what if hip hop/rap got political

www.ebaumsworld.com...

I couldn't find a great link to the song, but this will suffice. Underground rap/hip hop is very much political...

Wow. I don't normally post on here but after reading through this thread I had to. Deny ignorance? I've seen so many ignorant statements on this thread I could barely stand it. A lot of people commenting on a subject they clearly have little to no understanding of and are too lazy to make the effort to try. That makes you the music listener equivalent of someone who watches mainstream media and believes that is exactly the way things are.

Let's start with the title. I listen to nearly every genre of music from all different time periods and Hip Hop has been one of the most politically outspoken genres out there.

Nobody can understand what them rappers are saying anyways.

Stereotype much? Make an effort if you really want to understand. If you prefer less challenging music then top 40 radio is there for you. Everyone's taste in entertainment differs. Some people prefer mindless sitcoms. Others prefer documentaries. It is preference. Don't discredit an art form and claim nobody understands because you don't understand or prefer not to try.

Its idiotic music to me. Nah....wouldn't matter to me because I hate that crap.

See above and again I listen to all genres of music from all time periods. I'm a highly intelligent individual who prefers challenging music. Hip Hop is by far the most challenging lyrical genre there is. If you would like to understand why research it. Start with the word count, vocabulary, metaphors and similes.

As a musician....no,as a fan of music yes. Can't stand that crap....I get pissed off when people can't play a single instrument,can't read or write music and need computers to do it all for them while they call themselves artists and musicians. No time for it. I was a big fan of Run DMC when they came out and the whole genre just turned into garbage. After Run DMC...thats as far as I go. Remember NWA....music for dummies

I've produced and engineered hip hop as well as other genres for many years. I do not claim to be a musician but my knowledge of music by far surpasses many musicians. I play keys and have a vast knowledge of 100's of different vintage and modern instruments. From solo instruments to full on orchestral sections. The different tones, articulations and where they fit into the frequency spectrum of a complete composition. I also have a vast knowledge of different vintage and modern recording techniques and equipment. Many different types of consoles, compressors/limiters, eq's, reverbs, etc. This is not abnormal for someone who produces hip hop. Point being. Anyone can pick up a guitar, strum it and claim to be a musician. It's all relative. There are horrible musicians and there horrible music producers (both get corporate radio spins). It's the time and dedication to what you do that makes the difference.

That's fine, as long as they will do it in English so can keep up.

Was that sentence even English? You will not always understand the vocabulary of someone speaking about a subject you are unfamiliar with. If you want to understand it you may need to acquaint yourself.

Sadly, that sort of music is far and in between in present time, when it comes to rap and hip hop music. I'm seeing it more in Alternative/rock music than anything lately. As far as rap goes, pretty recently Macklemore came out with a song. Okay, okay. I know some people would say Macklemore is more pop than anything.

There is no shortage of intelligent, politically charged hip hop. There is however a shortage of people willing to search for it. Macklemore was basically just another Seattle based, conscious, underground hip hop artist until he paid the ADA to help market the album. It was a genius move.


Honestly there is a hip hop song about most subjects. Political and otherwise. There's song about data encryption that I find amusing.

Subjects: This covers many of the things that are discussed on ATS



Subject: American Ignorance



Subject: Warfare



Subject: Humorous song about American overindulgence

"As American as herpes and hotdogs"



Subject: Iraq's supposed WMD's



Subject: Mass Surveillance



Subject: Big Pharma/Over Medication/Self Medication



I could post hours worth of relevant music. Trust me it's out there.

Hiphopisread.com

The prison industrial complex pays too well for political rap to be mainstream.

originally posted by: 727Sky
Some of the interviews the infamous Ricky Ross has done about the CIA drug stuff and Rap were very interesting... Ricky was part of a big operation in California and on more than one interview he has basically said the same as your post.. Gangster Rap makes gangsters and drug dealers in his opinion.. Where did I get my money, where did I get my women, drugs baby drugs..

Yes ever since the guys from the West Coast came up hip hop was never the same they drove conscious Hip Hop under ground drugs, gangs money misogyny took it's place it seemed almost a planned conspiracy.

originally posted by: Eunuchorn
Hiphopisread.com

The prison industrial complex pays too well for political rap to be mainstream.

Maybe this does play a part in it but there are examples in this very thread of why it's rarely mainstream. Consumers are lazy in general. Most people don't want to think when listening to music. Most people hear what is presented to them on corporate radio and purchase accordingly. People assume what is on the radio is the best representation of that genre of music. etc.

a reply to: Spider879

Planned & functioning exceptionally.

