What happened to socially/politically concious rappers

Don't want to pollute D's thread with this so going again with it fresh

80s, and 90s hip hop was defined by it's socially conscious artist. Off the top,
KRS,
NWA,
P.E,
Mos,
Talib,
Wu,
Kast,
Pac,
Roots,
Nas,
Dead Prez,
Common,
Tribe,
De La,
KMD,
Brand Nubian,
Furious 5,
Kane,
Tragedy,
Cormega,
The Coup,
Last Poets,
Jungle Bros,
Gil Scott,
Organized Konfusion,
Jeru,
Goodie Mob,
Canibus,
Gang Starr,
Ras,
Little Brother (newer)
Can Ox
Fugees it just goes on on on on on

From most popular artist to underground.....north south east west... socially/political artists were fabric of hip hop identity, you used to have to have some "knowledge" song on your album even if you weren't that type now it's obviously totally gone a different way. Rappers don't want to talk about that anymore. Everything is just weed and trainers and bitch on my dick idk. Corporate rule$$ keep the people dumb...

You're a confused young man.

Can Ox album released 2001 btw

Can Ox album released 2001 btw

― Rallsba✧✧✧@onel✧✧✧.c✧✧ (stevie),

I know (I bought it on release), originally i was asking people to name rappers out in last decade

You're a confused young man.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Isn't everyone?

If you've got the answers hit us up.

Plenty of street/gangsta rap regularly touch upon political and social issues. Quite a chunk of those you named above i wouldn't even consider particularly 'conscious' anyway.

they're breathing.

comatose rappers do it better

which ones don't you see as conscious (if we have to use that term)

Plenty of street/gangsta rap regularly touch upon political and social issues. Q

― grant holt (prettylikealaindelon)

rather than this vagueness, can you name them? b/c people see Kendrick as one, probably seen as the most one, and it's really actually minimal from what i can tell, although i don't listen to him so could be wrong.

I presented a list as irrefutable evidence so some shit couldn't say "it's all in your head, nothing has changed in h.h"

Hip Hop was essentially partly founded (Flash's The Message) in socially conscious lyrics, and that stuck for ages. Now it's gone almost completely, Q is why.

trainers

tanUKi

there's not many things more dumb than the recent "sneaker culture" bullshit fad. All these idiots paying £100's for awful Nike trainers worth about $10 made in Indonesia by people paid £3 a day.

Doesn't anybody rap about trains anymore? It always used to be all "engine engine number nine" and "come on ride the train choo choo". Now everybody's just rapping about Maybachs and Lambos.

The gangsta/conscious dichotomy is artificial. And I never really cared for the overtly preachy stuff (some of which is named above) anyway.

It's one thing to make music or art about politics and another to make work politically. You seem really fixated on those who are making music about it and not really considering the context in which the music is made in which is imo a massive oversight.

And if you want rap that is more overtly social and political then listen to some stuff from Akron and Fort Wayne scenes right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJjQptjwyMk

"although i don't listen to him so could be wrong"

Serious answer. Even after The Message hip hop wasn't particularly political until Public Enemy. The politics of the late 80s/early 90s period had a lot to do with the importance of the Nation of Islam.

lot of dodging itt. tanuki's point seems valid in general, much more so, than lex's airy "plus ca change" in the d'angelo thread. why should it be hard to admit that the 90s was a particularly fertile period for explicitly political rap lyrics?

^ strike useless comma "...much more so than lex's..."

Well that simple observation seems unarguable to me but it happened due to a particular set of circumstances and it wasn't the bedrock of hip hop so it's wrong to assume that it was (and should be again) the norm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8aqAgtwqcU

xp agreed, but i understand why, in bleak times, some fans might yearn for it

happened due to a particular set of circumstances

more vagueness. which were?

and it wasn't the bedrock of hip hop

It was one of the bedrocks. I've listed a huge list of most of the most influential acts of the 80s and 90s to avoid this sort of comment. Wasn't enough clearly. I could've just said "Furious 5, BDP, P.E, Wu, Pac" and left it at that ad it would've been enough.

anyways
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKypkj9Ggpo

Jesus man, learn to read. I just mentioned the Nation of Islam upthread, which was a huge factor back in the day.

Could having a black president have anything to do with it? Or is that almost a reason as to why there should be more politically/socially concious rap?

https://soundcloud.com/busdriver-of-hellfyre/copbeat-by-bunfumitake-tamura

Nation of Islam upthread, which was a huge factor back in the day.

― Re-Make/Re-Model,

Yes, NOI, that's a big part of mine. You'd never see something like NOI in today's hip hop. Rappers back then were looking for things like that to get into. But many and most of the ones on my list have little or no dealings with NOI or 5%ers directly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i-b6x0-GeM

migos

I am of the opinion that hip-hop by its mere existence was (and often is) a political statement and the statements being made now are still political, even if I personally think many of said statements are frivolous or irrelevant to my life. The best example of this is Watch The Throne, which as an album is an explicit, overt political statement about the challenges and rewards faced by African-Americans breaking into the 1%.

yes otm, there are deeply political statements expressed in even the most inconsequential, shallow and decadent songs out there. unfortunately rockists can only see political statements in 'conscious' music that makes the political nature of the art super obvious and heavy-handed (often laden with clumsy platitudes)

Big Daddy Kane was a 5%er. You couldn't move in Hip Hop back then w/o somone being into some political/social cause.

Can't believe I forgot Slick Rick, too.

here's a young rapper making explicitly political rap for you

https://catchwreckcollective.bandcamp.com/album/fear-itself

I am of the opinion that hip-hop by its mere existence was (and often is) a political statement and the statements being made now are still political, even if I personally think many of said statements are frivolous or irrelevant to my life. The best example of this is Watch The Throne, which as an album is an explicit, overt political statement about the challenges and rewards faced by African-Americans breaking into the 1%.

― the farakhan of gg (DJP),

Again, neither Kanye or Jay Z were out in the last decade. They're both from previous generation. They're both pushing or in their 40s.

Most of the politics in music takes place in the realm of the unconscious mind & the discussions on this messageboard would seem to suggest that there is a lot of potent politics embedded in the symbols/images/memes/tropes/paratexts of pop music (incl. rap). The nature of hip-hop as a counterculture has definitely changed. I can't say say whether it's more or less political though.

valuable new sock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF7P2PlWdeA

They've been trying to ban hip hop since it's birth. They failed, but won in taking away it's political power.

When does the Tanuki record drop?

anecdotal evidence provided by this or that youtube doesn't mean much. seems to me that mainstream audiences had an appetite for explicitly political rap music in the 80s & 90s. with that in mind, maybe the frame shouldn't be "what happened to socially/politically concious rappers?" but "why don't people want to hear socially/politically conscious rap anymore?"

it's really actually minimal from what i can tell, although i don't listen to him so could be wrong

this is the part where you should know to shut the fuck up

http://calibermag.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/121017074949-voting-booth-story-top-copy.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w8JxuXAlzM

this might tie in to fact that hip hop now seen more as a career move than ever before. even in the 90s a lot of rappers didn't expect to get rich off it. so they could say what they wanted. it still wasn't mainstream so you had more freedom. now people aim at the lowest common denominator on what is going to get them most listens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VInOrw9NHTI

actually why am i bothering

pfft we fought a war so that British racoons couldn't vote in America come on now

xp

might tie into Michael Franti trying to rhyme loophole with poophole.

actually why am i bothering

otm

But many and most of the ones on my list have little or no dealings with NOI or 5%ers directly

even this is wrong

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/34143703.jpg

this is the dumbest shit, worst British rap sock ever

lol

anecdotal evidence provided by this or that youtube doesn't mean much. seems to me that mainstream audiences had an appetite for explicitly political rap music in the 80s & 90s. with that in mind, maybe the frame shouldn't be "what happened to socially/politically concious rappers?" but "why don't people want to hear socially/politically conscious rap anymore?"

― contenderizer, Wednesday, January 7, 2015 5:25 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So much to contextualise in terms of audience, political atmosphere, scope, reach and everything else under the sun that even your reworked question reads as dense and unhelpful.

Same old popists getting mad on the message boards!

I didn't hear anything in that Vince Staples thing, it was really bad also. And apparently he doesn't even have an album out. So who's next? I have no idea who "Dizzy Wright" is.

kanye, kendrick, underachievers, shabazz palaces, theesatisfaction, open mike eagle

What happened to politically conscious Canterbury folk?

Kanye is a funny one. I don't recall any 80s/90s rappers directly calling the president a racist on live, national TV.

http://www.its-not-its.info/

haha you didn't hear anything in that vince staples one?? so you didn't listen or?

"Hands Up"

North Division tryin' to stop my blackness
I'm watchin' for them badges when out in traffic
Them 9-11's been a tad bit frantic
If lights start flashin', please don't panic
The DEA givin' out gang enhancements
Can barely even hang to build a case off cameras
CCAT trackin' criminal patterns
Trickin' niggas into takin' strikes to get out faster
Freedom bribery nigga, cause we hardly acquit
Social media that leave the flash photography snitchin'
Blame geography nigga, for the pride in these niggas
Take you when they fingerprint you, now you part of the system
This was all a part of Huey P. and Bobby prediction
Makin' profit off of violence, they arousin' attention
Leaders risin' lead to twenty-five to life in the prison
Better watch it cause I know they got a spot for you nigga

[Hook 2X:]
Yeah, put your hands in the air
Put your hands in the air
Put your hands in the air
Nigga freeze, put your hands in the air

Deangelo Lopez and Tyler Woods
Just a couple they gunned down around the hood
I guess the pigs split wigs for the greater good
Cause I ain't seen them lock a swine up yet
At the most they reassign 'em to prevent protest
Just your color is enough to get you under arrest
Strong hand to the law got me feelin' oppressed
If you flippin', kill a fifty, then you get in a chair
Payin' taxes for some fuckin' clowns to ride around
Whoopin' niggas asses, scared to man up
Handcuffs givin' niggas gashes on the wrist
I used to lift my fist to fight the power with
Older homie told me in his day the pigs was plantin' bricks
In the trunks of nigga's Chevrolets them traffic stops and shit
Raidin' homes without a warrant
Shoot him first without a warning
And they expect respect and non-violence
I refuse the right to be silent

just another song about bitchez and shoes and weed

So much to contextualise in terms of audience, political atmosphere, scope, reach and everything else under the sun that even your reworked question reads as dense and unhelpful.

