It’s not exactly news at this point that the rapper known as Tyga is, as a rather self-explanatory headline in The Daily Beast put it yesterday, “a Creepy Predator Who Is Attracted to Underage Girls.”
As the Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern points out, the rapper famously started dating Kylie Jenner when she was 17 — officially “jailbait” in the state of California, where she lives — and defended the, er, romance in a song featuring one of the creepiest couplets in the history of lyrics:
They say she young, I should’ve waited
She a big girl, dog, when she stimulated.
This star-crossed romance got even skeezier last month, with tabloids reporting that while Tyga was dating Jenner he was also creeping on an even-more-underage girl online — a 14-year-old “Instagram model.”
In a press conference on Monday, with attorney Gloria Allred by her side, the girl in question — identifying herself as Molly O’Malia.– told her side of the story, saying that Tyga had approached her online, sending her messages on Instagram and trying to convince her to meet in person.
If her story is true, Stern notes, it
shows that Tyga is a predator with considerable means and influence who targets underage girls, just as he did with a teenage Kylie Jenner. And the public—and tabloid media—shouldn’t laugh off this despicable behavior any longer. It’s this lack of seriousness and accountability that’s allowed a demon like R. Kelly to continue to flourish, despite the countless young girls he’s left violated and forgotten.
Unfortunately, as the mention of the henious R. Kelly reminds us, Tyga is hardly the first predatory pop star. And in most cases, the media has been content to trivialize the issue or simply look the other way.
Sure, rocker Jerry Lee Lewis famously faced a backlash after journalists discovered that he had married a 13-year-old girl who also happened to be his first cousin once removed.
But Elvis Presley somehow managed to avoid this sort of scandal even while he was actively pursuing Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he met when she was only 14. The two eventually married in 1967 after what Biography.com euphemistically describes as a “nearly eight-year courtship.” According to assorted biographers, Elvis was positively obsessed with girls in their early teens. The official story, for what it’s worth, is that the singer didn’t actually have sex with any of them, preferring pillow fights and girly gossip.
Elvis wasn’t the first or the last pop star obsessed with underage girls; most had a lot more than pillow fights in mind. In a spoken-word section of the 1977 Kiss song “Christine Sixteen,” Gene Simmons declares
I don’t usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw you comin’ out of school that day, that day I knew, I knew I got to have ya. I got to have ya!
But it hasn’t been just rock ‘n’ roll sleazebags like Simmons who have advertised their interest in underage girls. The Knack’s “My Sharona” was about a real-life 17-year-old who was dating one of the band members; the group returned to the topic of underage girls in another song,“That’s What The Little Girls Do,” which laments how these “little girls” allegedly torment older men, breaking both their egos and their hearts. Oh, and the album that followed the massive hit Get The Knack was titled “But the Little Girls Understand.”
The list goes on and on. There’s Foreigner’s “Seventeen.” There’s “Young Girl,” by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. There’s Donovan’s “Mellow Yellow,” a surrealistic ode to yellow vibrators — and 14-year-old girls.
And then there’s Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page. He didn’t write musical love letters to 14-year-olds. No, he just sent roadies to bring them to him, no questions asked. Or at least he did on one infamous occasion in 1972. As Cracked describes the incident, Page was so taken by 14-year-old groupie Lori Maddox, whom he’d spotted in a nightclub, that he
sent roadie Richard Cole to Maddox’s table with the message, “Jimmy told me that he’s going to have you whether you like it or not.” The roadie then grabbed her and chucked her in the back of a limo, saying, “You fucking move and I’ll fucking have your head.”
Page apparently did his best to keep the three-year “romance” that followed out of the press — and Maddox herself largely confined to his hotel room.
But the story has been out for decades now, and no one seems to give a shit about it. Page is still treated as a rock god, his creepy years-long exploitation of the extremely underaged Maddox seen as little more than a colorful example of seventies rock excess.
Some might say that it’s unfair to put Tyga’s skeezy but failed online seduction of a high school junior in the same category as, say, Page’s exploitation of Maddox. He didn’t kidnap her; they never even met in person.
Indeed, two other Daily Beast writers, Lizzie Crocker and Tim Teeman, sniff that
[i]n the annals of Allred cases defending pretty girls as victims of lurid celebrity scandals, this particular scandal was hardly a scandal at all before Allred entered the fray. …
it was not clear what made O’Malia … a victim in this case, until she had been transformed into one by Allred.
But that’s not really the point. It’s a good thing that Tyga’s pursuit of a 14-year-old is a scandal (and it definitely was one, albeit a somewhat smaller one, even before Allred got involved).
Pop stars’ exploitation of their young female fans used to be such a “normal” and expected thing in the music business that some of the rock ‘n’ roll predators not only wrote songs about it, but wrote songs in which they — shades of Humbert Humbert — made themselves out to be the victims.