Hiphopisread.com

a reply to: camurai

GREAT POST AND I AGREE 100%

Seems like some people on ATS don't really want to Deny Ignorance unless it fits their agenda (but that's a topic for another thread) These comments about it not being real music are sooo tired and show how little the person really knows.
I know for me, I've been a fan of the genre for over 2 decades now and at all times have I been able to find songs which speak about whatever it is I am going through at that exact moment. I also find songs about world-issues more easily within the hip hop genre. Like you said, hip hop speaks about EVERYTHING. It is the most vocal music genre there is when it comes to social commentary.

PS...as for the original post.....

I'm not really sure what Alex Jones means by his comment since he's already had Immortal Tech. on his show he must surely know HOW political hip hop is and has always been? Political messages have always existed in the music whether it was in the 70's 80's 90's 2000's or this decade..they might not been as visible today as they were to the public but those of us who know where to find them will always do so. You have to dig deeper for the good stuff today but that's definitely something I'm willing to do for such a great music. I guess it's similar in all genres though, the radio plays the trash/singles and people tend to judge a whole genre based on the top "hit" on the radio which usually sounds nothing like the rest of the songs. That is ignorant indeed and I have a feeling a lot of people turn on the radio, hear a wack hip hop song then proceed to judge the whole genre (and sub-genres, and there are A LOT of those) based on this one song. Hence..they come to ATS and express their disgust at hip hop music because they think Little Wayne and Immortal Technique have the same subject matter in their songs!

a reply to: DrumsRfun

I can understand your point , but being an MC isn't easy , you still need to be musical and be able to count music, write lyrics and spit them to a beat , that is a musical talent !

Is just as hard to learn to be an MC as it is to learn to play an instrument.

a reply to: American-philosopher

Jesus dude.....Immortal Technique has been on Alex Jones' show, and yet you ask what IF hip hop was political?

Or consider Dead Prez, Jedi Mind Tricks, Ill Bill, Children of Babylon etc etc etc.

You clearly have not conducted the slightest crumb of research before posting this...way to annoy hip hop heads on ATS

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Its sad that you have this mentality and its untrue. Hip-hop not rap stems from the children of funk, blues, jazz, rock, and disco. How could and would one assume that we do not know how to play instruments.
Stop watching the news.
Original musicians dreamed of multi-tracks or the ability to use an ancient flute that they do not own or that may not exist anymore but its full sound has been recorded for use. A computer can only do what it is programmed to do, and artist produce ART. DON"T TAKE ONE BAD SONG FROM NWA BECAUSE I COULD DO THE SAME WITH PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY PLAY INSTRUMENTS AND HAVE AN INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE. NWA changed how music was produced. It gave an honest peer into a world that you wouldn't have ever known exist.

You sound like someone stuck in the past. I could say the same about you guys and your music. They are not even real instruments. They are made from treated wood and plastic which contain no life. Real instruments come from real living things as my ancestors would say.

Rap was hit from an angle that silenced all of its attempts to politicize and militarize the minds of americans. The FBI watched tupac, and the list goes deep and it is documented. Eazy-E died from aids, right, but the fbi documents labeled it a "homicide" and every one knows their are holes within the facts of his death and tupacs.

I hate when people compare musician ship to having great eye-hand coordination. Its like knowing the chess pieces and knowing how to play. Your ability to play a guitar does not mean the same of your ability to create wonderful melodies on your guitar. Those are 2 different parts of your being, so when you say they are talentless because they don't play an instrument you just sound like an old man. Musicians are limited to music!!!!!! Your hands, and the time/space between you and your instrument (which could be a paint can).

So many people are so behind and its deliberate. I guess I will kick my feet up and enjoy the riches before it is truly dead and spoiled with the new wave of explorers.

LOL to all the clowns with the its just bad music mentality. I am surprised you can log onto the net on your commodore 64.

This is ATS and if you are a real free thinker you would be able to see what happened with hip-hop and you will understand why it is the international soundtrack to life as we speak.

