The Dare has controversial covert art that seemingly features underaged girls causing child exploitation and pedophilia worries.
Trouble is brewing with the upcoming artist, The Dare. Harrison Patrick Smith’s, better known as The Dare, recently released “The Sex EP” on May 19th, yet the EP’s cover seems to be making a bigger splash than its music.
The Republic Records‘ artist and his team have come under fire for allegedly featuring underage girls engaged in mock sex, alluding to the EP’s title. People are unsure of what is on the cover, and this unknown raises alarms. The girls in question seemingly wear clothing for high schoolers, one in a pink crop t-shirt and short gym shorts, the other in a pleated skirt and green sweater. Pleated skirts are a uniform staple at private schools and are unusual for university and casual use. The tiny gym shorts and crop top appear to be for Physical Education or Gym Class.
The female models may be over 18, the age considered to be adult, but their portrayal is that of high school-aged girls. The male models on the cover could pass for either college students or high schoolers. One looks to be a nerd or teacher, and the other a jock or athlete. Some believe the art displays adult men with teen girls, while others perceive both groups as teenagers. The problem is that the EP art appears to sexualize teenagers regardless of the models’ ages and if the males are adults.
Before becoming ‘The Dare,’ Harrison, 27, was a substitute teacher at a private school. The detail caused more concern because it links Harrison to being a pedophile or a “Minor Attracted Person,” and not inadvertently promoting pedophilia. His looks do not help his case because he appears younger than he is due to his lack of facial hair and slender build. There is also a press photo of him eyeing a young goat, known as a kid.
Republic Records and Harrison may know of the problem but are doing little to deal with the backlash. Harrison has hidden the comments on his Instagram account for the past month, starting from the EP cover post.
An anonymous indie record label executive informed Popolista that, “Digital music distribution services make it very easy to change cover art. You can even update the art after a song or album release. The changes can occur in less than 24 hours, depending on the service and music platform.” It seems that Republic Records doesn’t want to make an investment in changing the imagery surrounding The Dare. It is also apparent they find it appropriate to promote pedophilia, child abuse and exploitation.
The Twitter announcement post for the EP’s release had phrasing that was sexually suggestive and encouraging.
Some commenters find little issue with The Dare’s cover. A few claim that it’s artistic expression regardless of the portrayal, that other album covers have worse, and that many are reading too into it. One such case was a Twitter user who provided Led Zeppelin’s ‘House of the Holy’, which features naked young girls. Interestingly, Facebook banned the Led Zeppelin album art for a time, suggesting issues with the artwork exist.
