Which Music Artists Sing About Sex the Most?

Summary

The article examines the prevalence of sexual themes in music across different decades, identifying which artists have most frequently referenced sex in their Billboard-charting songs.

Abstract

The study conducted by Superdrug Online Doctor analyzes the frequency of sexual references in music by chart-topping artists from the 1960s to the 2010s. It reveals that despite the common belief that modern music is more sexually explicit, artists from the 1960s like Tom Jones and James Brown & The Famous Flames frequently mentioned sex in their music. The analysis also shows a decrease in overt sexual content in the 1980s, which may be attributed to the conservative political and cultural climate of the era, marked by the influence of figures like Reagan and Thatcher, and the rise of the Parental Advisory sticker due to efforts by the Parents Music Resource Center. The resurgence of sexual themes in music is evident in the subsequent decades, with artists like TLC, R. Kelly, and Bruno Mars featuring prominently in the 1990s and 2010s respectively.

Opinions

The article suggests that every generation perceives the music of the next as being more sexually explicit, which may not necessarily be accurate when considering quantitative data.
The study implies that the cultural and political atmosphere of a decade can significantly influence the content of popular music, particularly in terms of sexual explicitness.
The author notes a paradox in the 1960s, often considered a conservative era regarding public discourse on sex, yet the music of that decade frequently referenced sex.
The article posits that the 1980s saw a decline in sexual references in music due to a conservative revival and the establishment of organizations aimed at monitoring and censoring music content.
It is observed that the 1990s and 2000s saw a rebound in the frequency of sexual themes in music, with artists like The Black Eyed Peas and Christina Aguilera prominently featuring in the charts.
The author emphasizes that the presence of sex in music is not a new phenomenon but rather a recurring theme that ebbs and flows with the cultural and political tides of the times.

Study looks at sexy talk in music through the decades

No matter how old you are, chances are at some point growing up, you had a parent commenting — in a full-blown “get off my lawn” episode — about how much sex is in the music you like and how back in their day, you would never, ever have heard such filth in song. I had that experience when my mother realized what Prince was saying in “Darling Nikki,” despite having Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” record right there out in the open for my young, tender ears to listen to any time the mood struck my fancy.

“When we break down mentions of ‘sex’ by Billboard chart-topping artists by decade, we get some interesting results.”

But really, even though every generation wants to think their juniors are being debased by the raunchiest, most blush-inducing lyrics ever set to song, every decade has its own version of sex in music. And to find out what artists have sung about sex the most, Superdrug Online Doctor looked at Billboard charts from the 1960s through the 2010s. The following are the results.

2010s

Bruno Mars

Nicki Minaj

The Black Eyed Peas

Chris Brown

Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera

Are you surprised by this look at sex in music? Superdrug Online Doctor explains that the amount of sex found in songs over the decades is directly related to shifts in the political and cultural climates.

“When we break down mentions of ‘sex’ by Billboard chart-topping artists by decade, we get some interesting results,” the blog post explained. “And while the ’60s are often thought of as a time when sex was taboo in pop music, this analysis shows that top artists’ songs in that period that overtly mention ‘sex’ actually outperformed the songs of top artists mentioning ‘sex’ in the ’80s. Why? It’s an explanation that’s more cultural than scientific, but the 1980s were a time of a conservative revival in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom. This decade was one of Reagan, Thatcher, the war on drugs, and the Moral Majority. It was also the era of the Jello Biafra obscenity trial, the birth of the Parents Music Resource Center, and origin of the ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker. All of these social factors may have formed a perfect storm to remove ‘sex’ from the charts.”

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Source:

Which Music Artists Sing About Sex the Most?

Study looks at sexy talk in music through the decades

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

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