Some consider Russell Simmons the one that sparked it all for the music industry and the #metoo movement. In 2017 Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Record and CEO of Rush Communications was accused by 9 women of sexual assault or harassment forcing him to step down from everything. It started with claims that he used is status in order to get woman and force them into having sex. One woman, Natashia Williams-Blach, reported that after appearing in one of his films was forced to perform oral sex when she was 18 and a freshman at UCLA. Another woman, Drew Dixon, who worked at Def Jams under Russell Simmons claims that after turning down multiple advances she was raped in his Manhattan apartment. Former model Keri Claussen Khalighi had her own experience with Russell Simmons when he forced her into performing oral sex in front of his friend. So many artists and producers have avoided the impact of these allegations. It does not help that these people are still making money off of music especially when that music is glamorizing sexual misconduct like rape and the fans for still supporting those artists by listening to their music. For example Lil Wayne in his new album who gave a loving tribute to his mother and in the very next track hosted lyrics sung by XXXTentacion who had domestic abuse allegations on him from when he violently attacked his then pregnant girlfriend. ” change does not have to necessarily need to be forced from outside. It can come from within if, for example, record labels sign artists to contracts that require them to treat women and others appropriately, in the professional and personal settings. Supporters of music must commit to making it safe for everyone involved” (Abdurraqib, 2018).

R. Kelly is no stranger to being in the spotlight for sexual assault/harassment claims. He has been covered in the media many times over the years even most recently with the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly shedding more light all over again on a still very controversial man. It all started in 1994 when R. Kelly, age 27, marries a young up and coming superstar Aaliyah, then age 15, in a secret wedding ceremony in Chicago. The topic was address many times but they never really talked about their relationship. Even to this day R. Kelly out of respect for her parents does not talk about that secret ceremony. Then in 1996 R. Kelly was sued for causing emotional distress after a 3 year sexual relationship ended with a girl who was 15-18 years old during the time of the relationship. In 2001 an intern of R. Kelly’s sued for an indecent sexual relationship when she was 17. In 2002 after a lengthy investigation R. Kelly was arrested on 21 counts of child porn involving him and a young female. The acts consisted of intercourse, oral sex, urination and many other sexual acts. He posted bail and was claimed his innocence in many media news outlets. Now in 2018 a #Mutekelly movement has taken off to get RCA record label to cut all ties with him as well has getting streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora to cut his songs from their playlists. He still claims his innocence to this day.

A study was conducted based off of the Billboard Hot 100 from the years 2012 to 2017 for the male to female representation in music produced astounding results. The ratio for top male artist to top female artists in 2017 alone was 4.9 to 1 and the male to female producer ratios was 49.1 to 1. Kesha was no stranger to making the top 100 charts with the help of Dr. Luke helping create some of her greatest hits. But behind the recording studio something bigger and darker was happening that no one knew about. In 2014 Kesha filed a law suit saying that music producer Dr. Luke raped, drugged and mentally abused her for a decade. He denied all allegations many times over. Over the years in court Kesha kept losing all hearings. In October 2016 her lawyers decided to take a shot and try to get her free from her contract with Dr. Luke. The judge ruled against her forcing her to continue working with her rapist. Eventually she filed to drop all charges basically letting Dr. Luke go free. What kind of message is this sending when a woman is trying to break free from her rapist to continue doing what she loves and she is denied that? Why would any other woman want to come forward after seeing that take place?

Believe it or not sexual assault in the music industry has been going on for decades, yet it is something that is not discussed as frequently as it should be. It has only been in the spotlight for a short while with media covering Kesha and her legal battle with Dr. Luke starting in 2014, then to Russell Simmons and recently R. Kelly (again), Michael Jackson (again, thanks to a new documentary on HBO) and Ryan Adams. When will the music industry follow suit and have their #metoo movement. Some people think that it is on the horizon now. The whole heart of music is based on the slogan “sex, drugs and rock n roll” so are we even surprised that they have not came to a #metoo reckoning yet? There is also a major lack of female leadership in the music industry so when a young girl just entering the field have no one to look up to and turn to for advice they are either left on their own to navigate or they are forced to turn to these men that treat them less than for help. These girls are felt pressured to play along and move forward with these sexual acts in the hopes that it will help their career move along. According to Stacy Waronker who was the manager of Third Eye Blind and Troye Sivan “women are taught that you need to be able to ‘hang’ with the guys if you want to make it in this industry. and by whistle blowing in the industry, even for men who truly deserve it, we fear our repercussions. Because the terrible men in the music industry are still much stronger than this movement.” (Kennedy, 2018)

Thanks for joining me!