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The aim of this essay is to study current forms of Hip Hop music while comparing and contrasting them to the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s/70’s. In doing so, I will examine the social, political and economic aspects of selected song lyrics. The objective is to find out whether contemporary Hip Hop has managed to continue the political commentary of past events, or ended up creating an entirely different messaging system due to present-day cultural phenomena.
The whole Hip Hop movement grew in itself to forge an entirely new identity for Blacks, both adults and young people, essentially those who were born after 1965 (Ginwright, p. 31). This generation is characterized by an “urban aesthetic” which is expressed through arts, culture, clothing and other trendy items which have far less political connotations than that, which not very long ago, used to reflect the Civil Rights generation (Ginwright, p. 33).
The Civil Rights generation had the wherewithal to pull off astounding results that are spoken of even today with great reverence; the ending of segregation in school buses and cafeterias, tireless efforts towards achieving the Black citizen’s right to vote and similar accomplishments that have paved the way for the countless rights and privileges which the current generation of Black youth enjoy (Burnim and Maultsby, p. 51).
The contemporary Hip Hop scene, however, has essentially rejected the pious, sanctimonious nature of the Civil Rights movement, as applied to “Blackness” (Brown, p. 90), while making the whole musical premise far less relevant to the political struggles of the Black community. Indeed, as far as their rights and struggles in facing up to systemic oppression are concerned, some of these songs would actually take our present generation quite a few steps backward in time.
For example, a song by current rapper, Outcast, seems to mock the whole idea of the civil rights movement if one considers derogatory lyrics about Rosa Parks, such as “Ah ha hush that fuss/everybody move the back of the bus/do you want to bump and slump with us?” (Brown, p. 92).
Compare it to lyrics of the 1960’s social change era that not only emboldened a benighted Black community, but also extended its solace to anyone who has to remain under the jackboots of an unchangeable system that is thwarting his progress in life. “Soul” was the key here. Those song lyrics radically call upon the oppressed to break free from the manacles of social oppression, and identify with self- empowerment.
Let us examine a few more song lyrics to understand the apathy entailed in contemporary Hip-Hop. Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” makes a cheap dig at “rednecks” and 400 years of oppression, ironically, without identifying the real enemy in their midst. “2 Live Crew” is another Hip-Hop song which glorifies crime. Same goes with “Banned in the USA” which only pays lip service to the sacrifices of Civil Rights campaigners without backing it up with something real, such as a mission statement that would galvanize Black youth to come out of their inaction phase.
Apart from being insulting and not in good taste, many of these contemporary Hip hop songs tend to suggest that present day Black youth will have nothing to do with the sacrifices made during the Civil Rights era. Just like others in the same boat as them, they live for the present and are not really serious about questioning the authority of the oppressor. In fact, it’s not even far-fetched to suggest that by being categorically apathetic to the political situation, many Black youth may be even inadvertently surrendering their freedoms to the very authority they hate (Brown, p. 94).
Works Cited
- Brown, Cecil. Dude, Where’s My Black Studies Department. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2007. Print.
- Burnim, Mellonee V., and Portia K. Maultsby. African American Music an Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.
- Ginwright, Shawn A. Black in School: Afro-centric Reform, Urban Youth and the Promise of Reform. New York: Teachers College Press, 2004. Print.
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