Planning Spring Weekend, the job of the Brown Concert Agency, is a tough responsibility. The agency is tasked with satisfying thousands of undergraduates with diverse musical tastes and living up to the hype of Brown's biggest weekend. It must do this on a limited budget and, for the past two years, while competing for acts with one of the largest music festivals in the country, Coachella. Amid these constraints, BCA continues to do an admirable job and has put on good shows in recent years.
That said, we worry that BCA sometimes too easily overlooks the misogynistic lyrics featured in the songs of many past and upcoming performers. The Herald printed a letter two years ago from two students decrying 2010 performer Snoop Dogg's lyrics, some of which seem to "advocate violence against women." Two of the acts for this year's lineup - headliner Childish Gambino and supporting act Cam'ron - both have considerable lyrical content that is offensive and degrading to women.
We do not mean to throw a wet blanket over one of Brown's best traditions, or suggest that it is wrong to listen to Childish Gambino or Cam'ron. To be honest, a few of us on this board are fans of Killa Season and are really excited to see these artists in action. At the same time, it is important that Spring Weekend does not become an event that alienates members of our community. We believe it is important to think critically about the content that Brown amplifies from the Main Green.
More to the point, we wonder if paying a musical act to perform sends the implicit message that the Brown community sanctions the lyrics. Brown and other universities invite speakers with imperfect views to speak all the time - for instance, Brown Lecture Board paid a handsome sum to host former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in 2009. However, lectures are environments of intellectual deliberation, where opposing and abhorrent viewpoints are challenged and considered. Concerts, where students are encouraged to sing along and cheer on the musical act, are different. At the very least, it seems reasonable that many members of the Brown community would feel uncomfortable paying people to perform songs that portray women as inferior, sexual objects.
We urge BCA to take this issue into consideration when planning future concerts, and open up more dialogue about the one taking place this year. BCA needs to entertain more feedback and respond to students who are concerned with the messages that performers are expressing at Brown. Since so many students are excited about Spring Weekend, it can be particularly daunting or intimidating for members of our community to express their discomfort regarding offensive lyrics. It is then even more important that BCA takes a proactive approach.
We are aware that shunning every artist with any questionable material would be disastrous. After all, former Spring Weekend performer Ray Charles had his fair share of misogynistic lyrics. Yet, it is irresponsible to accept unconditionally musicians with problematic content by writing it off as artistic expression. We hope that BCA will work to create a larger, more inclusive campus-wide dialogue specifically tailored to concerns about performers' lyrical content.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