― tsrobodo, Wednesday, January 7, 2015 9:34 AM (3 minutes ago)

fine, and i can see how RT's approach tanked any chance for useful discussion from the beginning. that's a shame, because a genuine conversation about changes in the space for politics in pop over the last 25 years might be interesting.

Shabazz Palaces? Butterfly is like 45. Kanye is pushing 40. people still struggling to comprehend in the last decade thing.

music industry is so much broader/diffuse now, of course there's space for politics. whether it occupies top 40 pop space (which has shrunk as a percentage of the industry) fluctuates, as it always has.

xp

hurricane katrina was 2005 jackass

again, why do I bother

XXXP - Plenty of under-40s have been listed too, you stupid obtuse fuck

All we wanted was a chance to talk
'Stead we've only got outlined in chalk
By Raccoon Tanuki

Haha

RT, why even ask this question if you're not gonna give an inch with your own answer?

you haven't met, i take it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YTusMMJCGU

wasnt college dropout released in 2004? FFS, kanye isnt 'new' enough?

you stupid obtuse fuck

― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs)

shut the fuck up

― Οὖτις,

You seem like a nice, intelligent, well thought out guys.

i mean, who cares how old he is. seriously. rap ageism is self defeating.

Same old popists getting mad on the message boards!

― ..but is he a virtuoso? (Raccoon Tanuki), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 12:40 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea and this thread is proceeding exactly like the last one about poptimism. you're repeating your opinion to death and you respond to anyone's attempt to engage in discussion or give a counter-argument with "NOPE, SORRY!!!!"

"What happened to socially/politically concious rappers?"
"Here are some names and YouTube links"
"No! They are all too old/too bad/I haven't heard them"
"Great discussion, thanx"

it's true I am very well thought out

xxp

as a sock you are also p well thought out tbh

yea and this thread is proceeding exactly like the last one about poptimism. you're repeating your opinion to death and you respond to anyone's attempt to engage in discussion or give a counter-argument with "NOPE, SORRY!!!!"

― marcos,

When? You're just making this up.

The first reply to thread was "You are a confused young man". Then someone said the list was wrong. Then someone said i was English, then a lot of people dodged the question, and still are.

It's just so bizarre to me that someone would start a discussion and then immediately, obstinately (smugly?) refuse to engage - and do this over and over again. It's totally standard internet trolling behavior, I know, I just don't get the psychology of it.

Raccoon Tenacity

xp - but that's exactly what you are all doing, not me. I'm asking a question that no one seems to want to answer or acknowledge as being relevent. All you do is say SOCK SOCK ignore the SOCK, tell me to fuck off, and then get mad, over and over again.

the first post you made int he thread was "you stupid fuck" and you're telling me this? I think you have some issues.

Except that I gave you reasons and examples, as did other people, and you just refused to accept them so we all decided this was a waste of time. Not mad, just bored with someone who won't listen.

No you are mad, I didn't agree with whatever suggestions were made, in fact I've only had a few artists given who would even loosely qualify. All of them I've commented on. Not a single person has engaged in the debate as to why it has changed, another poster came in to say everyone was dodging my point, and you all shouted him down too.

RT, lots of people have respectfully engaged with your question, one way or another. Good evidence has been presented that political concerns are still strongly present in contemporary rap. But you're ignoring all that. You post only to dismiss or confront, never to actually converse. As a result, no surprise, your thread is fucked.

You're arguing the wrong point, the question of the relative lack of political rappers isn't even up for debate, my question was why.

"Good evidence has been presented that political concerns are still strongly present in contemporary rap"

Where? This is just bullshit. No one outside this board would say this.

it's easier to get through these threads if you imagine RT's speaking voice to be Cookie Monster

XP to RT - This wasn't my discussion to begin with. Nothing else anybody said seemed to work, so I thought, "What about open hostility?" And I jumped in.

the question of the relative lack of political rappers isn't even up for debate

false

Where? This is just bullshit. No one outside this board would say this.

LITERALLY NO ONE

as demonstrated by the lengthy list of political statements from current rappers that have been cited, none of which you will acknowledge as containing political content or as being from "current" rappers. your premise is faulty, and your arguments are dishonest.

see I can play nice too

Krayzie Bone in a song from recently

[Verse 2]
Everybody asks me
What happened to conscious rap?
And I say we tell em'
The money and the power
MC's have been silenced by the dollar
So with the struggle they don't want to be bothered
Emergency, the game's unresponsive
Turn on the radio, you're listening to garbage
9 out of 10 of their hit songs is nonsense
I need somebody to tell me how they got in here"

i found one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8wLa3-Q2CU

xp question answered then

/thread

yo remember the old days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ArZnKvbOxk

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars /
They criticize me for it yet they all yell holla /
If skills sold truth be told I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli /
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense /
But I sold five mill, and I haven't rhymed like Common since.” -

Jay-Z, “Moment of Clarity”

tresor, what happened?

trax, what happened?

hip house, what happened?

ball in the street, what happened?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNyDjkPO8l0

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars /
They criticize me for it yet they all yell holla /
If skills sold truth be told I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli /
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense /
But I sold five mill, and I haven't rhymed like Common since.” -

Jay-Z, “Moment of Clarity”

― ..but is he a virtuoso? (Raccoon Tanuki), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 1:34 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yo, for real, he said that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKwdHqdrw1Y

conscious as fuck

Engaging with this shit is so 2014, FPs all round

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJG0ir9nDtc

another sock rapper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C99iG4HoO1c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwuJzo9eX9k

If you want to talk about the popular demise of explicitly "conscious" rap, I think there's an argument to be made there, but one which requires actual forethought (hint, hint). Also I've listened to like 5 new rap records total in the past year so I could be full of shit (HINT, HINT).

serious answer: American pop-rap audiences have yet to recover from City High

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LahcSFleKm8

http://hyakumonogatari.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/utagawa-tanuki-balls.jpg

Strong black voice are being oppressed, popular Hip Hop is now used as a means to moral degradation and oppression.
Positive messages are being silenced
There's no interest in moral guidance in rap now
Jay Z is where he is because he never challenged the system

"When the '90s were coming in, a whole bunch of different things were happening in society that rap music was answering to, which showed itself as being a diverse art form," he recalled. "Therefore, the threat of black people having something to say, with their large vocabularies through rap music, was something that kind of threw the media on its side for a minute. So I saw this coming."

http://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/7-9-2008/What-happened-to-Hip-Hop%27s-social-consciousness%3F/

Leave it to the rest of the internet to have a intelligent debate on this topic than this sorry place I guess.

"People started giving drug dealers props. I've seen neighborhoods wiped out by drug dealers for like a 15- to 20-year period. It's very easy to take advantage of black people because it's been done for 300 years, and we've learned to love the abuse."

RT's speaking voice to be Cookie Monster

OG Sesame Street, or death metal? Either way, huge lol, A+

istr 2001-2010 being full of critical handwringing over misogyny/"the n word"/Hip Hop Is Dead, so maybe 'the political' was in the process of draining away from the music into a broader discussion about the way we interact with cultural artifacts

xp oh yeah add "drug rap" to the list of things critics were handwringing about

OK here goes. Here's my hasty, simplified, work-in-progress take on why politics was unusually prominent in mainstream hip hop in 88-92:

1. Age. A lot of MCs were raised by people from the civil rights generation.
2. Religion. The most outspoken MCs were often NOI, if not Five Percenters. The movement was prominent at the time.
3. Political context including the last phase of the Reagan/Bush years and the appalling behaviour of the LAPD under Daryl Gates.
4. Fashion. The more people did it, the more people wanted to do it, and it sold. This has always been the case with protest song booms.

What changed? Existing MCs got tired of being battered by the media, after Sister Souljah and Cop Killer, or just didn't want to be political for their whole careers. Trends changed and soapboxing felt old. The power and appeal of the NOI waned. The industry became more lucrative and therefore more cautious. I don't think 1995 or 2000 stand out as particularly fertile periods for political rap so it's not that there's been a drop-off in the last decade, it's more that 1988-92 was a perfect storm of factors that won't be replicated again.

BUT there are still MCs whose work is just as political as Nas, Wu-Tang and Outkast, ie it's in the mix, it's in the background of the narratives, it's not the banner headline. And one-off issue songs from MCs who aren't generally associated with them. And people like Kanye who are political in idiosyncratic ways that don't have anything to do with PE or KRS. And older MCs finding new paths. And when something like Katrina or Ferguson happens you get a surge of polemic from people you might not expect.

There you go. Answering your question. Also, read Jeff Chang's book.

Again, neither Kanye or Jay Z were out in the last decade. They're both from previous generation. They're both pushing or in their 40s.

