There are many types of popular music out there today that support violence. I'm going to focus on two specific artists who's music is considered two different types of genres and for the most part has two separate fan bases.
Eminem is a very popular and very controversial artist because his lyrics have touched on violence towards women and men. His biggest controversy is not over physical violence with other men, but over the way he treats women. In many of his songs he talks badly about his mother and the mother of his child. He talks about the violent things he wants to do or has supposedly done to them. I found a website (http://www.jacksonkatz.com/eminem2.html ) that gives multiple other reasons why Eminem is "bad" for women.
Insane Clown Posse is a popular but more underground band. I personally think they're disgusting and would rather listen to Eminem any day. They consider themselves "horrorcore" hip-hop. Some of their lyrics have focused on cannibalism, murder and necrophilia. They obviously do not do these things in real life and are under the "illusion" Klosterman touches on in his Appetite for Replication article but their lyrics still send this message out. People may argue that other lyrics of theirs oppose racism, bigotry, child abuse and domestic violence but does that really make talking about those other subjects okay?
The part that bothers me the most about these artists aren't necessarily the artists themselves, but the fans. Not the people who listen to their singles on the radio (in Eminem's case) or have one or two songs they'll occasionally listen to on their iPods. I mean the hardcore dedicated fans. Eminem has plenty who idolize him and think everything he says is true, making them violent and sexist people. Insane Clown Posse has even more dedicated followers (Juggalos) who go to their shows and follow with a mob type fashion. If the crowd doesn't like the people preforming before them they've been known to chant things, boo them and even throw things at them until they leave the stage. To my knowledge ICP does not stop this behavior or apologize for it. In a TMZ article ( http://www.tmz.com/2010/08/16/insane-clown-posse-tila-tequila-gathering-of-the-juggalos-violent-j-warning-show-concert/ ) one of the band members simply says "I wish they didn't throw stuff at her." However, never addressed the fans saying he was ashamed or upset with them for acting that way, which is part of the problem.
These musicians themselves have been known to get into fights, hitting their own fans or getting into altercations with people in public. They themselves act violently and when their fans act violently they do nothing to stop it. When male violence is shown in the media like this and nothing is done to stop it and there are no real consequences what message does that send? It's just going to be a cycle of fans following their idols, becoming more and more violent by encouraging each other.
Have you ever heard the phrase "The inmates are running the asylum?" It seems applicable here.
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