Is it a crime to play explicit music in public?

So I was playing basketball at my neighborhood park with one of my friends and I was playing my music off of my iPhone. It wasn't really that loud but there were some explicit lyrics. So this guy walks out of his house and tells us to turn off the music because the lyrics were bad for his kids who we're playing in their front yard. He said he would call the cops if we didn't. Can he call the cops on us for that? It wasn't super loud.

It depends on your local ordinances. Without knowing exactly what city/town you live in, we can't tell you this.

It's disturbing the peace, and if it comes before a judge, he might throw the book at you. Obviously, the music and the lyrics could be heard, or he wouldn't have heard it.

Where are you? It might be. It might not be.

How loud was it? That could also play a part.

Why would you WANT to play music with suggestive or offensive lyrics when children are in the vicinity? The Police are going to ask you that same question.

Yes, you can be arrested for disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace.

Although you have a First Amendment right to listen to whatever you want, those rights can't reasonably infringe on his right to enjoy the park with his kids.

If it was loud enough for him to have to come out of his house, he can file a basic noise complaint. And if there were "explicit" lyrics that you're basically broadcasting to minor children, yes, you can get in trouble for that, too. The cops would probably cite you if he reported it and you were still there when they came, and it seemed like a possibly reasonable complaint to them. Your iPhone must have been "loud enough." And many parks and locations with have ordinances about playing stereos and music in them -- especially if anyone else can hear.