Activism in Hip Hop

This grand culture of ours, more specifically the music element, was once compared to a woman by Common (back when he had the Sense, no diss) on I Still Love H.E.R.

Fourteen years later, I would more compare Hip Hop music to a male, who grew from modest circumstances, just getting by, to tremendous affluence and wealth over the course of his time on earth. Sure he enjoyed partying with his friends and dreamed of better things to come, but around the teenage years (late-1980’s) he decided to straighten up. More specifically he was on a mission to continue the work his ancestors had done before him, wanting to raise levels of Black pride and speaking out against racial injustice.

Then, like many of his ancestors, he got caught up in the high life and the politically and socially active side of his personality was pushed to the side. During the height of Hip Hop’s Black nationalist phase, where the Nation of Islam’s 5% nation of Gods and Earths was touted, it was nothing to hear the likes of Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane or even Ice-T speaking out about issues affecting themselves and the community around them.

Now as corporate and financial interest are more prevalent factor than ever it is almost unfashionable to be outspoken and aware of the social/political climate around you. The only occasion it seems like you will hear a Hip Hop artist speak out now is when the situation hits a fever pitch and it would benefit their career to be involved.

Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams, notorious co-founder of the Crips, was incarcerated in the late 1970s on murder charges (four men were shot and killed in a 1979 incident). Throughout his almost thirty-year incarceration he went from feared to revered, writing books on the harsh realities of gang life attempting to steer young people (and anyone for that matter) from his former lifestyle, almost winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. While showing remorse for his role in the Crips, he maintained his innocence against the murder charges until the very end.

In 2005 when the ‘Governator’ himself, Arnold Schwarzanegger, announced the plans to execute Williams (a death row inmate) the amount of uproar leading up to the event was tremendous, as you had not only activists and political figures speaking up against the planned lethal injection, but Hip Hop personalities as well.

Despite being incarcerated for over two decades, the fact that rappers waited until the last moment to record protest songs and speak out says a lot for the level of consciousness current artists are showing. Once the topic gets hot it is time for the artists to keep up appearances and show involvement, but until then it’s not a major concern.

The most recent example would be the trial regarding the Sean Bell murder, a New York man of African-American descent who was gunned down by plainclothes NYPD officers under false pretences in 2006. Similar to the 1999 slaying of Amadou Diallo. Despite the heavy criticism and revolt caused from family, friends, activists and members of the public, the three cops involved were found not guilty.

Almost immediately the internet was flooded with angst-filled protest songs, regarding the miscarriage of justice. It made it hard to decipher between the artists who were legitimately concerned and those who were jumping on the bandwagon, much like it was a new sound (say T-Pain’s vocoder). And who could forget the amount of anti-George Bush anthems that have been paraded out over the course of his time in office.

This isn’t a call-to-arms for Hip Hop artists to be militant and preachy all of the time. Of course the average kid who enjoys the work of 50 or Soulja Boy doesn’t want to be lectured. It is more so a call for artists to be more aware of what’s around them, using their power and influence to positively affect change.

The speaking out against issues should be something that the artists want to convey and feel strongly about, not something they are doing to score some points (with people who honestly don’t care for Hip Hop to begin with) or to boost their profile. Hip Hop used to be all about trendsetting, now it feels more like one individual starting the trend and a bunch of rats following it.

Before anything can change though society itself (particularly in the U.S.) needs to change. Hip Hop has always served as a mirror of its environment (“CNN for Black people” to paraphrase Chuck D) so its current state very much speaks to the society we live in, “ignorance is bliss” very much seems to be the in-thing. At the same time, one of the best methods to affect change would be through music, look how much the hippy culture changed things (before they all got strung out that is).