As you close your door, start your engine and buckle your seat belt you let the radio choose the first song to play while you ride in style. As retro beats begin to play, your hands are on the wheel and your mind clear. You hear a lyric –– “You know that feeling when you know you finna bone for the first time?”

Immediately sparking your attention, you mentally place yourself in the same sweaty uncomfortable first time jitters described in “Wet Dreamz” by hip hop’s  J.Cole. Cole is famous for telling stories in his music, but like other songs by artists and performers in the genre, Cole’s “Wet Dreamz” touches on a topic most everyone can relate to: Sex, and more specifically, the first time.

This leaves us to wonder, other than awkward first time encounters and unfortunate sex stories, does sex play a larger role in music than we are led to believe?

From the late ’60s to now, sex has become one of the largest platforms in music. From passionate oldies like Marvin Gaye’s “Lets Get It On” to catchy radio hits like ‘Closer’ by The Chainsmokers and even in the urban beats of 21 Savages’ “X,” it’s clearly seen that sex is everywhere.

Even though these songs differ greatly in genre and lyrical content, the message is still the same –– sex sells. And realistically who can argue with that?

Sex and music seemingly go hand in hand in today’s modern society. At a young age we are exposed to all the sex loving ways of the world, leaving us to wonder if the amount of sex that is brought up in our music is actually desensitizing us to sex as a whole.

Skewed visions of how sexual encounters should be develop everywhere, and some may say artist imagination, high drug usage and extravagant lifestyle are to blame.

In modern day rap and R&B there is an excess of derogatory statements made toward women and the act of sex. Men are taught to see women through music as sexual beings rather than individuals, while on the opposite spectrum women are posturized for their bodies and symbolized as sexual prizes.

With these negative connotations placed on sex, most of today’s music isn’t going to be grandma approved. But you can’t deny it – sex has transformed the musical world, from the words in beautiful love songs to the melodic rifts and 808 beats, it all implies the same thing –sex and just how you should be “getting it in.”