OP:
You are a little late my friend, we went through that battle and are now in the silencing period which would explain how everything got so pop and watered down. If you base it off of the radio you would never imagine hip-hop once wearing this mask but it did, and it did it for quite sometime and one will come to the conclusion that radio is the other face of the beast of media. It plays what it wants you to hear. Go dig up the early 90's contribution to hip-hop.

a reply to: Spider879

Hey spider.
Actually, the westcoast contributed a different political angle to the genre. It was overshadowed by their lifestyle and over popularized at the same time which is nothing short of a conspiracy. Sort of like people walking away with the idea that tupac was a 'thug' and that is all he had to contribute. We know that is about 1/10000 of what he truly had to offer. The media will say otherwise. We have always had lyrical, political, and aware individuals on the front line. The westcoast is the home of alot of political movements and ideology so it wouldn't be factual to say The west coast artist of hip hop contributed the same thing as anyone else. We are just as responsible as the next person. Our struggle was different on this side and that was the last match to be struck.
Maybe the illusory powers that be, used the new participants as a way to infiltrate the genre, but the west is not to blame. If you want some real facts look at the powers behind NWA, who they are connected to, and their personal agenda.

Ummmm, some of the underground groups already do. Mainstream? Forget it. Won't happen. And even if it did, all it would do is pilfer about the mainstream's bull#. They've been bought out.

originally posted by: American-philosopher


If we had hip hop rap songs about government lying,spying, whats in the food, water. where would w ebe with the truth movement

It would be a great tool and method of education for the younger minds who are focused and concentrated on their favorite rappers dialogue yes...

Sadly the industry is money based and is also controlled. And with these current functions in play many of the artist who could bring some enlightenment to the masses will digress due to money shortage and due to many artist being AFRAID to appear positive and humble to their international listeners as well as interactions... It would take a BRAVE group not just one but a group (headed by the more successful) rappers in the game to make it a successful outcome. Also those who are at the top of the social pyramid schemes of who control the content and dialogue within the music would have to encourage more upon the rappers they manage.

Great idea however OP

NAMASTE*******

In response to the op itself ,

Rap is extremely political as Im sure you have now since discovered.

Brining it close to home for myself , my friend Darren "Loki" McGarvey a Scottish MC and political activist
has recently released an album this year entitled Loki - G.I.M.P. - government issue music protest
in the run up to the most important political event in Scottish history the referendum.
Loki's album is entirely political but not all tracks are politically motiviated but the title of the album explains it all.

Loki not only launched his album but at the same time dropped some serious knowledge to the youth of Scotland who are hiphop fans but maybe didnt have any political leanings.

He was also a prominent figure in the YES campaign radical independence movement, and gave speeches on the future of Scotland to many local communities.

here he is at the local Cranhill meeting in Glasgow
Loki Cranhill

and again in George square the eve of the vote
Loki George Sq

That being said , HipHop is a tool for politiics , as the core foundations of hiphop are a blueprint on how to make a prosperous social environment.

anything else on the subject is just propaganda

a reply to: Pakd-on-mystery

right but my point is I was saying if all hip hop and rappers got political or most. if that was whats hot for lack of a better term in hip hop music was to rap about political subjects .

and I am a hip hop head.

originally posted by: American-philosopher

and I am a hip hop head.

I don't believe you - you can't be.
Unless all you listen to is crap like Lil Wayne.
If you were a 'head' you would never have made this thread.

a reply to: stargatetravels

I mean were gonna get into an eye of the beholder argument here in a minute what isn't crap and what is crap. You think this is good I think this is bad. what I don't understand is how come we can't get mainstream hip hop to talk about political issues.

WHy can't we get Wiz to rap about something good.

Its cool if we have all these underground cats doing there thing. and being political. But why was the underground railroad so successful. Because it was a secret

originally posted by: American-philosopher
a reply to: Pakd-on-mystery

right but my point is I was saying if all hip hop and rappers got political or most. if that was whats hot for lack of a better term in hip hop music was to rap about political subjects .

and I am a hip hop head.

You've had a tough ride in this thread and maybe your idea that hiphop could politicise and make a difference wasn't so bad.

Thing is, look at the vast majority of popular songs (any genre) and they're hardly ever political. That's more to do with us, the public, than it is to do with the artists. A few members have shown that hiphop can be political, but most of teh artists and tracks are only known to a few - they never have mainstream appeal. Media outlets (radio, TV etc) won't play a lot of anything that's anti.

That's not a rap or hiphop problem, it's just that people like their music to be beat driven and have hooks to sing along to. Pop music has a wider appeal and maybe the Top 40 artists should get political? They've got higher unit sales...bigger audiences and world-wide too.

The problem is sales...nobody wants to dance to political agitation.

a reply to: stargatetravels

FInally some Sage Francis love! This man speaks more truths on one record than most people do in their lives.





Another from Sage's label Strange Famous Records here:




Hip-hop has always been meant to be a voice for the people (rap can just go away.) It's a great injustice to say that the true players in REAL hip-hop aren't artists.