POLITICAL RAP: A FORM OF BLACK POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN AN ERA OF MODERN PROTEST

Political rap is an art form used as a form of political protest to dismantle oppressive practices within the American government. Hip-hop is a movement rooted in political power that addresses various social justice issues within the Black community, ranging from mass incarceration to police brutality. Pioneers of Political Rap insist on publicly deconstructing injustice to empower Black youth to understand their position in society is not determined by government structures. This paper encompasses Political Rap as a form of symbolic protest through its non-violent, public, and deliberate commentary on American law and social practices to  educate the social sphere on current injustices not known to the public. This paper discusses each generation of Political Rap ranging from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s; each period will focus on Political Rap’s protesting implemented laws that culminate as social injustices. The 1970s explores the Black Power movement and Political Rap’s introduction, the1980s and the golden age of hip-hop, the 1990s and the prison industrial complex, the 2000s, the effects capitalism has on rap music, and the 2010s and the Black Lives Matter movement. The final study concludes Political Rap’s connection to Black activities through evidence referenced in Christopher J. Lebron’s The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea(2017), S. Craig Watson’s Hip-Hop Matters(2005), Jeffery O.G. Ogbar’s Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap(2007), Bakari Kitwana’s The Hip-Hop Generation (2002), and a culmination of peer-reviewed works. Black Americans have created their political sphere by using conscious rap to call attention to anti-racism and anti-poverty by exploring artists like Public Enemy, N.W.A., Ice Cube, and Kendrick Lamar. Overall, the study examines how conscious rap made a difference for the Black community throughout the decades.