Political hip hop

  (Redirected from Political rap)

Political hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that was developed in the 1980s as a way of turning hip hop into a call for political and/or social action and a form of social activism. Inspired by 1970s political preachers such as The Last Poets and musician Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy was the first predominately political hip-hop group.[1] It has helped to create a new form of social expression for subordinate groups to speak about their exclusions, injustices and lack of power.[2][3] Political hip-hop is the use of hip hop music to send political messages to inspire action or social change or to convince the listener of a particular worldview. There is no all-encompassing political hip-hop ideology; rather, there are multiple perspectives that range anywhere from anarchism to Marxism to the values of the Five Percent Nation.

Conscious hip hopEdit

Conscious hip hop, or socially conscious hip hop, is a subgenre of hip hop that challenges the dominant cultural, political, philosophical, and economic consensus,[4] and/or comments on social issues and conflicts. Conscious hip hop is not necessarily overtly political, but the terms "conscious hip hop" and "political hip hop" are sometimes used interchangeably. Conscious hip hop began to gain traction in the 80's, along with hip hop in general. The term "nation-conscious rap" has been used to more specifically describe hip hop music with strong political messages and themes.[5] Themes of conscious hip hop include Afrocentricity, religion, aversion to crime and violence, culture, the economy, or depictions of the struggles of ordinary people. Conscious hip hop often seeks to raise awareness of social issues, leaving the listeners to form their own opinions, rather than aggressively advocating for certain ideas and demanding actions.[4]

History of political and conscious hip hopEdit

Origins and early developmentEdit


Gangsta rapEdit



Underground rapEdit

Anarchist political hiphop


Hip hop in politicsEdit

Hip hop's outreach to the political world is widespread. The response that hip hop has received from mainstream politics has been vast and has resulted in the spread of ideas, opinions, and the formation of an informal dialogue surrounding largely controversial topics.

From the onset of hip hop in the 1980s throughout the 1990s, the culture was either ignored or criticized by politicians on both sides. "In the 1990s... there was one cultural idea that seemed to have bi-partisan support: that rap music was a symptom of the destruction of American values."[17] This opinion, however, fails to recognize the historical oppression and injustices experienced by blacks and other minority groups which rap music and the hip hop scene sought to bring attention to. In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle called on Interscope Records to withdraw 2Pacalypse Now because it was a "disgrace to American music". The catalyst for Quayle's outrage was an incident when a Texas youth shot a state trooper and referenced the album as his motivation.[17] In 2Pacalypse Now rapper Tupac Shakur raised issues of institutional racism, teen pregnancy, and police brutality.[18] He tells a fictional story of how a police officer slams him on the ground for no cause, but before he gets arrested the police officer is shot. His lyrics read "how can I feel guilty after all the things they did to me?"

Today, hip-hop music has grown to be such a large part of mainstream culture that The Washington Post wrote "The politician's guide to how to be down with hip hop.",[19] which draws reference to the use of hip hop culture in politics. The criticism of hip hop that was considered patriotic or even moral one generation ago, can make a politician seem "out of touch", especially with younger voters.[19] Politician Mike Huckabee was viewed as being "out of touch" when he referred to Beyoncé as "mental poison" in his book: God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy.[20] In 2008, during Barack Obama's Democratic primary campaign against then-rival Hillary Clinton, he referenced Jay Z by doing his "Brush the dirt off your shoulder" motion in a rally and the audience erupted with support. The embrace of hip-hop has not occurred on party lines. Republican Senator Marco Rubio is a vocal fan of Tupac and Gangsta rap. Rubio said "In some ways rappers are like reporters... You had gang wars, racial tension, and they were reporting on that."[17] Donald Trump (Republican), the 45th President of the United States, also leveraged hip-hop to his advantage during his 2016 election campaign. He occasionally quoted that rapper Mac Miller wrote a song called "Donald Trump", and that it has over 100,000,000 views.[19]

In the 2018 midterm elections, lawyer and former rapper Antonio Delgado was elected to New York's 19th congressional district.[21]

