Self-Regulation, Not Censorship

The recording industry--or at least those labels affiliated with major corporations--appears to be moving in a new direction on the controversial issue of rap music lyrics, dropping from albums any songs about killing police officers. And, appropriately, it isn’t just lyrics about cop killing that are under greater scrutiny. “If a song was about murdering and raping 12-year-old girls, there would certainly be concern toward that kind of lyric also,” one recording company official said. Although clearly not popular with many rap and rock artists, such voluntary restraint by the companies is sure to go over well with the public at large.

Such a change can’t be easy for an industry that has long prided itself as being on the youthful cutting edge of American culture. Although some companies say they have warned rappers, an article by Chuck Philips in the Times Calendar section last week reported that only one major company has flatly banned cop-killing songs. Frederick W. (Ted) Field of Interscope Records, an affiliate of Time-Warner Inc., said that his company would issue no songs with lyrics that were “incendiary.”

Rapper Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” became the focus of national controversy last summer when police organizations demanded that the song be withdrawn from retail outlets by Time-Warner, the parent corporation of the record company that produced the album on which it appeared. Some of the song’s most vociferous critics even threatened to boycott other Time-Warner businesses if that were not done. Ice-T and his defenders protested that the actions of some politicians in the controversy were a form of censorship that violated the artist’s First Amendment rights of free expression.

Field was quoted in last week’s article as saying “we will not release any album in the future that advocates cop killing.” In addition, sources at other record companies including MCA and Polygram were reported as saying that top executives are taking a harder line against rap lyrics that are sexually explicit or that describe graphic violence.

In explaining the new policy, Field said he acted against objectionable rap lyrics only “with a great deal of regret” because “Interscope encourages artistic freedom and we take our responsibility as a barometer of social consciousness seriously.”

For us the key word in that sentence is responsibility. In the periodic debates over rap lyrics, not enough recording executives have put the same emphasis on responsibility that they have given free expression.

The new developments will not end controversies over rap and rock lyrics. Indeed, small independent companies will continue to issue songs that seem to glorify violence. But the major companies must be applauded for trying to do the right thing--voluntarily striking a balance between freedom and responsibility.