College Dropout was released in 2004. He fits the parameters of your question exactly, despite your disingenuous attempts to disqualify him.

xp don't forget old-school, Woodstock-packing, baby-booming rockism :)

College Dropout was released in 2004. He fits the parameters of your question exactly, despite your disingenuous attempts to disqualify him.

― buffoon watu51 (Drugs A. Money

If you count 11 years ago as in last decade, and ignore fact Kanye was out in the 90s, then yeah I guess he counts as a rapper who came out in the last decade.

Kanye was not rapping in the 90s

6 days ago, 2014 was in the last decade

so you are specifically looking for young political rappers who debuted after January 7, 2005?

Any rappers from the last decade. It's not really a serious question because obviously my list in the original post will win.

OK here goes. Here's my hasty, simplified, work-in-progress take on why politics was unusually prominent in mainstream hip hop in 88-92:

1. Age. A lot of MCs were raised by people from the civil rights generation.
2. Religion. The most outspoken MCs were often NOI, if not Five Percenters. The movement was prominent at the time.
3. Political context including the last phase of the Reagan/Bush years and the appalling behaviour of the LAPD under Daryl Gates.
4. Fashion. The more people did it, the more people wanted to do it, and it sold. This has always been the case with protest song booms.

What changed? Existing MCs got tired of being battered by the media, after Sister Souljah and Cop Killer, or just didn't want to be political for their whole careers. Trends changed and soapboxing felt old. The power and appeal of the NOI waned. The industry became more lucrative and therefore more cautious. I don't think 1995 or 2000 stand out as particularly fertile periods for political rap so it's not that there's been a drop-off in the last decade, it's more that 1988-92 was a perfect storm of factors that won't be replicated again.

BUT there are still MCs whose work is just as political as Nas, Wu-Tang and Outkast, ie it's in the mix, it's in the background of the narratives, it's not the banner headline. And one-off issue songs from MCs who aren't generally associated with them. And people like Kanye who are political in idiosyncratic ways that don't have anything to do with PE or KRS. And older MCs finding new paths. And when something like Katrina or Ferguson happens you get a surge of polemic from people you might not expect.

There you go. Answering your question. Also, read Jeff Chang's book.

― Re-Make/Re-Model,

So you don't think , it's just been dumbed down?

If we're talking about the critical conversation and how it started to shift away from "conscious" rap in the last decade-plus, I think Pitchfork overcompensating for ignoring rap by going all goon long about 2006 is a big part of the picture. The industry had long since moved on, but politics didn't just vanish from hip hop - c.f. that booming post from RM/RM.

are those goalposts heavy RT

Too many people are trying to derail, ignore the point, trivialize, troll.

This is pointless.

I'm out.

lol well done

Too many people are trying to derail, ignore the point, trivialize, troll.

― ..but is he a virtuoso? (Raccoon Tanuki), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 7:10 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LMAO

lol someone responds with polite, well-reasoned response, RT takes ball and goes home

That crazy-ass seven-day year

RMRM otm. How can you call it dumbed down when there are so many 90s vets still in the game? Socially conscious rap has become a strand in a lot of albums instead of the overarching theme, like how Strange Ways can coexist with Operation Lifesaver. But there are still young rappers like Ab-Soul who still make protest a major part of their creative identity...

xp dammit

"You won't have Raccoon Tanuki to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference"

Too many people are trying to derail, ignore the point, trivialize, troll.

This is pointless.

I'm out.

http://media3.giphy.com/media/G4hyijVbE9FUQ/200_s.gif

would be curious to see the list of 'ignorant rap' c.1987-1997 that RT has actually listened to (not to say enjoyed)

http://blog.honeyee.com/paul/archives/images/cookie-thumb.jpg

socially/political artists were fabric of hip hop identity, you used to have to have some "knowledge" song on your album even if you weren't that type now

Socially conscious rap has become a strand in a lot of albums instead of the overarching theme

this happened back in the golden era too, and applies to the majority of the people cited in RT's original list. You'd have crass sex rhymes next to political posturing, happened all the time.

http://i.imgur.com/NsTL6PR.gif

Good point. I thought about Slick Rick as I wrote that

Ice Cube, Ice-T, Brand Nubian, Digital Underground, etc.

I think Pitchfork overcompensating for ignoring rap by going all goon long about 2006 is a big part of the picture.

― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 11:08 AM (4 minutes ago)

this is a big part of it, right? as rap became a dominant pop force, the late 80s/early 90s conscious and activist strains got shuttered off into backpack rap ("the underground", "real hip-hop", etc). indie culture wholeheartedly embraced backpack rap in the 90s into the early 00s, but then became self-conscious about the nerdiness, went hard for pop & goon stuff mid-decade.

I don't think the mainstream vs. conscious distinction really existed prior to the Bad Boy Records era... to my mind, the epithet "conscious" has always been linked to a rejection of that strain of crass materialism

(but keep in mind that I was in born in '87, & this shit appears to move in cycles)

Which is why not all political rap falls under the "conscious" banner, and why RT's failure to make or even comprehend the distinction doomed the discussion right from the start. Critical listening, what a concept.

Finally the conversation gets good.

I don't think the mainstream vs. conscious distinction really existed prior to the Bad Boy Records era... to my mind, the epithet "conscious" has always been linked to a rejection of that strain of crass materialism

― I can just, like, YOLO with Uber (bernard snowy), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 11:29 AM (4 minutes ago)

well, conscious rap existed long before the bad boy era, but yeah, the idea of fundamental opposition between conscious & mainstream was a 90s thing

iirc

I don't think the mainstream vs. conscious distinction really existed prior to the Bad Boy Records era

this is def true (altho I think the real turning point was earlier - ie, the Chronic - then when Biggie hit it was all over). You did have plenty of "strictly hardcore/no crossover!" talk on rap albums, but the thing is pretty much everybody who was not some one hit wonder pop lightweight did that.

diamond district

like you would have this posturing about r&b standing for "rap and bullshit" and not crossing over or having female singers on your records on a record that had female singers and obvious crossover hit attempts on it

xp

It's crazy to see people be
What society wants them to be, but not me
Ruthless is the way to go, they know
Others say rhymes that fail to be original
Or they kill where the hiphop starts
Forget about the ghetto and rap for the pop charts
Some musicians curse at home
But scared to use profanity when up on the microphone
Yeah, they want reality but you won't hear none
They rather exaggerate a little fiction

when did white ppl start to blame hip-hop for all the black community's problems, tho

because that appears to be the point when u flip from NWA style "FUCK THE POLICE, btw wack sellouts are wack" to anti-mainstream as a political position

no one has addressed the diversity in hip hop that existed in the late 80s to 90s. That choice doesn't exist anymore. You could choose back then who you wanted to aspire to from KRS one to Too Short, Slick Rick or Chuck D.

And no one mentioned crack epidemic. The nihilism themes that came with that. The crack culture fueled a lot of the dark cheap materialism we see today dominating rap lyrics.

http://conversationsofchange.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/head_in_the_sand-461x307.jpg

Why frame it as "no one mentioned x or y"? Just make your point.

Btw rap is pretty damn diverse now but you'd have to listen to it to know that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2VG53RIJ50

To be fair to RT, moaning about how hip hop was better bitd has been a fundamental part of hip hop culture since at least the mid-90s.

yo RT how come the only west coast artist on your list is NWA and why are Last Poets and Gil Scott on there they are not from the 80s/90s

Tell me about the time before money flooded into hip-hop Grandpa Tanuki

crack epidemic impact is totally overblown imo, coke had been part of hip since the beginning - Kurtis Blow, T-Ski Valley etc. which is not to say that crack didn't decimate black communities, just that its preponderance as lyrical content was driven by commercial factors (white kids in the suburbs eating up gangsta braggadocio), not "realism" or "reportage"

no one has addressed the diversity in hip hop that existed in the late 80s to 90s. That choice doesn't exist anymore. You could choose back then who you wanted to aspire to from KRS one to Too Short, Slick Rick or Chuck D.

And no one mentioned crack epidemic. The nihilism themes that came with that. The crack culture fueled a lot of the dark cheap materialism we see today dominating rap lyrics.

The likes of Common, Mos Def, Talib, Roots and Dad Prez were actually second wave conscious rap as a rebound to the crack nihilist rap that was beginning to dominate.

Now we're past that 2nd wave, but it essentially just lost out to the even more strongly materialistic cheap kills lyrics that even underground is dominated by.

Is there a 3rd wave coming? I can't see it, maybe ferguson etc will spawn something. But the rappers I see with that the most have been likes of Big Boi and Q Tip.

to say that there's no diversity in hip hop is just I can't even

I mean, a gay transexual rapper has a fucking cable TV show

but keep repeating it, maybe it will come true for you

ok, i feel like i have to squint hard to buy into the premise of the OP.

maybe less conscious rap in heavy rotation R&B and rap radio than in the past (a circumscribed past), but elsewhere?

seems to me that rap at the local, grassroots level in North America is as politically conscious as ever, and with a greater proportion of females (and with them feminist content) than ever.

seems to me that the continuing vitality of hiphop world-wide, and in multiple vernacular languages, is not only explicitly but inherently political, i.e., as a megaphone used by marginalized youth to tell their own stories in their own (maligned) vernacular.

i would almost flip the question: what is it that permits explicitly political content to succeed commercially in popular music, when it does so? to me it's not surprising that there would be a natural waning of the political in a popular style of music. as in other arts, it's HARD to consistently convey social critique in a manner both authentic and viscerally compelling, without listener fatigue settling in. Shit, the evening news -a form of entertainment after all - knows this well. Rare is the story where inner-city issues or constructive initiatives are featured. Nah, it's the yellow ribbon that attracts the cameras (and eyeballs, apparently). Sex, violence, fantasies of wealth are always an easy sell. They are also probably easier to work with, as lyrical material.

