (80′s babies). Unfortunately they are desensitized to many things that they view. Sexually and explicit material are all around them. Yes parents need to censor the things that they watch, but as an artist you to have a responsibility to your fans especially the young and impressionable. Don’t get me wrong the video is visually stunning, but then again so is some high quality internet porn. Being creative has its limitation and after viewing this vid they have been pushed. Thanx for the advisory Songz.. real classy.
bri bri

I feel that Trey made a video appropriate for his song. As far as younger viewers are concerned he did place a warning at the beginning of the video. The fact is, no matter what the age is unless there are parental blocks, due to the technically age we are in; it’s easy to for people to view what they want. Especially with websites like youtube.
http://www.4yourplaisir.com MP

That’s good stuff… I would def put it down like that in my video… but, I mean the lyrics itself is very sexual, so if a child is not up to that level yet, you just shouldn’t watch the video… but it’s grown though… Mr. easton, keep on brother!!!
MP
Miraclebabe

I like your article, well written. And about what you said about Rihanna’s song, I liked the way you used both perspectives of Evans and Neyo And yes, Trey Songz song is explicit and would not like my little sister listening to it because she has the tendency to sing the newly released songs. Then again, the media is already full of those things.
Overall I like your article
tiphanie

um..i love trey..and its hard for me to think of the younger listeners since its for me and my age group.

its fine, at least they set a disclaimer and air a more censored version of the vid on tv.
ughh,

i am really torn..i knw there is an issue..but, its not for kids neway. we know our industry, it’s all abt sex like it or not, age appropriate or not.

but.hmm..i will keep marinating the effect of younger listeners.

as for the rhianna song, i did not first interpret it as a suicidal song at all. i considered it to mean tht love is a risk and falling into it is like pulling the trigger. guess i was wrong, right?
-laterz til nxt post
Selena Hill

I’m still a little perplexed in finding the “creativity” aspect of the Invented Sex video.

Looking….
………

Still looking….
……….

Now giving up.

Yeah, so the fact of the matter is, we live in an overly-sexualized society in which it would not be out of the ordinary to see hot-and-heavy scenes of scantily dressed, sex-craved Muppet-Puppets getting it on in a daytime TV ad selling toothpaste!

Ok, so maybe not “Muppet-puppets,” per say. But c’mon, you watch TV, you get the gist here.

With that said, music artists are some of the biggest perpetrators of our hyper-sexualized culture, along with Hollywood movies and the booming porn industry. Thus everybody is, and has been using sex and sexual exploitation (big difference there) to promote and drive corporate sales. This is evident by Walt Disney Recording star Hilary Duff who in a recent episode of the primetime sitcom “Gossip Girl” had a threesome, while Disney Channel star Miley Cyrus performed her single “Party in the USA” at this year’s Teen Choice awards dancing on a stripper pole.

So here’s my point: Where exaclty is the creativity?

The concept of selling sex is so old and, frankly, unoriginal. I mean there are still those artists that earnestly try to “push the envelop” but I think even that was topped off for me in 2006 when retail company “Tesco” was charged with “destroying children’s innocence” with their product “Peakaboo Pole Dancing Kit,” a kit designed to bring out the “sex kitten” in young girls. Not to mention, Invented Sex also highly resembles Usher’s 2008 steamy Trading Places video which displays about 4 and ½ minutes of he and a young woman bearily dressed getting intimate.

So while artists and commentars alike may call the selling of sex a creative measure of art or product marketing, I say it’s a cliché and commonly overused custom. Nonetheless, we been there and, yes Trey Songs, somebody has done that.