When one thinks of Revolutionary Hip Hop they usually think of artist who are politically active. But in reality not only are they trying to reform the government and the "hood" itself but they are trying to bring back the old Hip Hop. They see the music industry as a corrupted industry where they say what sells and what doesn't. In the music industries attempt to sell more records, they try to portray this lifestyle where drugs, girls, and money is "Success."

My blog is an attempt to shed some light on what some revolutionary artists feel towards the lifestyle depicted in modern day hip hop

"Don't Talk About It, Be About It"

The reason that political activism within the Hip Hop community interested me, was because these artists who choose to rap about the government, public education, police mistreatment, and injustices across the country are choosing to speak up for a community of people who's voice traditionally has not counted. They use their fame as a step stool to let their voices be heard, and they use hip hop as the avenue in which to reach their audience. Listeners know they're getting the hip hop music they love by talented artists, but there also being inundated with political information, urges to vote, and critiques on our nations policies and politicians.

My blog attempts to highlight some individual instances of political activism by some well known revolutionary artists, particularly Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Mos Def, Common, Immortal Technique, and more.

Anti-Violence

The main stance held by revolutionary hip-hop artists towards violence is against what the mainstream artists are rapping about. They care about young children learning violence while most of the mainstream rappers songs are made up or exaggerations on events in their own lives. Many political songs include lyrics promoting standing up to the police or government. This juxtaposition is shown in a song by Dead Prez called Cop Shot:

"The only good cop is a dead cop
Police brutality must come to a stop"

While they call for an end to the violence towards each other, revolutionary hip-hop artists also call for standing up for rights and standing against the police or the government holding people back.

Again artists such as Public Enemy, Dead Prez, KRS-One and Common are among the list of artists who focus on this topic as well as others researched by our group.

Check out more on my blog.

-Carol

After extensive individual research on the breadth of hip hop as a musical genre, we decided as a group to further investigate some sub elements. Revolutionary hip hop and the artists who create it are a vital element of the evolution of hip hop. We found that artists such as Public Enemy, KRS-One, Dead Prez, Common, MC Lyte, Mos Def, Queen Latifa, Da Brat, and Missy Elliot have challenged the commonly accepted standards of hip hop and have created opportunities for artists to come. Individually we focused on four different answers to the question: what does it mean to be a revolutionary hip hop artist? These musicians are considered revolutionaries because they question and stand up against politics, sexism, violence, drug use, and the established standards of hip hop beats and lyrics. Revolutionary artists have always existed and have evolved themselves throughout the course of hip hop history.

Through our individual blogs we investigate these elements. While they are separate, they do include similar ideas and can all be related to one another. We encourage examining each individual blog as distinctive and essential ingredients in revolutionary hip hop.