We've seen this phenomenon in rock, jazz, folk, soul, and many other musical styles, and it's no wonder that hip-hop is not immune. What I still think is worth noticing and appreciating is the extent to which hip-hop maintains an edge over most other musics as a vessel for the social and the political. That it has ebbed somewhat on my radio dial seems like a more ephemeral concern.

http://i.imgur.com/chMMFt3.jpg

a pregnant south asian woman rapped at the Grammy awards

xp

maybe less conscious rap in heavy rotation R&B and rap radio than in the past (a circumscribed past), but elsewhere?

"conscious" rap was NEVER in heavy rotation on r&B and rap radio!

"conscious" rap's chart peak is probably Public Enemy's "Fight the Power", which went to no. 20 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and no. 1 on the US Hot Rap Singles chart. And that was it.

yeah that's pretty much it.

xp I didn't want to mention ILX punchbag Macklemore but yeah it's worth noting that the biggest new MC of the past couple of years self-consciously styles himself as a conscious rapper. And hip hop didn't just ignore gay rights in its conscious golden age - it was often aggressively homophobic, cf Brand Nubian, Ice Cube.

that's what i mean by squinting xp

xp although I was trolling, there's also the guy he famously beat out for the grammy

Kendrick's been mentioned a few times. And he's moving in a much more conscious (hate that word but it's useful shorthand) direction. i should be catnip for RT.

leave it to ILX posters to start talking about "Macklemore" and feminism and gay rights and transgenders. This is hilarious. Why do I even post here with you saps. I'm losing swag by the second with you lames.

I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars /
They criticize me for it yet they all yell holla /
If skills sold truth be told I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli /
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense /
But I sold five mill, and I haven't rhymed like Common since.”

why do you even post here

So "conscious" & "political" = "kill whitey" & "shun girls"?

Rap music is dumbd down
Black people are opressed
Rap is dead

Keep living in your magical world of transgender popist equality where everything is brilliant and Taylor Swift, Minaj, Charli XXC is something you spend time listening to

leave it to ILX posters to start talking about ... feminism and gay rights and transgenders.

yeah nothing political about women or gay people amirite

http://rodon95.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/changesmall2.jpg

"shun girls"

this is a pretty um generous characterization of the rampant misogyny in Slick Rick, NWA etc.

Lord Jamar, is that you?

Not trying to be generous. Comic understatement in a post-#CharlieHebdo world.

fair dos

The likes of Common, Mos Def, Talib, Roots and Dad Prez

lmao this is actually a very apt typo considering the v significant intersection b/w ppl who like this stuff above all other rap music + dad-rock fans

Raccoon Tanuki is the drummer for Dad Prez

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/pop_playground/really-real-authenticity-and-hip-hop.htm

These rappers today, I tell ya. They bang out beats on their keyboards in 15 minutes, or they just get a hot producer to do it for them (please ignore my Neptunes-produced single that bombed). Then they just rap about girls and robbing folks – no positivity! They don’t care about hip hop’s history or culture (of which I am a vital part). They don’t even care about their whole album (which should be their art) – they just hope they have two or three jams that will get some play in the club.

that was from 2003 don't you have anything that was written in the last decade by someone under 40 to support your argument

#StopTanuki2015

i believe in us

outic don't you have anything better to be doing than this?

lol

tanuki study your lessons god u lack overstanding

#buildanddestroy
#clarence13x

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/80/44/72/8044726486437db85e963daa0520b2ed.jpg

I like these threads because people get to post raccoon pictures and gifs

https://animalnewsthepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/rascal_1899_10604157.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go3C4BL-lfs

though contra that drawing I think Raccoon Tanuki fulfils an important role in the ilx ecosystem

leave it to ILX posters to start talking about "Macklemore" and feminism and gay rights and transgenders. This is hilarious. Why do I even post here with you saps. I'm losing swag by the second with you lames.

great post

'raccoon rapping' is a v worthwhile youtube search

Great new dn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4tLrnlMxpM

We should use this thread to post DOPE current explicitly political rappers imo

I like mick Jenkins

Also raccoon t should check out the jacka whose new tape is packed with pro black agit prop

Underachievers don't rlly have a coherent message but they def incorporate lots of the imagery and iconography as a kind of hook

That Dizzy Wright track is really good.
Also, good to hear Nikkiya again, really like her voice, that SpeakHerLove album was fun...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLEAT_kd4ns

This should do

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7bZ08RNUyM

Never did figure out the unambiguously explicit, content-based political rap embed game:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIqNjC1RKU

whoops, that was just the same link.

http://youtu.be/6lIqNjC1RKU

if he won't acknowledge that Vince Staples song as 'political' then idk we should probably start a new thread to post good songs into instead of losing them in this nonsense

Some of this concious stuff doesn't age that well, even at the time I used to wince at the KRS One tracks where he tries to chat like a ragga mc from the Yard. In recent times old lags like Juicy J and Gangsta Boo have released far better albums than anything from that era imo. At least in this era twats like Brand Nubians are recognised for what they are - completely fucking worthless hateful arseholes.

omg donk raccoon

are we all pretending Tanuki didn't drop the sock last week

outta Boston:

http://youtu.be/U_0hhrETT_8

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LPd1CWChXUs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

blach i forgot how to embed the yootoobs

http://youtu.be/LPd1CWChXUs

http://youtu.be/zJolqxXqMzc

http://youtu.be/7s-pnyCVmyk

^all these are out of the 617

you don't have to look all that hard to run into this type of stuff, if you listen to local hip-hop at all. the local scene is laced with it.

so i pretty much disagree that "socially conscious" lyrics are not part of "the fabric of hip hop identity" (to quote the OP) anymore. not from where i sit, anyhow.

only young politically conscious rapper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH9kl6XZixo

leave it to ILX posters to start talking about "Macklemore" and feminism and gay rights and transgenders. This is hilarious. Why do I even post here with you saps. I'm losing swag by the second with you lames.

Haha. As an activist transgender black feminist rap fan, whose freaking day job is working with black youth (some of whom are aspiring rappers with explicitly political content) to help them navigate systemic -isms, and who has despised Macklemore for a good decade or so, fuck you and your swag.

Seems like the main problem is our poor racoon has never had his received wisdom challenged and flips whenever anyone brings a critical analysis to the table that doesn't align with the worldview he's already ingrained. Also, I'm not sure if he is a black racoon or a white racoon but he seems to think that only the interests of straight cisgender black men (and other clever mammals) can qualify as political, which is especially suspect if he is a white raccon.

I'd also like to point out that he is asking for artists that have appeared within the past ten years when the list of artists in his OP first appeared over a more than 30 year period, and a few of them only released their most political work after the 90s.

To appease the racoon tho: https://soundcloud.com/tef-poe/war-cry-produced-by-dj-smitty-jay-nixon-diss-record

are we all pretending Tanuki didn't drop the sock last week

― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Wednesday, January 7, 2015 9:18 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

who did what now

the David Banner shout-out in the Tef Poe track rev posted reminds me that he hasn't been mentioned yet ITT

Xp: was wondering about that post myself.

(xp ... altho Banner was around before the mid-00s, which means he might be arbitrarily excluded from RT's extremely labile classifications)

I guess I don't care whether I'm talking to a sock or not... I must have become truly jaded. #shrugemoticon

weird to me that no one cared about new national anthem; one of the better tracks on the album imo

I don't think it matters much whether he's a sock, but Paul Edward Wagemann wasn't a sock either, as far as I know...

Isn't this the exact same thread you made a few weeks ago?

Well, my response is the same as in the past thread: blame Pharrell

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U4chHBO_RTA

O.T. Genasis mang

He also collaborated with Daft Punk so before you start the "when did EDM became so corporate?" :

Pharrell. Fucking Pharrell.

If given the chance he will ruin our last bastion of non corporate music: Salsa.

I'm not really sure what this thread is about anymore, seems defined in a pretty arbitrary way as Rev points out - what counts as social/political consciousness, why the 10 year limit, this notion that it's about "Corporate rule$$ keep the people dumb" (wot?)...

But for the sake of argument, did we mention:

Lil B - where to begin? B's always rapped about swag and teh BIG issues, having some "'knowledge' song on your album..." Just off the top of my head:

No Black Person Is Ugly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83p69JhDnwU
Lifes Hard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfc6fvNlE_I
Giving Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg1YAbq8gb8
The Age Of Information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=corY-FZAZog

Lil Herb's mixtape from last year had tons of reflexive/critical moments on it, and this is coming out of Chicago!

4 Minutes Of Hell PT3: http://genius.com/Lil-herb-4-minutes-of-hell-part-3-lyrics
Fight or Flight (Remix feat. Chance The Rapper & Common): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtS_AvUfvfA
Lil Herb - Mamma Im Sorry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDvNRs2A4gU

SaveMoney crew:

Chance, Everybody's Something: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gctf0n8b3F4
Chance, Pusha Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0DcVbSYWUA

They murking kids; they murder kids here
Why you think they don't talk about it? They deserted us here
Where the fuck is Matt Lauer at? Somebody get Katie Couric in here
Probably scared of all the refugees, look like we had a fuckin' hurricane here
They'll be shooting whether it's dark or not, I mean, the days is pretty dark a lot
Down here, it's easier to find a gun than it is to find a fucking parking spot
No love for the opposition, specifically a cop position
Cause they've never been in our position
Getting violations for the nation, correlating, you dry snitchin'

I assumed we covered Kendrick, but then what about Ab-Soul:

Terrorist Threats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_71q5lVEjc

Dunno, could go on and on, but feel like this is a bit of a pointless exercise. "Conscious raps" can be ID'd all over the place, but the concept is also kind of a weak construct; this is some pretty basic shit, but a track might be considered political on a number of different levels and angles. As many point out in this thread, it doesn't have to be about explicitly "socio-political" lyrics or even themes. Artists that overly indulge in the latter often don't produce very interesting work. It can be as much about the reception, the beats and social context.