Today, Tyga is getting called out on Twitter and in the tabloids for his predatory behavior. That’s a good thing.
I only hope that Jimmy Page and R. Kelly and all those other musicians who have happily exploited underage fans will eventually be held to the same standard.
*sigh* Cross Led Zeppelin off the list of things that are unambiguously awesome. I never heard that story before.
Fans of alternative music may not want to look too deeply into John Peel’s personal life either.
HOLY SHIT
Don’t forget Kim Fowley.
Ugh. I’m guessing that she didn’t exactly “stimulate” on her own, there. So what he’s basically “saying” is, he made her an adult (or quasi-adult) just by molesting her? Because boners can’t wait for shit?
Not only is he an atrocious person, he’s also a sucky songwriter.
Translation: I ALWAYS say this to girls your age, because sad boners need your youthful essence. And because if you knew the truth, you’d never leave your mama’s house.
Well, if by “understand”, they mean “are too young and intimidated to know what’s really going on, or protest that you’re molesting them”, then yeah. They “understand”, all right.
Here’s what *I* don’t understand, though: What is so exciting about a girl who isn’t really done growing yet, and who knows nothing about anything? When I was 13, about the only thing adult about me was my height. That’s the only part of me that hasn’t changed since then. And I was not anywhere near grown into my looks either. And I was easily intimidated, and pretty much terrified every day I went to school. Lots of girls that age are, I now know — although at the time, it felt like it was just me.
If these guys think that young, ignorant and scared = MEGA BONER SCHWING, that says some pretty damn ugly things about them.
BTW, Foreigner also had a song called “Woman in Black”, which makes clear that grown women are far more alluring than child-women: “She is a woman/She’s not a girl anymore/The kind that stirs up a young man’s imagination/She’s dressed to kill/And I’m so ready to fall/Into her world full of strange fascination…” When I was 14, THAT was who I aspired to be, someday in the long distant future. I knew damn well that no mere 14-year-old is ever anywhere near to being that.
Which, ironically, makes 14-year-old me a lot more mature than the older slobs who hit on me and other girls that age.
I suspect that a lot of the lyrics about teenage girls get a pass because of the ages of the fans–most folks start really listening to pop and rock music in their teens and pre-teens, after all, so an ode to a sixteen-year-old girl seems about right.
It isn’t until you really look a the context that it gobsmacks you just how vile some of these cretins are.
@CDBurn: Yeah, I can’t listen to them. Never liked their music anyway, but the things they did to girls and women are reprehensible. Jimmy Page is a sleazebag.
About Elvis: I’ve wondered if he identified with young girls, or wanted to stay a child in some way. It seems like he wanted to be one of them, what with the slumber parties and hair-styling tips. I don’t know if it went further than that.
There’s so much predation in entertainment. The industry seems to attract sociopaths.
I don’t get that. At all. Even being very generous and assuming those guys feel heartbroken, how can they blame a kid for it? “Oh, that fourteen-year-old playing with her dog is a temptress! How could I-“ Do they even listen to themselves?
And, anyone who knows more about music than I do, is Deep Purple safe?
As a woman that used to date older guys when she was a teen I kind of resent the implication that I was somehow molested or abused. I actively pursued older guys because the ones my age were douche wads . I’m not saying those men aren’t predators, just that I was not a victim. Maybe Kylie Jenner is not a victim either since she is a bigger star then Tyga, and isn’t indebted to him in any way.
Finally a topic where I can mostly trust Jamaican music to get it right.
@Bina
But this is the answer, isn’t it? That’s what attracts predators. It’s not even the “purity” aspect – it’s that kids are easy to manipulate.
@dhag85
I don’t udnerstand a single word that’s sung, but the titles are clear enough.
Also, they sound pretty cool.
I can’t help but think of how many fairy tales have underaged girls as the protagonists, meeting their (adult) prince charming who is instantly in “true love” with them just because he saw them.
I wonder how much that kind of narrative primes girls to be manipulated by rich, famous men.
There’s also Ted Nugent, who wrote a song about raping a 13 year old (“Jailbait”) and legally adopted a 17 year old so he could have sex with her. And Bill Wyman, who dated a 13 year old when he was 47. And the Police song “Don’t Stand So Close To Me’, about a young schoolgirl seducing a teacher. Rock music is full of this stuff.
On the other hand, there’s Steely Dan, who mock ephebophiles in a couple of their songs, “Hey Nineteen” and “Everyone’s Gone To The Movies”. Mr. LaPage is one of the creepiest losers ever immortalized in song. When I was 13, I took that song as a warning. There were a few “missing stairs” in our neighborhood that one instinctively knew to avoid.
It’s really amazing to me how it’s commonly accepted that child molesters are despicable people, yet so many of them seem to be able to get away with it anyway.
