What happened to socially/politically concious rappers

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

i'd eat a gang of ruth chris right now tbh if someone else was buying

uh you guys are missing the garth brooks breakfast bowl joke in SG's post yo

charl1e w3is, while signed to a multimillion dollar football coaching contract at ND, would eat mcdonald's with his son at the dinner table while the rest of the family ate a more traditional home cooked meal.

he would also order that his Jimmy John's subs have both breads buttered

http://www.redbookmag.com/food-recipes/recipes/a6012/trisha-yearwood-recipes/

Jimmy John is an incredible name btw

tbf i do kind of think there is a generational thing going on. i grew up in a white midwestern upper class suburb, all the white kids i knew growing up were HUGE into hip hop. they loved classic gangsta rap and were really into the late 90s early 00s pop rap like diddy and ja rule. they are all republicans now, like their parents, and they are lawyers and bankers and shit but they still love rap and hate country.

― marcos, Monday, January 12, 2015 1:19 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

marcos - i don't think it's generational, there are always ppl who liked rap and like country or vice versa, but it's just more mainstream now than it was (country)

― Wu-Tang Clannad (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, January 12, 2015 1:25 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea that's totally true. and when all those dudes i know get married, the "first dance" songs are all modern country-pop ballads lol

there are mcmansions filled with ppl

this is a horrifying mental image

when all those dudes i know get married, the "first dance" songs are all modern country-pop ballads lol

― marcos, Monday, January 12, 2015 1:32 PM (0 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and then everybody gets down to snoop & dre "the next episode" lol

i danced to garth's 'The River' at my wedding and cried a little

mostly because it's not on spotify, though

lol

i'd love to read more about country's profile in europe, in the english speaking world and out. i know it's big in ireland. and australia.

there are mcmansions filled with ppl that make way more than you and i ever will who eat at chain restaurants and shit all the time

― Wu-Tang Clannad (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, January 12, 2015 1:25 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's true the chain restaurants do make you shit more than normal

good thing they have 4.5 bathrooms in that mcmansion

the .5 is whatever room you were in when the other 4 were occupied.

classic realtor scam

the misrepresentation of shitting options in property listings is the untold horror story of the housing market collapse

i know OLD country music has always been pretty popular in Germany, but i don't know about new country pop stuff. they've always been big fans of rockabilly/hillbilly/square dance/50's american stuff there. but that's probably older people too. i doubt young german people give a shit about any of that.

tbf i do kind of think there is a generational thing going on. i grew up in a white midwestern upper class suburb, all the white kids i knew growing up were HUGE into hip hop. they loved classic gangsta rap and were really into the late 90s early 00s pop rap like diddy and ja rule. they are all republicans now, like their parents, and they are lawyers and bankers and shit but they still love rap and hate country.

This is so sad, and if you live and work anywhere outside of some sheltered hipster ghetto, you've probably been exposed to it.

Which is why we should remember when we make our little playlists or our blog posts or whatever, that music these days is something we take to work, the boundaries between work and home life or private life are not as clear as they were when we were kids.

I make a point of working and living in diverse and socially conscious environments, as such, I have to think about what music I am going to take to the office, or what I will play around my neighbors.

It is really important to me that I not send the message that I don't care about someone's community and culture and history. Which is why I'm careful about what hip-hop and r & b I invest my dollars and time into.I'm not going to listen to any old thing "because it's rap."

http://i0.wp.com/www.runwalkrepeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Hill-Street-Blues-Lets-Be-Careful.jpg

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2015/01/young-jeezy-black-lives-matter.php

C/Ping for RT:

Writer Kris Ex told me he believes diminished record sales and hip-hop's changing financial model require many rappers to rely heavily on corporate endorsements, providing a disincentive to rock the boat.

i think starting a new thread to post youtubes for contemporary "socially/politically conscious" hip hop is not a bad idea but since this one's here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dx1gMTn7DQ

Can someone reinstate RT? It was much more entertaining watching him flail around with his never ending stream of challops.

NO.

ppl on my facebook feed seem to like prince ea a lot but his raps make me barf

^^ ya this is like, really bad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ

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

https://twitter.com/noz/status/556740184717287425

well yes

RT where do you live in the UK?

― out here like a flopson (tpp), Thursday, January 8, 2015 1:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Realhiphopshire

― Οὖτις, Thursday, January 8, 2015 1:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this thread still makes me laugh uncontrollably and I practically have it memorized by now

I hear there are certain neighborhoods in Realhiphopshire that are now No-Go Zones for herbs

one year passes...
RT where do you live in the UK?

― out here like a flopson (tpp), Thursday, January 8, 2015 1:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Realhiphopshire

― Οὖτις, Thursday, January 8, 2015 1:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― Neanderthal, Tuesday, June 28, 2016 1:27 AM bookmarkflaglink

great revive of a great revive

ffss

::DD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxCr2bAhwCU