An initiative to encourage healthy teen relationships says songs by Jamie Foxx and Lady Gaga are the musical equivalent of junk food.
A teen panel working with the Boston Public Health Commission has determined that their songs are among the top 10 with “unhealthy relationship ingredients.”
The commission on Tuesday released its list based on a “nutrition label” rating popular songs on healthy relationship themes.
The “Sound Relationships Nutrition Label” was developed by 14 teens after they attended a seven-week commission-sponsored institute on healthy relationship promotion and teen dating violence prevention. During the seven-week program, teens were also taught to evaluate music based on themes of power, control, equality and gender roles.
The teens then developed their list after analyzing songs from Billboard’s “Hot 100″ chart.
Mario’s “Break Up” featuring Gucci Man and Sean Garrett and Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” featuring T-Pain topped the list for the most unhealthy relationship songs of 2009. Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Pitbull’s “Hotel Room Service” were also listed.
Among the teen panel’s top 10 songs with healthy themes: “Miss Independent” by Ne-Yo and “Meet Me Halfway” by the Black Eyed Peas.
Shaquilla Terry, 15, of Boston, a teen panel member, said it was important for listeners to go beyond the songs’ beats and listen to the lyrics.