Everyone around Jimmy Savile knew fully well what was going on, yet they didn’t do a thing to get him convicted. It makes me think that molesting children is something quite a lot of people would be doing if it weren’t illegal.
I think Gary Glitter’s behavior was probably relatively normal for the UK music scene in the 1970’s. It just got to where nobody could ignore it with his other convictions and the Savile scandal.
What.
The young teacher in “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” doesn’t act on his feelings, though. Like, he doesn’t pick her up in his car when she’s waiting for the bus in the rain. Anyway.
Also I always thought it was pretty clear the situation in “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” was intended to be creepy. He even references Humbert Humbert.
Buttercup Q Skullpants:
The difference with the Police song is that they presented the whole thing as skeevy as fuck. Granted, a lot of the Police’s hits were skeevy as fuck — “Synchronicity” (nervous break down, suicide, possible attempted familicide), “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (codependency between yanderes), “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” (self-pitying loser who can’t use his words), “Can’t Stand Losing You” (self-pitying Nice Guy and emotional blackmail), “Roxanne” (basically the story of Nately’s Whore), and that song with the bass riff that people play at weddings.
Basically, at least “Don’t Stand So Close” at least had the decency of making the whole thing look exactly as fucked up as everyone thinks it is.
Basically,
If I may ask, what is a “yandere”? I’m not into The Police so the fan lexicon isn’t something I’m good on.
@Teiresias:
“Every Breath You Take”, aka the stalker’s anthem?
Yeah, I guess it isn’t fair to lump “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” in with the others, but I think it’s one of those dogwhistle songs that could be interpreted as supportive by people who don’t listen that closely to the lyrics, or people with pedophilic tendencies…for one thing, it perpetuates the Lolita myth that teenage girls are knowledgeable seducers hidden inside a package of innocence. And the teacher is definitely tempted, even if he doesn’t act on it.
Here’s another example, from Van Halen: “You’re old enough to dance the night away/Oh, come on, baby, dance the night away/A live wire/Barely a beginner, but just watch that lady go…” I remember hearing that song when I was 10 and thinking, “Euw”.
@kootiepatra – You’re right, it’s such a popular theme in romance to have an older man who is completely swept away at the sight of the younger girl. She so unhinges him that he performs grand, foolish, public romantic gestures (which quickly escalate to stalking and kidnapping). It’s the main source of power for girls who are told that their only value is their looks. Heady stuff, being able to derange and derail a powerful older man. Unfortunately, the real power ultimately resides with the older man, who has the experience and resources to exploit the younger girl.
It drives me around the bend to see teenage girls confusing predatory behaviors with love, a la Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey. I got into a fight once on Amazon with Bebe Buell (a professional groupie who’s taken up with various rock stars, including Steven Tyler and Todd Rundgren). She had taken umbrage with a review on a book written by a former groupie, and was insisting that groupies aren’t just sex objects, they’re muses and goddesses worthy of respect in their own right who inspire great love songs. I was like “well, why don’t groupies pick up a guitar and make their own damn music instead of throwing themselves at male musicians, being a sex toy is no way to achieve lasting immortality, and anyway most of the great and respectful love songs are written about wives and girlfriends, not backstage flings”. She got offended and accused me first of shilling for the patriarchy, then being a sex-negative prude, then she started sockpuppeting and trying to cyber-stalk me, and on it went until Amazon got wind of it and deleted her comments. Good times.
But anyway, “pick up your own guitar and play” isn’t the primary message that rock music has for young girls.
@EJ(TOO)
Yandere is a Japanese term used (in anime, I’m not sure about real life) to describe a character/person who acts sweetly and is a very devout lover… so much so that they’d rather kill their loved one than see them with someone else, and things of that nature.
It’s the “love makes us do crazy things” taken to its most extreme.
Actually, let me correct myself – It’s used in real life to describe characters, but I don’t know if Japanese people use it to describe certain people. It got popular in the west because of anime.
I don’t ever think I’ll understand why certain kinds of child molestation are seeing as doing the victim a favor, or that the victim should feel lucky for being “chosen.” I’ve heard the rationalizations, but my reaction continues to be “you’re just inventing excuses to do what you want to that child.”
I always thought it a little disconcerting the way The Beatles start “I Saw Her Standing There:”
– Well, she was just 17
– You know what I mean
– And the way she looked was way beyond compare
Also, for a rare (?) example of the “I wanna fuck an underage teenager” song from a female perspective, there’s Stevie Nicks’s “Edge of Seventeen:”
– He was no more
– Than a baby then
– Well, he seemed broken hearted
– Somethin’ within him
– But the moment
– That I first laid
– Eyes on him
– All alone on the edge of seventeen
I actually have some sorta-complex thoughts on this issue in general; maybe I’ll try and contribute later if the thread is still active…