ABSTRACT
Music “leer-ics” are touching new lows and if the fast-buck songsmiths and musicmakers are incapable of social responsibility and self-restraint then regulation—policing, if scholars will—will have to come from more responsible sources. While young fans may have flocked to the songs, many detractors within the industry saw R&B “leer-ics” as a dangerous and intrusive presence. “Leer-ics” are offered as standard popular music for general consumption, including consumption by teenagers. The time is for some serious soul-searching by the popular music industry. For the music men—publishers and diskeries—to say that “that’s what the kids want” and “that’s the only thing that sells,” is akin to condoning publication of back-fence language. A suspicion has been expressed that even the network-affiliated and Hollywood-affiliated record companies brush things off with “that’s the music business.” But the music business is flirting with the shrill commands of an outer influence if it does not wake up and police itself.