Oh damn I'm getting a corporate hip hop sonning from Nikki Minaj and Charlie XCX superfans again

Nearly damn all the artists in the list social or political themes dominated a large part of their music

Lets look at the biggest rappers out now and see if that holds for them

Nikki Minaj NOPE
Wiz Khalifa NOPE
Tyler Creator NOPE
Migos NOPE
Young Thug NOPE
Drake NOPE
Chief Keef NOPE
Iggy NOPE
Schoolboy Q NOPE
ASAP Rocky NOPE
French Montana NOPE
Rick Ross NOPE
Jay Z NOPE
Juicy J NOPE
Pitbull NOPE
50 Cent NOPE
Future NOPE
YG NOPE
Jeezy NOPE
Clipse NOPE
Action Bronson NOPE
Riff Raff NOPE
Bobby Shmurda NOPE

Content: LEAN, X, BITCHES, BLOWJOBS, CARS, SNEAKERS, CRIME, WEED, NIGGAS THAT AINT FUCKING WITH THEM.

Whoever you got left, Lil B? Kendrick? Vince Staples? ok. I'm right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9QG7JfzuTA

Jeezy NOPE

You are so stupid.

Remove Bookmark from this Thread

Jeezy NOPE

You are so stupid.

― Matt DC,

haha at you coming back with ONE rapper from that list of like 30 xD

Jeezy, the coke rapper who released an album called Recession and spent most of it talking about how rich he is, and coke. Yeah, "politcal themes dominating a large part of their music" really applies to Jeezy ahahahahahahah.

I repeat Jeezy: NOPE.

Matt DC = YOU are so stupid.

LOL he picked out 1 rapper from the huge list lmao.

I'm honestly in awe that someone wrote the sentence "I'm losing swag by the second with you lames" in 2015.

I dunno what to say, man. Besides the fact that you're reducing entire artist's catalogs to 'NOPE' - maybe you should just join a church and listen to some other stuff?

I mean, to just take one from that list, how is Future's 'Turn Off the Lights' about 'Neva End' or 'I Be U' about 'BITCHES'? Or any of those other things?

Funny how guys on this tip always manage to sneak in their own misogyny there.

I'm honestly in awe that someone wrote the sentence "I'm losing swag by the second with you lames" in 2015.

― The Reverend,

I have never been in awe of a twelve year old.

RT making me concerned for the youth in 2015.

I didn't even mention yet the hip hop around the world that caught like fire and used for political messages. That's one of the reasons when USA rappers come back from Europe they always say European hip hop is the most knowledgeable fans, only place where hip hop is keeping it real. HH caught on around the world with young people like it did because it it's political and social aspect was such a major part of it. From Sarejavo to Paris to Berlin to Russia all these Euros caught on like crazy to it. Not for modern coke and bitches raps.

if you've never heard coke rap that tries to make a social/economic/political point then you haven't been listening hard enough

awful thread.

If you delete all the RT posts it's actually a pretty good thread imo.

Gasp in amazement as he spectacularly misunderstands the difference between an artifact and a culture.

There's some artfulness to it. So amazingly terrible.

Tanuki is the kind of racoon that goes to rap shows just to be able to shout REAL HIP HOP really loud. (insert hashtag at will)

Lol at all you lames straightlacing your low cut doc martins on message board.

If you listen to Nikki Minaj your opinion on this topic is worthless. Lex, Some Dude, Dyl, all you guys, you probably never even heard of most of the rappers in first post.

Nikki Minaj NOPE
Wiz Khalifa NOPE
Tyler Creator NOPE
Migos NOPE
Young Thug NOPE
Drake NOPE
Chief Keef NOPE
Iggy NOPE
Schoolboy Q NOPE
ASAP Rocky NOPE
French Montana NOPE
Rick Ross NOPE
Jay Z NOPE
Juicy J NOPE
Pitbull NOPE
50 Cent NOPE
Future NOPE
YG NOPE
Jeezy NOPE
Clipse NOPE
Action Bronson NOPE
Riff Raff NOPE
Bobby Shmurda NOPE

Tanuki is the kind of racoon that goes to rap shows just to be able to shout REAL HIP HOP really loud. (insert hashtag at will)

― longneck

Shows how poorly you misread me then. I'm way over your heads. You listen to Minaj, how can you think you have a say in this matter?

https://33.media.tumblr.com/95098a5af8764fe085d733dae9f83479/tumblr_n1orn5xclq1rpc5kho1_500.gif

that's fucking cruel

Is your username a reference to One Piece?

You do realize that your "you listen to"-taunts make it very difficult for other people to take you seriously, right?

Where have all the socially/politically conscious rappers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the socially/politically conscious rappers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the socially/politically conscious rappers gone?

Gone to Bandcamp, every one

When will they ever learn? When they ever learn?

raccoon how old are you? serious question

also, why do you post here? serious question

Had too much swag, needed to shed some

if RT is not a sock I'm kind of stoked for his presence here, real old school ilx troll feel

no he needs to go, check him out on the Charlie Hebdo thread and then hit FP

yr exercise in pointing out that the most popular rappers of today are rarely explicitly political is pretty useless considering that if you were to apply the same test to the most popular rappers of the supposedly halcyon days u refer to in yr first post, they would still fail the test. w/ 2-3 exceptions depending on how permissive u wanna be, the artists listed in the op were not among the most successful rap artists of their day.

Some of this concious stuff doesn't age that well, even at the time I used to wince at the KRS One tracks where he tries to chat like a ragga mc from the Yard. In recent times old lags like Juicy J and Gangsta Boo have released far better albums than anything from that era imo. At least in this era twats like Brand Nubians are recognised for what they are - completely fucking worthless hateful arseholes.

― xelab, Wednesday, January 7, 2015 8:05 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

eh some of the ignorant shit doesnt age well either, i do kind of think conscious rap gets a bad rap these days

This thread has given us a gif of a raccoon with a jet pack if nothing else, so my morning is made.

leave it to ILX posters to start talking about... feminism and gay rights and transgenders. This is hilarious. Why do I even post here with you saps. I'm losing swag by the second with you lames.

So, are you going to take accountability for this incredibly wrongheaded and generally fucked up statement?

do you even have to ask

So, are you going to take accountability for this incredibly wrongheaded and generally fucked up statement?

― ed.b,

lmao

yr exercise in pointing out that the most popular rappers of today are rarely explicitly political is pretty useless considering that if you were to apply the same test to the most popular rappers of the supposedly halcyon days u refer to in yr first post, they would still fail the test. w/ 2-3 exceptions depending on how permissive u wanna be, the artists listed in the op were not among the most successful rap artists of their day.

― dyl,

Dumb shit said by Nikki Minaj and Charlie XCX fans in this thread #4080

Oh no, he's back

Dumb shit said by Nikki Minaj and Charlie XCX fans in this thread #4080

Explain.

Or was your use of bold text supposed to be self-evident?

"Charli XCX fan" is not perhaps the damning insult that RT, judging from the number of times he's used it, believes it to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF1GudpHqeg

:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc1N5vjvMFw

xxp-taking out the more underground acts

these were all some of the most successful and popular rap artists of their time. Dyl talking shit only a Charlie and Minaj fan capable of.

KRS,
Slick Rick
NWA,
P.E,
Mos,

Wu,
Kast,
Pac,

Nas,
Dead Prez,

Tribe,
De La,

Brand Nubian,
Furious 5,
Kane,

Jungle Bros,

Goodie Mob,

Gang Starr,

Fugees

;)

(dad prez left in for that one song, that blew up majorly while being hugely political, that song wouldn't exist now)

what's your first language, Raccoon?

there is tons of new underground positive stuff. most of it is terrible. just listen to illmatic again!

"Charli XCX fan" is not perhaps the damning insult that RT, judging from the number of times he's used it, believes it to be.

― Re-Make/Re-Model,

haha, oh yes it is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO72qcXvakE

^awful music, objectively

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziX5dzRvzbU

RT: where does that list come from? And how are you judging success there? I'm just curious about your methods ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3jberLd7B4

:}

Lex, Some Dude, Dyl, all you guys, you probably never even heard of most of the rappers in first post.

tell me more about this "Nas," o wise one

Wu-Tang: I've heard of him, he sings about karate!

