Culture Clips: Music

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• You might assume that rap music has always glorified drug use. But according to a new study in the journal Addiction Research & Theory, the exaltation of drugs in rap was relatively uncommon in the genre's first 15 years. Of the 38 most popular rap songs between 1979 and 1984, only four had drug references (11%). By the late '80s, that percentage had slowly risen to 19%. Then, between 1993 and 1997, it spiked to 69%. The study was authored by Denise Herd, associate professor of community health and human development at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health. "The study showed that in fact much early rap music either did not talk about drugs at all, or when it did [it] had anti-drug messages," she said. "Rap artists have become key models and trendsetters, and their music serves as the CNN for our nation's young people by providing them with a way to stay current. But we have to ask ourselves whether there are other kinds of messages rap music could deliver." [Sources: Reuters, 4/2/08; berkeley.edu, 4/1/08 stats]
• Following in the footsteps of Madonna, U2 and Jay-Z have both announced sweeping new deals with music promoter Live Nation. U2's 12-year-contract with the company includes worldwide touring, all merchandising and management of the band's U2.com Web site. Unlike Madonna's $120 million dollar deal last year, the Irish rockers will still rely on a traditional record company (Universal Music) to distribute their albums. Jay-Z's $150 million agreement, however, covers the hip-hop mogul's touring and three albums over the next 10 years. [Sources: billboard.com, 3/31/08; nytimes.com, 4/3/08]
• Some musicians have begun supplementing their MySpace sites with their own social networks. 50 Cent is among the first to create his own self-contained social forum: Thisis50.com allows users to create their own profiles and friends lists—just like MySpace or Facebook—but it also gives the rapper access to those profiles ... and their e-mail addresses. "We can e-mail members if we want to," says Chris Romero, director for new media at G-Unit Records. Other artists catching this wave include Kylie Minogue, Ludacris and Pussycat Dolls. [Source: Billboard, 3/29/08]

Quotes

"For me, in my mind the accomplishment is just that much sweeter. In terms of my ethnicity, always feeling like an outsider, always feeling different ... for me it's about saying, 'Thank you, Lord, for giving me the faith to believe in myself when other people had written me off.'" —Mariah Carey's response to passing Presley on the most No. 1s list [Source: AP, 4/2/08]

"They own the talent, they own the distribution, they can promote it all the time on television. It's almost impossible not to have a hit." —David Smay, co-editor of the book Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth: The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop, From the Banana Splits to Britney Spears, on the aid Disney gives to its stable of stars [Source: latimes.com, 4/1/08]

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