History WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids / Music

* Most artists in the "classic rock" genre are frequently overlooked by parents, who justify buying music for their kids by saying "it's old, therefore it must be clean, right?" Well...not only has DoubleEntendre always been a part of popular music, but artists were using "fuck" as far back as the late 60s (''Music/ExileOnMainStreet'' would qualify for a Parental Advisory sticker had it been released today).

* Most artists in the "classic rock" genre are frequently overlooked by parents, who justify buying music for their kids by saying "it's old, therefore it must be clean, right?" Well...not only has DoubleEntendre always been a part of popular music, but artists were using "fuck" as far back as the late 60s ( [[Music/TheRollingStones Exile on Main Street]] would qualify for a Parental Advisory sticker had it been released today ).

* Music/{{TLC}}. "Waterfalls" seems like a female empowerment song from first glance, but is actually about subjects such as the toll of urban gang violence and [=HIV=]/[=AIDS=] (the "three letters" that took one of the characters to his resting place? [=HIV=]). "No Scrubs" uses the term "broke-ass" multiple times to refer to the loser men the trio bash in the song. Then of course if you saw the trio in {{Stripperiffic}} outfits in the video for "No Scrubs", you may be surprised that little girls looked up to them as idols.
** Their second album was called ''CrazySexyCool'', which should tip you off that it wasn't for kids, and with songs like [[IntercourseWithYou "Red Light Special]] and "Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes", which features a profanity-heavy verse from [[Music/{{Outkast}} André 3000]], it's obviously intended for a mature audience.

** "Doperide" by Saliva (Max-D theme): "Getting paid in the last days / Rage of the teenage / Coming out strong and hard and on the front page"

* Most artists in the "classic rock" genre are frequently overlooked by parents, who justify buying music for their kids by saying "it's old, therefore it must be clean, right?" Well...not only has DoubleEntendre always been a part of popular music, but artists were using "fuck" as far back as the late 60s ([[Music/TheRollingStones ''Exile on Main Street'']] would qualify for a Parental Advisory sticker had it been released today).

* Most artists in the "classic rock" genre are frequently overlooked by parents, who justify buying music for their kids by saying "it's old, therefore it must be clean, right?" Well...not only has DoubleEntendre always been a part of popular music, but artists were using "fuck" as far back as the late 60s (Music/TheRollingStones ''Exile on Main Street'' would qualify for a Parental Advisory sticker had it been released today).

* Biz Markie got this often during his lifetime too, since he played a major role on ''Series/YoGabbaGabba''. People often took their kids to his concerts, thinking his music would be similar to what's heard on the show.

* The soundtrack to ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' contains a cover of Music/RodStewart's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". The song may appear to be about being attractive and popular, but in reality, it's yet another IntercourseWithYou song. It also features a cover of Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep," a song about personal feelings of inadequacy and a few strong swear words.
* Music/DemiLovato, which makes sure of showing how grown-up they are in the R&B parts of their album, ''Unbroken''. Although they have since [[CreatorBacklash admitted to feeling uncomfortable]] [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/1561404/demi-lovato-qa-on-demi-her-x-factor-return-and-being-sick-of-party with the "party hits" on that album years later]]. Even though they thought the aforementioned album of theirs still says it by bit, later songs of theirs (with some music videos of their recent songs in the mix) do play the trope well, as if they're pulling a [[Anime/MacrossFrontier Sheryl Nome]] (“Cool For The Summer”, anyone?), at least in their singing career.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s early career work had him making cartoon-influenced music with childlike, colourful beats, [[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud overdubbed sound effects]], SubvertedKidsShow music videos, children's choruses and children singing guest vocals, and him rapping in a cheerful, squeaky voice - often about childish topics like getting revenge on school bullies, teachers and [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood abusive parents]], giggling at PottyHumor, and being a [[TheCape superhero]]. However, his work is also filled with misogynistic and homophobic slurs and attitudes, BloodyHilarious violence, utterly harrowing BlackComedy about murdering his real life family members, and {{Cluster F Bomb}}s, which caused a huge [[TheNewRockAndRoll moral panic]] about how he was corrupting children. Eminem maintained in interviews that his music was not for children - though, in reality, it was, with him being marketed to young teenagers via his ''TRL'' appearances and his frequent lyrical themes about how he wants to make music that helps kids express themselves. He does acknowledge that ''very young'' children - the demographic that would be drawn to the children's choruses and nursery-rhyme beats - should not listen to his music (in "Stan", the fact that Stan's six-year-old brother Matthew likes Slim ''even more than Stan does'' is TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior) but in other songs he acknowledges he makes "fight music for high school kids", and is proud to introduce children to swearing and sex to help them get a little agency back in their own lives. This whole element of his persona was dropped after his overdose, as he'd aged out of being able to maintain the OneOfTheKids image without looking creepy, with ''Relapse'' being a much darker album both [[{{Horrorcore}} thematically]] and sonically, and his ageing into a legacy pop star [[RatedGForGangsta muffling much of what was left]] of the scary moral-panic-bait image.