"tell me more about this "Nas," o wise one

― un chill goon (some dude),"

He wears a kufi, that Jim Jones said would "smack off his fuckin head"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3Lq6OvXxU

:}}))888

racoon can you answer my questions

raccoon how old are you? serious question

― marcos, Thursday, January 8, 2015 10:07 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also, why do you post here? serious question

― marcos, Thursday, January 8, 2015 10:07 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol @ the idea of Wu as political rap, they're like one step above coast-to-coast FM

*AM, sorry. it's too early

RT deluded about the commercial success of his listed rap acts, and about their "political" content (Wu? Slick Rick? gtfo). I pointed out that P.E.'s "Fight the Power" is probably the peak commercial success of an explicitly political rap act, and that didn't even place on the Billboard pop chart.

as opposed to multiple people who have been cited so far who are among the biggest selling and critically acclaimed rap acts around

BDP never cracked the top 40, for example

RT, you might find some artists that fit the profile you're describing here:

rolling CORP low bar just to appear hip to teens thread 2015

I can maybe see finding it amusing watching this loser shit himself in public (or pretend to, which isn't better) but trying to actually have a discussion is like

what the fuck are you guys doing

De La Soul had one hit single (with zero political/conscious content). Jungle Bros had zero.

xp

Kids say the darndest things

RT deluded about the commercial success of his listed rap acts, and about their "political" content (Wu? Slick Rick? gtfo). I pointed out that P.E.'s "Fight the Power" is probably the peak commercial success of an explicitly political rap act, and that didn't even place on the Billboard pop chart.

― Οὖτις,

BDP never cracked the top 40, for example

― Οὖτις,

De La Soul had one hit single (with zero political/conscious content). Jungle Bros had zero.

xp

― Οὖτις

You've said some dumb shit but this takes the biscuit. Lol @ you conflating success and influence with pure commercial gains. Ironic. Wu were platinum by the way.

with the protest song "cash rules everything around me"

with the protest song "cash rules everything around me"

― un chill goon (some dude),

OH WOW you really jus went FULL DUMBASS with that shit you fucking Charlie XCX moron

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa9LNPwZIGA

RT aren't you banned yet?

with the protest song "cash rules everything around me"

― un chill goon (some dude),

Can't quite believe you just KO'd yourself like this so easily. I knew it would happen you've been saying some pretty dumb shit even for a Minaj and Charlie XCX fan but this just proves you KNOW JACK SHIT of what you're talking about

You clearly have no idea about that song past the hook that you completely and hilariously misunderstood

Let me help you out Charlie XCX fan, next time you try to mock, make sure you know wtf you're talking about.

It's been 22 long hard years and still strugglin
Survival got me buggin, but I'm alive on arrival
I peep at the shape of the streets
And stay awake to the ways of the world cause shit is deep
A man with a dream with plans to make C.R.E.A.M.
Which failed; I went to jail at the age of 15
A young buck sellin drugs and such who never had much
Trying to get a clutch at what I could not touch
The court played me short, now I face incarceration
Pacin', going up state's my destination
Handcuffed in back of a bus, 40 of us
Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough
But as the world turns I learned life is Hell
Living in the world, no different from a cell
Everyday I escape from Jakes givin chase, sellin base
Smokin bones in the staircase
Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess
I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed
But I'm still depressed, and I ask what's it worth?
Ready to give up so I seek the Old Earth
Who explained working hard may help you maintain
to learn to overcome the heartaches and pain
We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks
and stray shots, all on the block that stays hot
Leave it up to me while I be living proof
To kick the truth to the young black youth
But shorty's running wild, smokin sess, drinkin beer
And ain't trying to hear what I'm kickin in his ear
Neglected for now, but yo, it gots to be accepted
That what? That life is hected

at least I'm getting some display name suggestions out of this

hahahahaa this is TOO GOOD

what a freaking idiot "some dude"

This is what I'm talking about I'm dealing with Minaj morons here who have zero freaking clue about any of hip hop history acts even in the basic level.

Tell us about trainers again

tell us about gays and feminism and transgenders again

tell us about the our Zionist media again

tell us about how modern feminism has no purpose again

rolling minaj morons and charlie xcx fans 2015

"Can't quite believe you just KO'd yourself like this so easily. I knew it would happen" ::masturbates furiously::

RT do you post on any rap forums other than this one?

are you the martorialist trolling us?

OK, shooting fish in a barrel time, I'll leave you all to get on with it.

ilx ain't a rap forum... its a cRap forum

charli xcx doesn't make pop music, she makes poop music

#StopTanuki2015

i believe in us

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/TheCoupCoverLarge.jpg

Imagine if Kendrick Lamar ever wrote anything as good as this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPr1JLoYLW4

life is hected

In that Coup picture the WTC represents ILX and Boots Riley is Raccoon Tanuki, blowing the whole place up with his truthbombs.

RT where do you live in the UK?

Realhiphopshire

lol

a land without gays or jews or women

Realhiphopshire

― Οὖτις, Thursday, January 8, 2015 6:21 PM (51 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wait i just realized this thread needs whiney g weingarten and blood sausage stat

honestly, ever since i heard that rea shdrusmmmesr shit everyone's going crazy for i am kinda 100% on board with teh raccoon

http://assets.noisey.com/content-images/contentimage/25916/ukhiphop1.jpg

Why is the young buck selling such who never had much, Tanuki? Is it because he is an evil muslim perhaps?

Makes me long for Jay-Z / Nas hip-hop throw down? & other throw-downs? days. Popular and successful threads used to be more conscious back in the day.

(dad prez left in for that one song, that blew up majorly while being hugely political, that song wouldn't exist now)

lol that song peaked outside the top 40 on the rap singles sales chart and was basically only known for its five-word chorus getting played a couple times over commercials on mtv that year. i guess the influence u refer to = having some white rockcrits wanking over how its marginal presence on the charts at the same time as common's supposedly revolutionary love song signaled the inevitable 'return' of explicitly activist rap as the dominant form of rap. except oops, that didn't happen, since instead we got ja rule/murder inc/blissed out thug love jams dominating the cultural sphere for the next couple of years. hint: if you are complaining about the lack of any explicitly conscious/activist rap (that you like or see as politically aware -- who cares about wimmen and gays and 'transgenders') in mass culture these days, maybe the conscious rap u revere so much wasn't actually that influential?

the reason that dad prez song wouldn't exist now is because its content is thoroughly well-trodden and completely unexciting to anyone with a political conscience in 2014

<3 charlie xcx

if we're counting the Coup, Can Ox & Dad Prez as successful group then why wouldn't Run the Jewels count?

groups

because a raccoon said so

Despite some colorful details ("Handcuffed in back of a bus, 40 of us") Deck's verse on C.R.E.A.M. is more defeatist than political imo -- an older person teaches him the value of hard work ffs

"Fellow-traveler" hiphop, maybe

who did what now

― un chill goon (some dude), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 11:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pitchfork's Chris Ott takes No Prisoners

lmao "dad prez"

no way RT is Ott

xxp my previously posited ott-sock theory was mostly for lols

Why would ott pretend to be british

there are dozens of rap forums out there that are just a bunch of guys like RT calling each other soft batch

sloth pretty surprised you've resisted this thread so far.

Death Grips

as far as troll behavior goes, creating a persona isn't exactly uncommon, but yeah, my ott theory - which was like 25 percent serious to begin with - is most certainly inaccurate

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (351 of them)

many of us should spend some time tonight looking critically at ourselves in the mirror

evan i saw no percentage in engaging w/ any of this stuff bc even people who bless their hearts were trying to give serious answers were getting nothing but dickish behavior in return, but i felt i should clarify the joke

has no one made the 'he will be a zing-flinging jaded ilx regular by 2017' post yet? no?

Anyhoo, I'll play along through all this bullshit because I'm bored, just to get facts straight because you're just using your fucked up raccoonesque perception of reality, the following are cold hard facts:
These were Metacritic's top rap/hip hop artists from the 00s (as you might be aware they have these scores by summing different review scores from popular zines):

http://i.imgur.com/DBVlge3.png

And this is the list of best selling rap/hip hop albums in the USA since 00s:

http://i.imgur.com/E8zXOVd.png

He's already flinging that's for sure. xp

its a ott sock ster

No use Moka. It's common knowledge that raccoons have tunnel vision, making it common for them to cherry pick.

I'm sure you'll continue saying that they are previous generation artists or whatever but the truth is they are still the ones getting the best reviews and sales. I'm sure in your 15 year old world it seems like the only artists that matter to other people are Minaj and Drake but there's hope out there. Hang in there, buddy.

http://www.squirrelstore.com/files/744999/uploaded/79100pp.jpg

that's fucking cruel

― ..but is he a virtuoso? (Raccoon Tanuki), Thursday, January 8, 2015 8:08 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

new theory: it's calum

where's my cane

the following are cold hard facts...

What about streaming, mixtapes and YouTube tho? Metacritic is OK, but I don't know if sales is that representative of the RT successful + popular criteria.

This guy went from 50 to 80(!!!) flagged posts in a matter of hours. You won't be seeing him for a while.

that shit on the Charlie Hebdo thread was p bad tbf

hip-hop is safe!

Looks like for YouTube Vevo, it would be Pitbull, Chris Brown, Nicki, Black Eyed Peas, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Drake, Nelly, Soulja Boy and Tyga, depending on what you label as rap/hip-hop.

http://vidstatsx.com/vevo-most-viewed

It takes quite a lot to get 51ed in this day and age but I have never seen anyone accumulate flags that quickly.

man am i glad i didn't read RTs thoughts on Hebdo

Getting some big data up in here. Fight ignorance with science.

Oh I haven't flagged him yet! Let me contribute.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads15/cig%2Braccoon1256176039.jpg

They FP'in! Aw, made you post
You a slave to a thread made by ott's ghost

Too many people are trying to derail, ignore the point, trivialize, troll.

― ..but is he a virtuoso? (Raccoon Tanuki), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 7:10 PM

up early in the morning
dressed in black
don't ask why cuz I'm down in a suit & tie
they killed a raccooon that I went to school wit
i tell ya life ain't shit to fool wit

This is pointless.

