More recently, the Trayvon Martin scandal sparked outrage in black communities across the country. On February 26th, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a Miami teenager, was on his way home from the local grocery with a bag of skittles and some iced tea in his hands when a neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman shot him to death for looking suspicious with a hoodie on. Zimmerman was not arrested following the murder. The scandal garnered responses from notable black figures including Trayvon's idol LeBron James and his Miami Heat, Jesse Jackson, and even the President. Obama famously said "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon".
In the hip-hop community, the Trayvon scandal led to numerous shoutouts (sometimes ill-warranted) from rappers Tyga, Rick Ross, Jasiri X, Plies, and many others. Perhaps the most interesting hip-hop response is "Made You Die" by Mos Def, Dead Prez and Mikeflo. "Made You Die" eerily echoes the words of Malcolm X by posing the question "What's it gonna be? The ballot or the bullet G?"
"Made You Die" reiterates what Malcolm X said perfectly. In response to the Trayvon Martin killing, Dead Prez says "What can we do so our community's protected?/ I believe that should be our main objective/ While we full of rage and we wanna make a difference/ Let's do more than protest/ Let's make a commitment, to be pro-active." In reference to the March on Washington of 1963 and the famous "We Shall Overcome" chant, Malcolm X said "We want freedom now, but we're not going to get it saying 'We Shall Overcome.' We've got to fight until we overcome." In the next few bars, Dead Prez offers practical advice on how to carry out Malcolm X's idea of self-protection when the government does not protect the community "Organize safe teams, martial art classes/ Get to the gun range and make your aim accurate/ Self defense is a must by any tactic/ Security protocol, make it a daily practice".
Mikeflo then goes on to answer Malcolm X's challenge "What's the solution, the ballot or the bullet, G?/ Gimme that pistol, that vote never give us free"; Mikeflo realizes that the vote has failed to secure the rights of blacks because this innocent teenager was killed by a racist who acted extra-legally. Then, Dead Prez goes "I'm tired of the marchin', the rallyin', the protestin'/We hoopin' and hollerin', still we gettin' no justice.../We plottin', plannin' and strategizin' ready to fight.../When I die don't put me on a shirt my *****/Be a revolutionary make 'em hurt my *****". Here, Dead Prez recognizes that the protests have proved futile and real change can only occur when direct action is taken; should he die in the struggle, Dead Prez wishes to be an inspiration for revolutionaries and not a picture on a t-shirt like Trayvon Martin became. Malcolm X would support these notions because as he said "But when you drop that violence on me...I'm not responsible for what I do. And that's the way every Negro should get. Anytime you know you're within the law, within your legal rights, within your moral rights, in accord with justice, then die for what you believe in. But don't die alone. Let your dying be reciprocal. This is what is meant by equality."
As "Made You Die" shows, rap and hip-hop can be powerful tools for political messages. The President is wrong in dismissing the political statements in hip-hop as "cultural". Yes the political statements in hip-hop will have some form of a cultural bias, but the beauty of politics is the ability to voice different opinions. It is foolish of the President to suggest that few artists today engage in explicit discussion of politics in their work when rappers like Mos Def, Dead Prez and Immortal Technique regularly tackle politics. If the President were to diversify his hip-hop collection beyond generic sex, money, drugs rappers like Kanye West and Jay-Z, he will see a world of politically aware and critical folk who are as talented on the mic but may not share pro-Obama or pro-government views.
Images cited:
- http://api.ning.com/files/dPYQ7nySqGG7DBtRa0t0-fUUK6JHO1emtuFDinpM4*faED7TP-sKkhlbgJTaoTaGZbKoVNoHbEwimCQ9SzBUtg__/MalcolmXObamaDr.King.jpg?width=500&height=406
- http://iamathruzdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/2termz.png?w=610
- http://hechoendenver.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/hip-hop-stencil-1.jpg
- http://i.usatoday.net/news/_photos/2012/03/31/Trayvon-Martin-protesters-march-in-Sanford-4I182P5A-x-large.jpg
I think you've given a really strong argument to disprove Obama's statement that rappers aren't making political statements. Obama was definitely over-generalizing when he said that. I like how you've tied modern day politics into our reading. This post helped me to better understand some Malcom X's opinions and quotes.
ReplyDeleteLet me preference my comments by saying I’m a hip-hop enthusiast. I particularly enjoy rap from the 90s and early 2000s. In his MTV interview, I think President Obama meant that today’s mainstream rappers do not consistently rap about political issues. And I full-heartedly agree with him. The majority of contemporary, mainstream rappers rap, as you said, about generic guns, drugs, and sex. I don’t consider Mos Def, Dead Prex, or Immortal Tech mainstream, considering the average American teenager/young adult probably hasn’t heard of them. I think President Obama just wants artists who have significant influence over the younger generation (a la Jay Z and Kanye West) to take a more politically active role. I certainly can’t blame him for that. As the President said in the interview, music can have a tremendous impact on society. For example, Bruce Springsteen released a song called “Hurricane” that rallied enough support to give boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter a retrial after he was convicted of murder. President Obama wants to see that sort of impact from today’s mainstream rappers. And I can't imagine MLK or Malcolm x disagreeing with that position.
