An Analysis of Profanity in English Lyrics

Abstract

ABSTRACT

 This paper is designed to present results of an analysis of Profanity in English lyrics. The purpose of this qualitative study is to discover type of profane words used in English songs. According to Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM), “17.7 million of Malaysia’s population aged 10 years and above tune in to a radio daily” which indicates how music is easily to get access. 100 songs from Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 year 2009 until 2015were selected and analyzed in this paper. The results showed that profane words in the selected songs were falls under obscenity type with the highest frequency of 41% in the songs throughout the year. The results showed that this type of words generally found in Hip Hop, R&B and Pop genre compared to others.

Keywords: Profanity, Cultivation Theory, Objectification Theory and Social Cognitive Theory on Gender Development