I'm out.

― ..but is he a virtuoso? (Raccoon Tanuki), Wednesday, January 7, 2015 7:10 PM

But every now and then,
I wonder if FP was put up to keep Racoons out or to
Keep our ass in

Who's that trolling in my window
POW nobody now

it's sad he was a virtuoso

6 in the mornin' police at my door
fresh racoon paws squeak across the floor

thank fuck for that

my question was why.

1. rap became pop. pop music is rarely political, esp since I dunno, end of Vietnam War era.
2. it became passe, seen as corny to be overtly "conscious"/"political". this goes for just about every genre that once wore its heart on it sleeve.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oLazoHUu0yc/Tpi6il5Z8OI/AAAAAAAAABs/tiaChtjXe2M/s1600/here_comes_a_new_challenger.png

I don't think it's wrong to note that rap is different now, just that all the ways and reasons for it cited by RT were basically wrong

http://i.imgur.com/PlAnnXF.jpg

See you soon, little racoon.

forks with the comic timing

"with the protest song "cash rules everything around me"

Rza actually quotes this to Paul Walker in the movie Brick Mansions and then says "You heard of that one?" Meta-hilarity!!

plus he was a dumb asshole

Multiple xps

def looking forward to tanook's analysis of cherif kouachi's rap skills tfs

― Ottbot jr (NickB), Thursday, 8 January 2015 11:51 (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Now there's a politically conscious rapper for you

rc tanuki is wrong and lame as hell but a rephrased version of this could have flown on ilm a bit more than a while ago, the days transition from earnest roots/outkast-type groups love to general engagement to even more casual interest in rap weird voice weird sound novelties. sooooo guess i can almost appreciate british REAL RAP kid in 2014 longing for the good old days when the dudes coming at him are from a mostly equally lame ilm crew that confines rap discussion to one thread.

pfft we fought a war so that British racoons couldn't vote in America come on now

So that's what Iraq II was about.

i was gonna start a hip hop retirement community thread actually just to talk about old shit

as someone that's expressed a lot of questionable or stupid opinions on ilm, i sympathize, too.

also your british rap nerd view of the real rap canon is wrong. i feel like most of the explicitly political or CONSCIOUS dudes on your list, the this is real political rap that made a difference story around them has been carefully explained and it's easy to, like, figure out. maybe you don't listen to enough music made recently or understand enough about the situations or circumstances or whatever it's made in and don't understand the communities lots of rap music comes from and is addressed to? and you probably don't understand what these artists meant, their message or their image, in contemporary terms and.... i dunno, being a naive likely racist british dude, you might not be willing to listen and understand deeply enough to what's going on and give it the benefit of serious listening and picking out new age youtube rappers with conscious methods is not going to help.

tanuki did you listen to the last cormega album?

i dont think there's anything wrong w/ limited rap discussion to a rolling thread, it saves me time from sorting through 100s of threads i dont care about to get the rap regulars in one place. like unless we started a board called 'i love rap' then that's the best way to do it

otherwise i agree with you, i dont think conscious rap has really aged nearly as badly as ppl are saying, if anything the recent discussions of the carceral system et al make conscious rap seem fairly well considered, ppl are letting a well-meaning defense of 'rap weird voice weird sound novelties' harden into its own kind of annoying orthodoxy position where its the only thing that 'matters'

werent we just talking on here recently about how j-live's 'satisfied' has actually aged pretty well even tho its pretty lolworthy how it's used in the wire s.1

anyway i'm using this as an excuse to post this mick jenkins song which i think is good:

https://soundcloud.com/mickjenkinsmusic/11-prod-by-nifdproductions

i think the original list shows an inability to understand rap lyrics + culture or whatever in general, and if you try to apply that limited understanding to a more complex world, a lot more diversity in voices and tones and styles and content, you're going to be fuckin lost.

why don't jada and styles make your list, rc?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR-Rn-Pst2w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-cpL--0AQA

i dont think conscious rap has really aged nearly as badly as ppl are saying, if anything the recent discussions of the carceral system et al make conscious rap seem fairly well considered, ppl are letting a well-meaning defense of 'rap weird voice weird sound novelties' harden into its own kind of annoying orthodoxy position where its the only thing that 'matters'

hey wow i get to say deej otm

xxp yah def generally speaking these terms are so broad as to be meaningless and misapplied to such a huge genre, but i think even saying 'conscious rap sucks, i like not-conscious rap that happens to be conscious' creates a kind of distorted POV ... conscious rap rules except when it doesnt like all rap, i think u have to start from that open perspective though otherwise yr kind of sucked in by the invisible propaganda of those definitions

Obviously I was sort of the exact right age to really be taken with all that new school afrocentric/political stuff but it's funny (and maybe a little telling in ways that aren't so good) that I think a lot of people now are so gleeful in making fun of stuff like Public Enemy or KRS or afrocentrism or w/e.

I will say that maybe I don't it seems cliche to people now but I can assure as an early teens farm kid it was not something that I knew about, the Black Panthers or Marcus Garvey or Farakhan and I still feel that it all tremendously opened my eyes to issues of race and justice in America and as a white kid introducing me to the idea that my "normal" life was not given to everyone and in fact was built in many ways on the suffering of others. Like I get even sort of self-conscious typing this, because I feel like it's indicative of the "rockist" sort of po-faced, middle-brow sincerity that ILX can really rip to shreds but I was not a sophisticated person and had not been taught by my parents or my teachers to think in those terms. My one friend T0ntr3ll was literally the only black kid that ever went to my school k-12.

Also even non-political stuff like NWA, Geto Boys etc was sort of implicty "political" in terms of how I received it, as just portrayals of the ghetto and violence were not prevalent then (in real, realistic terms, like gangs in 80s comedy movies were always mixed-race Beat It dancers with at least one white guy with a mohawk and Sigue Sigue Sputnik glasses)

but anyway that's why no matter how grumpy old man they get about stuff I'll never really bag on Chuck (who is largely right on still), KRS (though he trieds me, esp his Ron Paul phase), or Cube or whoever.

I mean I can't even say that I don't probably have aspects of how I think that aren't 100 percent correct or righteous or whatever, like the things I probably still take for granted or just that small town knuckleheadedness I don't think ever leaves you really, but I feel like I owe all the 80s and early 90s rappers a tremendous debt.

And while I do enjoy reading what Deej or whoever writes about Keef or Rae Sremmurd or whoever, if I'm being honestly you can't tell me it's better now, no more than you could tell some dickhead boomer talking head in a documentary that The Beatles and The Stones aren't the apex of rock music. And fuck it I might be wrong but I don't wanna be right if that means like a lex-type eww old ppl music grody to the max mentality.

loving yr post, ups

v real

yes! ILX welcomes earnestness and sincerity when it is honestly expressed ime.

if rc was some earnest 35 year old true elements head rather than some british kid that is bent on exposing the horrors of islam and calling us out for not listening to the fugees... i'd have a lot more time for this.

thx :)

british kid that is bent on exposing the horrors of islam
^^i must've missed something

oh yea that's probably where the majority of the FPs came from

b-b-but everyone knows some of the best political rap comes from black muslims ...

haha yeah that is weird so much NOI and 5% stuff was so ingrained in a lot of what constituted "consciousness"

These are good posts but I feel like their arguments are a bit dated, if not nearly as much so as RTs. I mean, who even bags on political rap in 2015? The conscious rap backlash happened a decade ago.

well it def lost its cool factor, there was def a kind of glamor of opposition in the late 90s indie rap scene that has basically evaporated, everyone is afraid of being preachy ...

thx :)

british kid that is bent on exposing the horrors of islam
^^i must've missed something
--Wu-Tang Clannad (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

he also went on a tear about "Zionism" in the hebdo thread, iirc, it was a jamboree of multi-purpose offensive shit

I feel like while there isn't as much explicitly "political" stuff in the blatant sloganeering sense there is a good amount of poignant social commentary - tacit or direct - even in what is ostensibly goon or crime rap

xxxpost rev it's so marginalized now it barely exists to bag on

Ehh I don't really agree with that. RTJ have the most critically acclaimed rap record of the year and play theaters all over the country.

I can assure as an early teens farm kid it was not something that I knew about, the Black Panthers or Marcus Garvey or Farakhan and I still feel that it all tremendously opened my eyes to issues of race and justice in America and as a white kid introducing me to the idea that my "normal" life was not given to everyone and in fact was built in many ways on the suffering of others.

― Wu-Tang Clannad (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, January 8, 2015 5:29 PM (1 hour ago)

just wanted to add another big "fuck yes" to this

xpost rev - though isn't kinda by definition RTJ pitche a bit as a throwback to that era, & obv dudes are from a different era age wise

(though whiney insists they have a whole new fanbase of all my world of young ppl so who knows)

Their new fanbase of young ppl is the adult swim world of young ppl basically. It's not ... Cool, exactly

how is rick and morty not cool exactly

They FP'in! Aw, made you post
You a slave to a thread made by ott's ghost

the best

i was gonna start a hip hop retirement community thread actually just to talk about old shit
― Wu-Tang Clannad (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

and i loved the cormega album

ha, yeah. would def participate

Me too obvy

Altho isnt there already the random old ass rap you are digging thread

yeah but thats kinda like "random" or obscure you know. sometimes i want to just talk about kool g rap verse or rank master p albums or whatever

i feel like the focus on weird rap warbly stuff is far less on the ilm goon thread than on rap twitter, the rap internet elsewhere. there are only a handful of regulars and i think we all have pretty distinct approaches to hip-hop generally

i like m@tt's post though i remain proud of my "old ppl ewww" mentality, it is up to old ppl to improve themselves if this is to change

boomin' post UMS

Yeah, great post UMS. If RT had it within him to write something like that this thread would have been less of a clusterfuck.

anyway i'm using this as an excuse to post this mick jenkins song which i think is good

i'm still playing the album from last year a lot. if RT was a real person (or if he actually bothered to engage in the discussion he started) then i'd definitely recommend he check it out.

lex's religious devotion to capitalism's planned obsolescence is always a wonder to behold

so was RT banned? not seeing it in admin log

This guy went from 50 to 80(!!!) flagged posts in a matter of hours. You won't be seeing him for a while.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 8 January 2015 20:51 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

freedom of speech is under attack!

first they came for the racoons, and I said nothing

He actually pursued that line in the Charlie Hebdo thread, tasteful huh? (xp)

#weareallraccoontanuki

#jesuisleratonlaveur

tbf he made a lone reference to "zionist media"

I fp'd him for it nonetheless cuz really one is enough

Not just Zionist media but *our Zionist media.