* Though most of their songs have peppy sound, Music/EvelynEvelyn is not remotely for kids. Despite its 1920s sounding tune and funny {{retraux}} animated music video, "Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?" is about a woman complaining about her twin sister who is very promiscuous. The first part of the song is rather SFW but then the second part features profanity. There's similarly nothing child-friendly about "Sandy Fishnets" despite its lyrics or cute music video, which is about how a child prostitute was killed when she turned 13 due to being deemed too old.
* Music/FallOutBoy has always attracted a fairly large amount of teenagers and the older crowd due to their innuendo vulgar lyrics. That didn't stop Kidz Bop for wanting to put "Dance, Dance" on ''Kidz Bop 10''. [[http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1533265/fall-out-boy-take-on-kidz-bop.jhtml The band and their manager weren't pleased]], especially since Kidz Bop technically didn't need their permission to use it. Kidz Bop eventually dumped the track from the list. Later on, "[[DoubleEntendre Sugar, We're Goin' Down]]" got away with being used for the trailers of the Tim Allen movie, ''Zoom: Academy for Superheroes'', and eleven years after this incident did this, the group would appear in the second ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' TVMovie "The Day the Night Stopped Beginning To Shine And Became Dark Even Though It Was the Day", though the latter was because [[SoMyKidsCanWatch one of the band member's children was a huge fan of the show]].

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s early career work had him making cartoon-influenced music with childlike, colourful beats, SubvertedKidsShow music videos, children's choruses and children singing guest vocals, and him rapping in a cheerful, squeaky voice - often about childish topics like fantasies about getting revenge against school bullies and teachers, PottyHumor, and superheroes, through the KayfabeMusic of his HeroicComedicSociopath AntiRoleModel character, Slim Shady. However, his work is also filled with misogynistic and homophobic slurs and attitudes, BloodyHilarious violence, utterly harrowing BlackComedy about murdering his real life family members, and {{Cluster F Bomb}}s, which caused a huge [[TheNewRockAndRoll moral panic]] about how he was corrupting children. Eminem maintained in interviews that his music was not for children - though, in reality, it was, with him being marketed to young teenagers via his ''TRL'' appearances and his frequent lyrical themes about how he wants to make music that helps kids express themselves. He does acknowledge that ''very young'' children should not listen to his music ("I wouldn't let Hailie listen to my music either!" - and in "Stan", the fact that Stan's six year old brother Matthew likes Slim ''even more than Stan does'' is TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior) but in other songs he acknowledges he makes "fight music for high school kids", and is proud to introduce children to swearing and sex. This whole element of his persona was dropped after his overdose, with ''Relapse'' being a much darker album about [[AddictionSong addiction]], and his ageing into a legacy pop star [[RatedGForGangsta muffling much of what was left]] of the scary moral-panic-bait image.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s early career work had him making cartoon-influenced music with childlike, colourful beats, SubvertedKidsShow music videos, children's choruses and children singing guest vocals, and him rapping in a cheerful, squeaky voice - often about childish topics like fantasies about getting revenge against school bullies and teachers, PottyHumor, and superheroes. However, the rest of his work is filled with misogynistic and homophobic slurs and attitudes, BloodyHilarious violence, utterly harrowing BlackComedy about murdering his real life family members, and {{Cluster F Bomb}}s, which caused a huge [[TheNewRockAndRoll moral panic]] about how he was corrupting children. Eminem maintained in interviews that his music was not for children - though, in reality, it was, with him being marketed to young teenagers via his ''TRL'' appearances and his frequent lyrical themes about how he wants to make music that helps kids express themselves. He does acknowledge that ''very young'' children should not listen to his music ("I wouldn't let Hailie listen to my music either!") but also acknowledges he makes "fight music for high school kids". This whole element of his persona was dropped after his overdose, along with [[RatedGForGangsta most]] of the moral-panic-bait image.

* Music/{{Eminem}}'s been criticized over and over for his vulgarity in music, and how it reaches to children, but the fact of the matter is no matter how colorful and cheery his voice may sound (although not so much anymore, though his later songs have him using a more cheerful voice) his songs ARE NOT for them. He even talks about it in his songs.

