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MUSIC IS HALAL! Ok, now that I have your attention... MUSIC IS HARAM! Ok, now that I really have your attention, this post has nothing to do with whether music is halal or haram, but I do want to tell you about something of profound importance!
I have exams coming up, which doesn't mean I am studying more, but means that I am watching more Youtube videos. I regularly check up on what has been going viral and a few days ago I came across one such video. The video showed two little girls, Lennon and Maisy, singing a song and using plastic boxes for percussion. Their voices were absolutely amazing! Here, take a listen:
The first time I listened to it, I wasn't paying attention to the lyrics, so it sounded like a typical love song. The second time I listened to it, I noticed something odd and looked up the lyrics of the original song. Well, it turned out that these little girls were singing about a woman having a romantic relationship with a man and is encouraging him to call his girlfriend and breakup with her, meaning... the guy is cheating on his girlfriend! Having a girlfriend is not allowed in Islam, but cheating on a girlfriend is considered repulsive in any religion or culture. Lennon and Maisy probably don't know better, but why would the adults supervising (which I'm assuming from the expensive microphones) these girls allow them to sing a song with such terrible meaning? How come no one in the comments section of the video pick this up and have a problem with it?
My theory is that as long as you have a good beat or a good voice, you can get away with almost any message. We will listen to it, dance to it, even sing it without wondering if we agree with the song's message. We either don't care or we don't think. But does the lack of thought mean these songs have no influence on the listener? I doubt it. Songs that glorify promiscuity, drugs, greed and vices like it first make us calloused to it and then make it desirable to us, without us even knowing it. I recently overheard a song that had disgusting lyrics, but then realized that I used to listen to songs like it back in middle school, hoping to fit in with the popular kids. I wanted to be like those artists, how they are so dramatically portrayed in music videos, because my friends thought it was cool and because I wanted to be cool.
So who is to blame? Maybe it is the artists. They are the ones who make the music, write the lyrics, act seductive or ridiculously cocky in their videos. They should take responsibility for their product, right? I think it is deeper than that. Isn't it the music industry that signs these artists? They have to liberty to sign artists that promote a positive message, but they choose not to. I'm sure there are plenty of rappers who would rather play Call of Duty online than hit up the club, but that's what they have to rap about, or else they can kiss that record deal goodbye. But I think it is even deeper than that. The music industry only signs these artists who make songs filled with sex, drugs, violence, cockiness and greed because WE eat it up. We love listening to music that appeals to our lower desires. We rather dance to a song than think about its message and what it is doing to us. We'd rather purchase the song on iTunes and give it millions of views on Youtube than worry about how this music will mold our children. As long as we consume, they will provide. So let's take some responsibility for what enters our ears and become conscious of the profound effect our collective actions have.