(*Minaj/ Charli XCX fans I presume)

oh i gave him all kinds of FPs, all his bullshit about feminism and gays and transgenders, in addition to the hebdo thread bullshit. fuck that guy imo. the fact that there is a decent thread to be salvaged here has nothing to do with that dork and everything to do with the generosity of ILX to share interesting thoughts on shit

Tanuki-gate aside ... I identify with a lot of what UMS wrote, age and experience-wise. With the added thought that for a white kid who grew up in the '80s loving '70s punk, PE in particular was the first thing that felt like my own personal punk rock. I mean, I loved the Replacements and Husker Du and whatever, but PE was a comfort-zone challenge that those bands weren't. And then De La and Tribe and so forth were the warm fuzzy reassurance that this could be a musical space for everybody. (i.e. weirdos of all colors seemed welcome)

That said, it is hard to separate music from its time and place for some kind of better then/worse now comparison. LOTS of things were different in 1988 or 1994. One thing I like about SremmLife is that it sounds perfectly 2015 to me. (And it's certainly no sillier than Sex Packets, which I also love.)

idk why ppl were convinced he was a sock rather than a run-of-the-mill idiot but even if he was, that was the kind of sockery where someone reveals what they really feel anyway

Didn't know anything about the guy previously but his post on Hebdo thread made me fear for his mental health.

Jesus christ, I was wondering why this thread had so many replies!

What a colossal dick!

yeah I cosign m@tt's experience for the most part, although I would add that rap was something that was just around/of interest for basically as long as I can remember - from Rapper's Delight through the Def Jam era to Boyz n the Hood, and when the "golden era" hit it was just this crazy opening up of black voices, narratives, ideas, histories for me, it was like a very sudden expansion. A natural extension that coincided with my own growing up. It was a gateway thing, which, in the pre-internet era was pretty amazing. There's no point in trying to replicate or reproduce that unique set of circumstances, but I have a fondness for it, it def changed how I thought about and heard things.

xp

idk why ppl were convinced he was a sock rather than a run-of-the-mill idiot but even if he was, that was the kind of sockery where someone reveals what they really feel anyway

― lex pretend, Friday, January 9, 2015 12:47 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

my understanding is that RT pulled down over 80FPs so the system works.

Just some dumb british "real hip hop" kid. It's unlikely he's even listened to likes Future/Chief Keef/Young Thug/Migos to even have the ability to comprehend the sociopolitical statements their music makes without the overt lame 5th grade Dead Prez crap, let alone be able to anyway being a Brit.

hi

http://redwedgemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IRA1.jpg

god loves a tryer

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140416021517/simpsons/images/5/5e/Snrub.jpg

when the "golden era" hit it was just this crazy opening up of black voices, narratives, ideas, histories for me, it was like a very sudden expansion

Yeah, totally. And -- contra the thread title -- it wasn't just about the political stuff, it was Rob Base and LL and Tone Loc and Salt n Pepa and New Jack Swing, just a whole vibrant world of hip-hop.

m@tt otm, for me it was 'fear of a black planet' and then 'death certificate' and 'the predator'. really eye-opening, especially considering those were never played on radio around me out in the sticks and everyone i know who listened to hip-hop was mostly into the beastie boys. and 3rd bass for some reason. i remember listening to 'death certificate' on headphones in my room and feeling like i was listening to the greatest shit i'd ever heard. more intense for me than any punk album i'd heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=161ZRrJZESA

Uncle Killjoy Chuck D calls out Kanye, Jay-Z over really fun 'Otis' lyrics

http://thegrio.com/2011/08/05/chuck-d-calls-out-kanye-jay-z-over-otis-lyrics/

I did have some weird geographic proximity being in the LA 'burbs. Which were totally white (and asian) so I found it kinda mind-boggling that Above the Law were just a few miles away from me in Pomona. I had been through South Central, I knew where Crenshaw Blvd was. (My dad once took the family to visit the Watts Towers, the significance of which did not register with me until much later). Girls would dance to Tone Loc's Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina and JJ Fad on the jukebox in the high school cafeteria. So hip hop culture wasn't totally an abstraction to me, it was just this thing that was a few towns away, and now here was a whole rich body of work cracking the door on what it was like over there.

xp

""When the '90s were coming in, a whole bunch of different things were happening in society that rap music was answering to, which showed itself as being a diverse art form," he recalled. "Therefore, the threat of black people having something to say, with their large vocabularies through rap music, was something that kind of threw the media on its side for a minute. So I saw this coming."

As a result, the culture lost more than it gained, Chuck D contends.

"Because you see a few people make financial gains, [that] doesn't mean that the entire movement and people were catapulting forward," he said. "That's what I saw at the end of the '90s-somebody was defining us before we could define ourselves."

Rappers, Chuck D added, began to do anything for money, such as glorifying drug dealing.

"People started giving drug dealers props. I've seen neighborhoods wiped out by drug dealers for like a 15- to 20-year period. It's very easy to take advantage of black people because it's been done for 300 years, and we've learned to love the abuse."

Not just Zionist media but *our Zionist media.

(*Minaj/ Charli XCX fans I presume)

― The World's Strangest Man 2014 (Tom D.), Friday, January 9, 2015 12:44 PM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Je Suis Charli

hi who is this mysterious new poster

mods if you need to block all UK IP addresses just to keep this buffoon out i say it's worth the hit

next week:

Count Crania KO has been banned permanently.

That's probably the most see-through anagram ever.

slugs for newt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP1vuiWgGNc

Anagrams for: Raccoon Tanuki

Thought of the Moment

Assassination: The extreme form of censorship. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950)
Try advanced options to fine-tune these anagram results.

2804 found. Displaying first 1000:
Cocain Outrank
Continua Croak
A Cocoanut Rink
A Continua Rock
A Continua Cork
A Cation Uncork
A Action Uncork
A Croak Unction
A Outrank Conic
Cacao Oink Runt
Cacao Oink Turn
Cacao Ikon Runt
Cacao Ikon Turn
Cacao Rink Unto
Cacao Ion Trunk
Cacao Ruin Knot
Ocarina Tuck On
Ocarina Tuck No
Crania Conk Out
Crania Cook Nut
Crania Cook Tun
Crania Cut Nook
Croatia Conk Nu
Aria Conk Count
Atria Cock Noun
Tiara Cock Noun
Anorak Icon Cut
Anorak Coin Cut
Aura Conic Knot
Aura Tonic Conk
Cocain Nark Out
Cocain Rank Out
Cocain Tank Our
Cocain Oak Runt
Cocain Oak Turn
Cocain Okra Nut
Cocain Okra Tun
Cocain Ark Unto
Cocain Kraut On
Cocain Kraut No
Cocain Auk Torn
Narcotic Oak Nu
Narcotic Auk On
Narcotic Auk No
Circa Aunt Nook
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Arctic Oak Noun
Arctic Auk Noon
Cacti Okra Noun
Crack Anion Out
Crack Iota Noun
Crack Oat Union
Crack Tau Onion
Raccoon Auk Tin
Raccoon Auk Nit
Raccoon Tau Ink
Raccoon Tau Kin
Cocoanut Nark I
Cocoanut Rank I
Cocoanut Ark In
Cocoanut An Irk
Account Akin Or
Account Krona I
Account Okra In
Account Ark Ion
Account Oar Ink
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Coca Troika Nun
Coca Krona Unit
Coca Outrank In
Coca Kart Union
Coca Outran Ink
Coca Outran Kin
Cocoa Akin Runt
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Cocoa Ani Trunk
Cocoa Nark Unit
Cocoa Rank Unit
Cocoa Tank Ruin
Cocoa Kraut Inn
Cocoa Aunt Rink
Cocoa Tuna Rink

serious nonstop lolz at "arctic noon auk", gj whoever is playing this hand

Thought of the Moment

Assassination: The extreme form of censorship. -George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950)
Try advanced options to fine-tune these anagram results.

woof don't know where that came from when c&ping

not a UK narcotic

also, great img crut

pretty sure Cocoa Rank Unit put a couple of 12 inches out on Greensleeves in the late 80s

oh wait stray T xps to me

mods if you need to block all UK IP addresses just to keep this buffoon out i say it's worth the hit

― Gombeen Dance Band (Noodle Vague), Friday, January 9, 2015 12:39 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the nuki-lear option

cocaine okra nut, very good example of the decline of conscious hip hop, just a southern goon rapper who raps about crack and soul food iirc

when we start the revolution all they probably do is snitch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeuI56OPlbg