Ideology and views of political rappersEdit

United StatesEdit

Anti-racism, black liberation and nationalismEdit

As hip-hop is a music genre originally created and dominated by African-Americans, political rappers often reference and discuss black liberation. In particular and has a high membership of popular rappers and has had an integral influence on hip hop culture. There are numerous hip hop songs expressing anti-racist views, such as the popular The Black Eyed Peas song "Where Is the Love?", however, artists advocating more for radical black liberation have remained controversial. Artists such as Public Enemy, Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, Game, and Kendrick Lamar have advocated black liberation in their lyrics and poetry. Tupac Shakur's poem, "How Can We Be Free" Tupac prose the sacrifices of Black political prisoners and the rejection of patriotic symbols. In recent years, Killer Mike and Kendrick Lamar have released songs criticizing the War on Drugs and the prison industrial complex from an anti-racist perspective. Hip hop music continues to draw the attention and support of the struggles of minority groups in a modernist method of communication that attracts a young crowd of activists. Kendrick Lamar and many other rappers have been credited with creating discussions regarding "blackness" through their music.

Anti-poverty, class struggle and socialismEdit

Particularly with the advent of gangsta rap, many hip hop artists happen to come from underclass backgrounds. Aforementioned artists such as Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, and Killer Mike have made just as much reference to class oppression as racial oppression. Tupac Shakur used his lyrics incorporated Revolutionary Nationalism. In "Words of Wisdom" from the album 2Pacalypse, Shakur's lyrics underscore the refusal to accept economic inequality and inadequate employment opportunities. Other political rappers, such as Public Enemy, The Dope Poet Society, Dead Prez, The Coup, Paris and Immortal Technique, have advocated explicitly communist views—mostly leaning to Maoism—whereas some rappers such as Lupe Fiasco and the lesser-known Emcee Lynx, P.O.S, and Sole have advocated anarchist positions. Political references have long been made in hip hop culture; some proving to be effective in spurring constructive discussion and others, such as The Coup's originally planned album cover for Party Music—which depicted the destruction of The World Trade Center to signify the fall of capitalism—receiving negative criticisms (although the album art was designed before the September 11 attacks and was changed prior to its November 2001 release).

Conspiracy theoriesEdit

Conspiracy theories have been referenced in hip hop lyrics for some time. Elements of the Five-Percenter philosophy that has fundamentally influenced hip hop culture revolve around conspiracy theories. Artists such as Professor Griff, Jedi Mind Tricks, Hopsin, and Hyro the Hero have become infamous for their support of New World Order, Illuminati, and Satanist conspiracy theories, often alleging mainstream hip hop artists, such as Jay-Z, are "involved" in such conspiracies. Rapper B.o.B. is a member of the Flat Earth Society.

Views on religionEdit



On a global scale, hip hop's public reputation and exhibition is varied. For instance, Canada's most prominent political hip hop act is The Dope Poet Society, who are known for anti-racist and anti-war activism, as well as denouncing both liberal and conservative politicians. Their politics could be described as third-worldism, or black internationalism. For example, in "Bombay to Zimbabwe," lead rapper Professor D states "from Bombay to Zimbabwe I study sharply: Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey, Mahatma Gandhi, Black Panther Party."[23] Possibly on purpose, these influences seem ideologically contradictory in some ways (e.g. for instance, Marley's subtle socialism vs. Garvey's anti-communism, and non-violence vs. violence) but taken together they represent different approaches to the shared goal of linking anti-racist and anti-colonial struggles in the Americas and the rest of the world. Professor D and The Dope Poet Society also seem to represent this ideology on their album by featuring American political rappers like dead prez and others with rappers from around the world including Nigeria and Colombia. Other examples of hip hop around the world offer opposite perspectives. For example, Lowkey and Iron Sheik have expressed anti-Zionist views in their music, whereas Golan and Subliminal have expressed pro-Zionist views.[24] In France, some political artists such as Suprême NTM, the rapper Casey or Assassin are well known since the early-1990s. Today, rappers like Kery James, La Rumeur, Rocé or Médine are influential; their lyrics speak about colonialism, poverty, French history and sometimes conspiracy theories.

Political hip hop scenesEdit

Spanish language political hip hop sceneEdit

Political rappers of Latino descent include Aldo Al2 El Aldeano Rodriguez Baquero, Bian El B Oscar Rodriguez Gala, Randee Akozta, Silvito El Libre, Papá Humbertico, Calle 13, Racionais MC's, Olmeca, Tohil, Immortal Technique, Rebel Diaz, Manny Phesto, MRK, Portavoz, Facção Central, Psycho Realm, Ana Tijoux, Bocafloja, Zack de la Rocha, Pablo Hasél (Spain), Los Chikos del Maiz (from Valencia, Spain) and Canserbero.