ReplyDeleteAlso, be careful about calling Jay Z generic. Let’s have some respect :).
Jackson, I guess I've avoided most mainstream rappers the last couple of years because I'm tired of listening to the same things repeated in every song. I am partial to Mos Def and so this blog is admittedly biased. What I was trying to say was hip-hop is more diverse than the mainstream would have most believe. The problem is politically aware rappers don't appeal to record companies because political statements are less popular than the exploitative subjects that most contemporary music contains. Perhaps the influence of these rappers would be greater if they got more airplay, I can't say for sure. I do agree with the President's notion that a rallying tool as powerful as music should be used to instill political fervor among the people, but when the government has such a long list of recent transgressions, it is a tall order to expect those artists that do dabble in political statements to have anything positive to say.
ReplyDeleteSyed, I'm couldn't agree more. As Nas eloquently stated about six years ago, hip-hop is dead. Or at least mainstream hip-hop seems to be, considering its been watered down to the usual themes of drugs, girls, and guns. Although many rappers portray themselves with a bad-boy persona, very few have the courage to speak out politically, primarily because they fear it will hurt their bottom line.
ReplyDeleteBut I applaud you for promoting deeper, more artistic hip-hop. I am always reluctant to express my love for rap because I don't want to be associated with the typical mainstream themes. Hopefully one day, mainstream hip-hop will return to meaningful hip-hop.
Jackson, I think you make a really important point on what reactions people have when they hear someone is a fan of rap. A few years ago, I used to say that I didn't like rap because I thought it was all just the stereotypical "drugs, girls, and guns." But I think it's a shame I didn't realize how powerful a medium rap can be (and is, for certain artists, like those mentioned in this post).
DeleteIn response to you, Syed, I don't think President Obama needs to change his preferences. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he likes those rappers because they're talented, not because of the subjects they tend to rap about. And I think President Obama's statement is a great start, but I think what would be really powerful is if some of his favorite artists decided to take this statement and run with it in an album dedicated to a movement of shifting the focus of rap music's subjects. Do you think this would be popular? I think people like Kanye and Jay Z have such dedicated followings that pretty much whatever they put out will become mainstream, so this might be a great step forward for the rap community.
Here's a pretty interesting local, political, non-mainstream hip-hop piece: Invincible and friends making fun of Ann Arbor in a song called Deuce/Ypsi.
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJackson and Professor Manty, it is good that you mentioned Nas and local hip-hop, respectively. I am from Woodside, Queens and Nas actually grew up 20 blocks away from me in Queensbridge. A contemporary and fellow Queensbridge resident of Nas, Tragedy Khadafi, was a non-mainstream political rapper in the early 90s. In 1990, Khadafi released his "Intelligent Hoodlum" album--a political commentary in lyrical form rife with controversial messages such as Arrest the President and Black and Proud.
ReplyDeleteNas is probably one of the few mainstream renowned rappers that tackles political issues. In Why (Remix) Nas asks "Why did Malcolm mission die with the man?/ Why ain't we pick it up where he left it and carry out his plan?"; recognizing that his community has transgressed from the message of Malcolm X as outlined in the "Ballot or the Bullet" speech and others. In Black President, Nas describes Obama as a cause for hope but he is critical of Obama's ability to really change the black community. As Jackson alluded to, in an MTV interview, Nas said" When I say 'hip-hop is dead', basically America is dead. There is no political voice. Music is dead ... Our way of thinking is dead, our commerce is dead. Everything in this society has been done. It's like a slingshot, where you throw the ********** back and it starts losing speed and is about to fall down. That's where we are as a country ... what I mean by 'hip-hop is dead' is we're at a vulnerable state. If we don't change, we gonna disappear like Rome. I think hip-hop could help rebuild America, once hip-hoppers own hip-hop ... We are our own politicians, our own government, we have something to say".
I think this post is very interesting. I think the loss of a significant message is a recent and sad trend in all music genres, not just hip hop. I too wish that Mos Def and Common were more appreciated than artists like Lil' Wayne, but its not just Hip Hop that is suffering. The 90's had far more politically charged music, which is interesting considering the juxtaposition of the relative prosperity of the 90s with now. Bands like Pearl Jam/Temple of the Dog and Rage Against the Machine often wrote super-charged lyrics with a message. Complimented with socially aware hip-hop of the 90s, music was peaking and its message was relevant. Now faced with difficult times, I think it is strange that the youth seems more apathetic than ever. If main-stream music could find some inspiration, perhaps it would have a positive impact on political awareness among young people.
ReplyDelete