Carvin Haggins
Carvin Haggins, Grammy Award winning Songwriter/Producer calls in from Philadelphia, PA to share his passion for the decline in music lyrics and the need for his "Rage Against the Ratchet" movement.
Organized as a “Movement” in May 2014,by Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter and arranger, Carvin Haggins, Rage Against the Ratchet was formed to build awareness about the current violent and sexually explicit songs that can be heard on urban radio stations. The word “Ratchet” (derived from “wretched”) by definition was used in urban communities as an adjective describing a person that displays inappropriate behavior. The word has evolved and is now used in Pop Culture (still associated with a negative connotation); hence, the term to name the movement Rage Against the RatcheAs a father and mentor, Haggins became appalled by the current music played on air and lack of diversity of songs that can be heard on urban radio stations. As he states, “Now, as a father, I can no longer allow my children to listen to songs currently playing on the radio. While taking my children to school in the morning, I have to dodge from station to station trying to avoid sexually explicit, raunchy conversation by the show host. Picking my children up from school at 3pm, when the latest record is played…it's a disaster waiting to happen. Radio used to be the place we turn to for information on life, love, health and prosperity. Now it’s a place of death and destruction. History shows us when the music was positive, our community was better.”
Previous years, radio stations use to have strict regulations for the music that contained explicit words, such as the “b-word” or anything deemed derogatory. Today, lyrical content is so explicit, even the "clean" version has become problematic. It appears, radio stations have compromised to please the artist and an industry that continues to push the already hypocrisy of what is acceptable to say and suggest in music. Thus, the reason and purpose for Haggins forming this movement.
