Filthy Slime (Part 1)

Music has been a feature of American culture wars since at least the time of Elvis Presley’s gyrating dance moves on The Ed Sullivan show in 1956. But amidst all the moral panics about hip-shaking and backmasking, there is a legitimate and fascinating question about the role and influence that popular music plays on human behavior and on society more broadly. 

Today, we are publishing the first episode in our breakdown of the debate around Rap on Trial and what it says (and misses) about the role of music in culture. We begin in 1985 with Tipper Gore’s fig...