Political hip hop
Stylistic origins	Hip hop, politics, protest songs
Cultural origins	1980's
Derivative forms	Conscious hip hop
Other topics
List of political hip hop artists

Political hip hop (also political rap) is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed in the 1980s. Inspired by 1970s political preachers such as The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy were the first political hip hop group.^[1] Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released the first well-known sociopolitical rap song in 1982 called "The Message", which inspired numerous rappers to address social and political subjects.^[2]

Explicitly political hip hop is related to but distinct from conscious hip hop because it refers to artists who have strong and overt political affiliations and agendas, as opposed to the more generalized social commentary typical of conscious hip hop. It can also be used to include political artists of all ideological stripes, whereas the term conscious hip hop generally implies a broadly leftist affiliation^[3] or outlook.

There are hundreds of artists whose music could be described as "political": see the List of political hip hop artists page for a partial list.

Contents 1 Black Nationalist Hip Hop 2 Marxist Hip Hop 3 Anarchist Hip Hop 4 Socialism in Hip Hop 5 Other Political Hip Hop 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Black Nationalist Hip Hop

Black nationalism was one of the driving ideologies behind the militant wing of the North American civil rights movement in the 1970s and early 1980s. It played a major role in early political hip hop and continues to be a major animating force for many contemporary political hip hop artists. Prominent Black Nationalist artists include Tupac Shakur, Public Enemy, Paris, and many others.

[edit] Marxist Hip Hop

Marxism has long been a major animating force in social movements worldwide and is no less so in Hip Hop. Without a doubt the two most overtly Marxist groups in the english language have been Marxman and The Coup. Both groups also incorporate(d) Revolutionary Nationalism into their message, Irish Republicanism for Marxman and Black Nationalism for the Coup. For these artists, as with Marxism in general, class struggle and anti-imperialism are major recurring themes.

[edit] Anarchist Hip Hop

Anarchism has been a major motivating ideology for popular movements around the globe for over a century and is just as relevant in Hip Hop culture. Like Marxist hip hop, class struggle and anti-imperialism are major themes in anarchist hip hop music along with Anti-parliamentarianism and a strong emphasis on intersectionality and the connections between different movements. The need for community-level grassroots organization and opposition to political hierarchy and illegitimate authority are also common themes. Unlike Marxist acts, several of which have been signed to major labels, anarchists artists have generally followed a DIY ethos which has led them to remain independent.

Prominent Anarchist hip hop artists include: Emcee Lynx, Comrade Malone^[4], Direct Raption, Anarchist Academy, Captain Moonlight, and Entartete Kunst. ^[5]

[edit] Socialism in Hip Hop

Many other artists object to Capitalism in general but prefer not to explicitly identify with either Marxism or Anarchism and instead advocate various other forms of Socialism. The most prominent hip hop acts that describe their politics as "socialist" are Dead Prez, Blue Scholars, and Sun Rise Above. Immortal Technique identifies himself as a socialist and supports Castro and Leninism. Looptroop Rockers is an anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist hip-hop project from Sweden.

[edit] Other Political Hip Hop

Other political hip hop artists advocate a wide range of positions, and often disagree with one another, as can be expected from an extremely diverse global scene. Zionist hip hop acts like Golan and Subliminal^[6], and Palestinian nationalists like the Iron Sheik ^[7] have obvious fundamental disagreements about a wide range of issues, but both use hip hop music and culture as a vehicle to express themselves and spread their ideas. As hip hop becomes increasingly widespread, artists from many different countries and backgrounds are using it to express many different positions, among them political ones. The nature of hip-hop (as with much music) as an opposing force to the establishment lends itself to such a use.^[8]

[edit] References

1. ^ Political Rap. Allmusic. Accessed July 2, 2008.
2. ^ Bogdanov et al. 2003, p. 563
3. ^ How Conscious Hip Hop Failed Us by Davey D. [1]
4. ^ Comrade Malone signs to Kemet Entertainment Records [2]
5. ^ RapAnarchists.net [3]
6. ^ A Zionist Hip-Hop Stance Comes to Lollapalooza [4]
7. ^ Iron Shiek - Palestinian Arab American Hip-Hop
8. ^ Forman, Murray; Mark Anthony Neal (2004). That's the Joint!: The Hip-hop Studies Reader. Routledge. p. 7. ISBN 0415969190. 

• Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas; Bush, John (2003). The Definitive Guide to Rap & Hip-Hop. Backbeat Books, ISBN 0879307595.

[edit] External links

• Revolutionary Hip Hop [5]
• Anarchist Hip Hop [6]