When I started writing about 10 most controversial songs of 2018, I thought this is going to be such a difficult topic to research. Following the latest trends in pop culture, there seemed to be no abhorrent or shocking songs or videos like in the previous years. Some of us still remember the outrage caused by lyrics sung by Madonna, Eminem or Nirvana. It appears as anything goes these days, doesn’t it? Well, not really. Despite that illusion, the list of controversial songs of the 21st century is a long one.
Freedom of speech is one of the basic human rights, and the freedom to sing is its equivalent. Everyone should be able to express their feelings. Why should it be forbidden to speak your mind openly? What is more, lyrics are a form of art. Banning them mostly means the government has a different taste in music than its citizens. Interestingly enough, the discrepancy wouldn’t exist if those controversial songs didn’t actually appeal to people! No one would pay attention to them if the songs couldn’t find their way to the audience and their hearts or minds. Obviously, they are worth listening to and their debatable value is widely recognized. You can read about some of the most controversial songs in history in our article about the 10 most controversial songs of all time to hit and get banned from the airwaves.
Luis Molinero/Shutterstock.com
But let’s talk the most recent controversial songs and the reasons for their prohibition. Interestingly enough, the reasons couldn’t be more different. From sexism and homophobia to terrorism and awkwardness. As you can notice, our list of controversial songs will be quite compelling and it comprises songs from all over the world.
Consequently, our list of sources is diverse as well. We gathered the information from Variety, Music, High Snobiety, Consequence of Sound, Pink News, Spin, SBS, DW, Middle East Eye, and Chano8. The countries in question couldn’t be more different, either. There’s the USA, Turkey, Belgium and South Korea among the rest which have strong reactions to controversial songs. Determining which were the most shocking and appalling was tough. They had to be recent enough and to stir enough controversy. For instance, the Paramore song isn’t here since it was written several years ago and received little attention in 2018, despite the singer’s feeling of it being inappropriate for some. Clearly, the songs whose singers were called out for homophobia, terrorism, and sexism had precedence. Since it’s hard to decide which subject brings the most controversy, our list is random.
Now, it’s time to see what kind of world we’re living in. Reactions to these 10 most controversial songs of 2018 will tell you more about a country than any tourist guide. Check if you’ll be that shocked, too.
10. “Like That” by CLC
The song from CLC’s mini-album “Black Dress” isn’t to be aired anymore in South Korea because it depicts “intimate relations between a man and a woman”. Check our video for English translation and decide for yourself.
9. “Young Man” by Justin Timberlake
His comeback may not be quite what we expected. There are a few raised eyebrows here and there when you listen to his latest album “Man of the Woods”. For instance, talking about a faucet between the legs. But it’s even more awkward telling a boy he looks beautiful like his mum, and that he’s going to have sex with her.
8. “Lie to Me” by Mikolas Jozef
“Lie to Me” ranks 8th on our list of most controversial songs of 2018. It is the song the Chezc Republic has chosen to represent it at the competition for all European countries – Eurovision. Mikolas Jozef wrote the lyrics himself, and he’s going to sing loud and proud some explicit content. Lots of F-words, unless he changes them during the official performance.
7. “Rewind” by SHINee’s Jonghyun
While it’s perfectly OK to use some English words in songs, it seems to be a real issue if you’re singing “One, two, three. One more time.” in Japanese in the middle of a South Korean song. Korean broadcasting network decided it’s too inappropriate to be aired.
6. “Boss Life” by Offset
Enough with controversial pop songs for now. Let’s continue with some rap, which is common for explicit lyrics. If you rap that you can’t vibe with queers, the public gets enraged, and you have to issue an apology explaining it wasn’t directed at the gay community.
5. “One” by Samuel Kim
“One” and “Big Wave” are banned from his album because they mention brand names and there’s some explicit language. Of course, it’s South Korea again in our list of 10 most controversial songs of 2018.
4. “Humains” by Damso
A Belgian rapper who also happened to once had been a refugee seemed like the perfect choice for a singer of the official World Cup song. Nevertheless, his rapping was found to be full of “sexism and threats of violence against women”, as reported by the BBC and the New York Times.
3. “Hallelujah” by Diamond Platnumz
Technically, the song was released in 2017, but it was banned in 2018 by Tanzanian radios and TV stations because its lyrics “violate the ethics of the radio stations”.
2. “Ah Ulan Sevda” by Demet Akalin
Coming almost to the end of our list. Here is “Damn Your Love” by a Turkish singer. The love song was forbidden recently for the reasons the singer was unaware of and asked for clarification on Twitter.
1. “Dilan” by Rojda
Finishing the list of 10 most controversial songs of 2018 with a song that was released a long time ago, but the Turkish government proclaimed it to entice terrorism in 2018. It’s sung by Rojda, a Kurdish singer, who has already met with similar accusations and she once served a prison sentence for a year and eight months, all due to her “terrorist propaganda”.