** "A Warrior's Call" by Music/{{Volbeat}} (Mohawk Warrior theme): "You feel the floor again, unleashing his hell / You will not even hear the bell"

* British boy band Five were marketed like any boy band was at the time, and were made easily marketable to tween girls. Their hit "When The Lights Go Out" has lyrics that blatantly suggest IntercourseWithYou (one verse: "It's a blackout, girl, the lights are off / I can feel you getting closer / Now take your clothes off / Your body looks so soft / In between the sheets / I'll lay you down girl / I wanna knock your socks off"). Some fans [[LateToThePunchline were surprised to find out the meaning of the lyrics once they grew up]].

** "A Warrior's Call" by Volbeat (Mohawk Warrior theme): "You feel the floor again, unleashing his hell / You will not even hear the bell"

* Music/ArianaGrande has a lot of young fangirls due to the fact she began as a Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} child star on ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' and she has a "beautiful" look to her. A good number of her singles are rather clean; however, not all are. For example, "Dangerous Woman" and "Into You" both contain non-explicit sex references.

* Biz Markie gets this often too, since he played a major role on ''Series/YoGabbaGabba''. People often take their kids to his concerts, thinking his music will be similar to what's heard on the show.

* If you went to any party where rap music was played in 2015, you probably heard "Hot Nigga" played at least once. This song was a HUGE hit in 2014, even among (primarily African-American) elementary school-aged kids, who knew how to do the dance that goes along with it (known as the "shomoney" dance). The explicit title alone (the clean version is called "Hot Boy") alone is enough to shock parents into not buying or downloading the song for their kids, as well as the name of the stage name of the artist who made it (Bobby [=ShMURDA=]), but wait until you hear the lyrics of the song.

* Music/{{Wham}} were a popular act of the Second British Invasion of the early 80s, and had an enormous fanbase of teenage girls on both sides of the pond. However, their songs' lyrics often talk about things that their teenage fans could not understand (for example, "Club Tropicana" satirizes Club 18-30, a package holiday service that was popular in the UK at the time amongst rowdy teens, and "Careless Whisper" was based on George Michael's past relationship issues with multiple girls)

* If you went to any party where rap music was played in 2015, you probably heard [[NWordPrivileges "Hot Nigga"]] played at least once. This song was a HUGE hit in 2014, even among (primarily African-American) elementary school-aged kids, who knew how to do the dance that goes along with it (known as the "shomoney" dance). The explicit title alone (the clean version is called "Hot Boy") alone is enough to shock parents into not buying or downloading the song for their kids, as well as the name of the stage name of the artist who made it (Bobby [=ShMURDA=]), but wait until you hear the lyrics of the song.

* Music/DemiLovato, which makes sure of showing how ShesAllGrownUp in the R&B parts of her album, ''Unbroken''. Although she has since [[CreatorBacklash admitted to feeling uncomfortable]] [[http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/1561404/demi-lovato-qa-on-demi-her-x-factor-return-and-being-sick-of-party with the "party hits" on that album years later]]. Fellow Disney Channel alum Music/AshleyTisdale is on the same track.
** Even though she thought the aforementioned album of hers still says it by bit, later songs of hers (with some music videos of her recent songs in the mix) do play the trope well, as if she's pulling a [[Anime/MacrossFrontier Sheryl Nome]] (“Cool For The Summer”, anyone?), at least in her singing career.

* "Baby Shark" is a popular song among little kids about a shark family who goes hunting for fish. What most people don't know is that it originally started as a PlaygroundSong that [[https://theweek.com/articles/813561/baby-shark-once-wildly-inappropriate-children was much more violent]] and involved the sharks attacking and killing a swimmer.

* Music/ArianaGrande has a lot of 9-16 year old fans due to the fact she began as a Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} child star on ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' and she has a "beautiful" look to her. A good number of her singles are rather clean; however, not all are. For example, "Dangerous Woman" and "Into You" both contain non-explicit sex references.

* Country music is often seen as family-friendly due to the themes of family, religion and patriotism, and there are several family-friendly songs in the genre. However, around the 2000s, more and more artists started adding more overtly sexual lyrics into their songs, as well as some minor profanities. The bro-country movement in particular seemed to embrace this, and while that subgenre has pretty much tapered off and most of those bands have gone back to lighter fare, some of those elements still remain (such as Music/LukeBryan's 2019 single "Knockin Boots"). Even "classic" county though had themes of infidelity, alcoholism, drug addiction, and even murder.