Historically hip-hop has always brought attention to the social injustice. Whether it was Public Enemy with “911 Is A Joke” pointing out the disparity between emergency assistance in the inner city compared to white neighborhoods to Mos Def’s posse cut “One Four Love Pt. 1″ in response to police brutality in NYC in the wake of them killing unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo. The message has not been lost and hip-hop has covered it. However, its beginning to feel with every inner city tragedy we almost expect rappers to initiate the dialog like we’re looking for a rally lead by Al Sharpton? No disrespect to the good reverend, but what actual change would that bring about? The story gets some media coverage, people march and it stays in the conscious of the public for a few days and then what? Out of sight, out of mind. People’s memories are fleeting. If poignant, emcees can only convey the truth or a message. It’s still up to the community to address those ills and put forth action needed to facilitate real change.

Just because hip-hop is proclaimed “the voice of the streets,” why is the expectation placed on the genre to always speak out? I don’t hear this when referring to any other genre but hip-hop. I’m still saddened by the recent killing of Derrion Albert in Chicago. An unfortunate victim to gang violence who was beaten to death caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs. The story really made me think about how bad the violence and increasing murder rates are in Chicago. It also made me think about hip-hop and its connection to the inner city when tragedies like this occur. The media seems to perpetuate this notion that rappers should always speak up and denounce the violence – which makes some sense to me. However, shouldn’t the people in the community who are directly affected by the violence also take a stand in that process? Where are the community leaders in all this? I’ve read the Open Letter By Nas and the insightful blog by Killer Mike, but honestly they don’t live in those communities. Best believe it takes a village to raise a child and the children in that community are neglected by an environment that fails to keep them safe.

The other reason why I think hip-hop takes the center stage on these situations is because hip-hop music is all encompassing: conscious, violent, misogynistic, unapologetic and uplifting all in same breath. In an effort to try ridicule the music the media points a finger: “well hip-hop music glorifies violence,” as if TV, movies or video games do not? Hip-hop is not on some witness stand and the news media is not in any position to play prosecution in these matters. The same news media condemning hip-hop for less than wholesome family values will sensationalize stories pertaining to sex, drugs and violence for better ratings; i.e. FoxNews tactics. These issues were here way before hip-hop so playing that card ignores the real problem. But as I said earlier, hip-hop has always spoken out on the everyday injustices in some fashion whether implicitly or explicitly. The message in the music is not time sensitive or lost on artists whether it’s Immortal Technique, Dead Prez or Nas.

However, this still doesn’t change the fact that these tragedies continue to happen and the good are dying young and mostly over bullshit. Accountability still falls on the shoulders of the parents and adults in communities to fight for that change. Whether it’s getting more money for social outreach programs, more law enforcement or teaching conflict resolution in school -  they have to integrate those changes. I definitely see some scenarios where hip-hop artists could lend their influence to come speak to the kids in these communities. Incorporating them to spread the message, setup workshops and mentoring programs all would prove valuable. I believe hip-hop has an incredible reach but it can’t help you raise a child or take action to better your environment. These are individual choices we all have to make as people. Hip Hop will simply amaze you, craze you, pay you do whatever you say do but black, it can’t save you © Mos Def

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Column, Food for Thought. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.