Charged for Listening to Explicit Music

I grew up in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, not exactly the most glamorous of places to grow up. Its crime central up here in the northern suburbs, unemployment is at Adelaide’s highest, and its generally a very low socio-economic area of public housing, caravan parks, and slum like rentals. Life is tough up here as its a huge part of this city that’s home to many different ethnic groups. Here we have Anglo Aussies, European descent (Italian, Yugoslav, Greeks) , Africans, Arabs and Asians living in such close proximity, and so things get tough as racism flares up and so does intolerance for one another. For the most part growing up the northern suburbs we were split up between two main cultures. The group that listened to the heavy metal, hard rock, and followed the culture that came with that, mostly the Anglo- Australian bogan folk. The other major culture that came to rise from the early 90s was the hip-hop crowd.

I was a kid who came to love hip hop, gangster rap and Rnb as a young teen as far back as 99′ when i was 13 years old. Back in those days it was my rebellious music. It was the music that shaped the culture and the attitude that i grew up in all the way through high school. I didn’t care for the profanity, i chose to listen to it, because to me it mirrored my shit life at the time. When one really listens to real hip hop, not this Soulja Boy crap they sell nowdays as hiphop, im talking about the old school hiphop, you soon find the beauty and genius in the lyrics. Its the pinnacle of modern day poetry. I was a huge fan of Eminem since 12 years of age, listening to the early Marshal Mathers and i even taught myself to rap. The music was a part of my culture, and it set me apart from the heavy metal boys both in my dress and attitude. My farther hated my hip hop, so did my neighbours, but i didn’t care! I identified with the music, and found comfort from it.

Since those days ive gradually changed over to the heavy metal crowd, and nowdays i hardly ever listen to hip hop. I understand how the two cultures differentiate, and i can relate to both, and see the good and bad in each. I pretty much quit listening to rap as i began hanging with a different crowd, and the guy i became best friends with was a huge Bon Jovi fan, and its just amazing how influential others can be! Im glad for it as about the same time, hiphop was well and truly dying at the time. I still listen occasionally to a bit of Dre, Cyprus, Bone Thugs, DMX, D-12, Xibit, 2Pac etc, and i still wear my jeans baggy. That said im pretty much a metal head nowdays, as ive fallen in love with the genre, diversity is a beautiful thing! Alot of my heavy metal is quite explicit too, and to a degree more explicit than most rap! Once again i listen to it for the beauty of the music despite the explicit way its delivered through explicit and at times profane language. Its my choice and my freedom to listen to it wherever i please regardless of anybody around me. The music is a big part of me, and a part of my identity, and culture.