UK political hip hop sceneEdit

Within the United Kingdom hip hop and urban scene, political, conscious rap is common, with artists including Lowkey, who focuses on the Israel-Palestine conflict and other issues regarding the Middle East, Akala, I & Ideal, Mic Righteous, Klashnekoff, Mic Reckless, Riz MC and English Frank.

Prior to the snap election on June 8, 2017, Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn met with JME while campaigning for the Labour Party to encourage young people to register to vote.

During the interview, JME explained that many young voters don't feel as though politicians have their best interests at heart. He says they often feel that voting makes no difference anyway. He goes on to tell Corbyn that he is the first party leader he feels he can trust, because he is “so genuine it feels like I’m about to meet my mum’s friend”. [25]

Australian hip hop sceneEdit

Indigenous rappers Briggs and his collaboration with Trials for A.B. Original is one of the most prominent political hip hop artists in Australia. Artists Urthboy, Jimblah, The Herd, Horrorshow and L-Fresh the lion are all part of the Elefant Traks record label, and often have politically motivated songs. Their main focuses are racism and xenophobia but The Herd also focuses on issues of climate, gender inequality and war. A number of artists have also vocalised their feelings in songs about domestic violence.

Norwegian rappersEdit

Music created by Norwegian rappers are within the public discourse making them part of the political process, this includes songs, lyrics and performances within the Hip Hop genre. They also disclose how Hip Hop music can be seen as an integral part of the democratic public sphere processes.[26]

See alsoEdit


  4. ^ a b Adaso, Henry. "What is Conscious Hip Hop?". About.com. About.com. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  5. ^ Decker, Jeffery Louis (1993). "The State of Rap: Time and Place in Hip Hop Nationalism". Social Text (34): 53–84. doi:10.2307/466354. JSTOR 466354.
  6. ^ Stewart, James (Summer 2005). "Message in the Music: Political Commentary in Black Popular Music from Rhythm and Blues to Early Hip Hop" (PDF). The Journal of African American History. 90 (3): 196–225. doi:10.1086/JAAHv90n3p196. JSTOR 20063998. S2CID 96427971.
  10. ^ Adaso, Henry. "Gangsta Rap". About.com. About.com. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  11. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (August 27, 2015). "Straight Outta Compton review – how hip-hop pioneers NWA took on the world". The Guardian.
  12. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen. "About Ice Cube". MTV. MTV. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  13. ^ Thompson, Amanda (May 6, 2004). "Gender in Hip Hop: A Research Study" (PDF). Humboldt State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 19, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2006. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ http://hiphopdx.com, HipHopDX -. "Get Your Mind Right: Underground Vs. Mainstream". HipHopDX. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  16. ^ "Underground Rap Music Genre Overview | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  17. ^ a b c Hughes, Dana. "Hip-Hop in Politics". ABC News. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  18. ^ Steiner, B.J. "2Pac Shakur Drops '2Pacalypse Now'". XXL Magazine. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  19. ^ a b c Schwarz, Hunter. "The Politician's Guide to how to be Down with Hip Hop". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  20. ^ O'neil, Lorena. "Most Iowa Republicans Agree that Beyonce is Mental Poison". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  21. ^ Foderaro, Lisa. "He's a Rhodes Scholar. The G.O.P. Keeps Calling Him a 'Big-City Rapper.'". nytimes.com. New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  23. ^ ProfessorD.us - The Dope Poet Society (June 4, 2017). "Bombay to Zimbabwe". Third World Warriors, Vol. 1.
  24. ^ Dimitri Ehrlich (June 4, 2004). "A Zionist Hip-Hop Stance Comes to Lollapalooza". The Forward.
  26. ^ Nærland, Torgeir Uberg. “Hip Hop and the Public Sphere: Political Commitment and Communicative Practices on the Norwegian Hip Hop Scene.” Javnost - The Public, vol. 21, no. 1, 2014, pp. 37–52., doi:10.1080/13183222.2014.11009138.


  • Yfantis, Vasileios (2019). Hip-Hop Goes Science: Volume I. Independently published, ISBN 1692601121.