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Oct 2, 2023 · For decades hip-hop artists have used their power as popular culture stars to influence the political sphere. As academics have begun to take notice of the power of hip-hop to inspire youth...
- Infused with Political Messages
- Black America’s CNN
- Setting The Lyrical Bar High
- No Strangers to Political Commentary
- Self-Proclaimed Prophets of Rage
- Stop The Violence Movement
- A New School of Artists
- Another Seismic Shift
- Entering The Political Sphere
Dating back to its earliest releases, hip-hop has been infused with political messages. On Harlem World Crew’s 1980 release “Rappers Convention,” the lyrics read as a news story ripped from the headlines, reporting back to the people in rhyme: “But we Americans gettin’/sick and tired of this political gong show/So we’re sendin’ our message over to ...
The very first hip-hop records commanded the attention of urban America and a sizable portion of the mainstream, and, in January 1983, Robert Hilburn wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message” was the most noteworthy single of 1982. A revolutionary seven-minute record that is a brilliantly compact chronicl...
Kurtis Blow was the first solo hip-hop artist signed to a major record label (Mercury), and his first single was actually a Christmas song, 1979’s “Christmas Rappin’,” giving little hint to the songs he would soon release. As the 80s saw an ever-widening economic gap, coupled with declining wages and cuts to social programs that disproportionately ...
The trio from Queens, New York, was the first commercially successful hip-hop group to make a record that paralleled James Brown’s “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud.” “Proud To Be Black” appeared on their critically-acclaimed 1986 album Raising Hell. Right around the corner from Raising Hellwas the self-proclaimed prophets of rage, Public Enem...
Everything about the group became the subject of conversation and debates that still continue today. Even their iconic album covers are still being dissected and their meanings debated. Whether they were raging against corporations who exploited black communities on “Shut ’Em Down” or creating an anthem for the streets in “Fight The Power,” Public ...
This movement culminated at the end of the decade when KRS-One assembled the top East Coast MCs of the day to jump on the collaborative track, “Self Destruction,” in support of the Stop The Violence Movement, featuring everyone from Public Enemy to Doug E Fresh, Heavy D, MC Lyteand fellow members of Boogie Down Productions. Just as hip-hop took aim...
While much of the politics of hip-hop had sprung from the opposing East and West Coasts, during the 00s the Midwest (particularly Chicago and Detroit) would generate its own new school of hip-hop artists with a political bent. One of the most progressive artists to come out of this scene was Common. From his early days in the 90s underground hip-ho...
Just four years after its release, hip-hop experienced another seismic shift, with the arrival of Kanye West. The same year that he dropped his seminal debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004, West teamed up with Common and John Legend to form the GOOD Music crew and record label. As Common described it years later, West was instrumental in break...
Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and March For Our Lives… the 2010s has brought with it a number of political movements that quickly made their way into hip-hop. With more platforms to spread the message through social media, and the rise of streaming, artists can spread their gospel over a mic or broadcast it directly to their fans. Politic...
- Jayquan
Feb 10, 2024 · Hip-hop has since grown into a culturally impactful form of artistic expression, gaining millions of fans while tapping into global phenomena. Its addictive beats and powerful political...
Jun 10, 2024 · How does hip-hop influence political activism? Hip-hop has played a significant role in political activism by giving a voice to marginalized communities and providing a platform for discussing social issues.
Jun 9, 2022 · Hip-hop has long been used to speak out against perceived social and political injustice – and now Indian rappers are continuing that legacy, writes Charukesi Ramadurai.
In this chapter, I echo the voice of many Hip Hop activists and work to build a theory that supports the validity of Hip Hop’s impact beyond its artistic form. I argue that Hip Hop evolved as a central core of political expression for an otherwise voiceless generation of marginalized people and holds tremendous potential as a movement for ...
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May 2, 2024 · A new documentary, Hip-Hop and the White House, considers rap's association with presidential politics — and in so doing, reveals a persistent misunderstanding of how both operate.
