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Conscious hip hop

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Conscious hip hop

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Conscious hip hop or socially conscious hip-hop is a sub-genre of Wikipedia:hip hop that focuses on Wikipedia:social issues. It is not necessarily overtly political, but it discusses social issues and conflicts. Themes of conscious hip hop include religion (WP), aversion to violence (WP), culture, the Wikipedia:economy, or simple depictions the struggles of ordinary people. Wikipedia:Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" was an early and hugely influential political and conscious hip hop track, decrying the poverty, violence, and dead-end lives of the black youth of the time.

The audience for conscious rap is largely underground.[1] Most conscious hip hop artists have not attained the same level of commercial success as mainstream hip-hop [2], though there are some notable exceptions to this such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Common.

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Like many cases within music, the umbrella term was originally coined by music audiences and critics rather than the actual artists themselves and has produced considerable backlash in regards to the labeling. Some of the most prominent artists[weasel words] affiliated with the term have been openly critical of the labeling. Rap artist Wikipedia:Mos Def once stated:

"They've got their little categories, like 'conscious' and 'gangsta'. It used to be a thing where hip-hop was all together. Fresh Prince would be on tour with Wikipedia:N.W.A. It wasn't like, 'You have got to like me in order for me to like you.' That's just some more white folks trying to think that all niggas are alike, and now it's expanded. It used to be one type of nigga; now it's two. There is so much more dimension to who we are. A monolith is a monolith, even if there's two monoliths to choose from. I ain't mad at Snoop. I'm not mad at Wikipedia:Master P. I ain't mad at the Wikipedia:Hot Boys. I'm mad when that's all I see. I would be mad if I looked up and all I saw on TV was me or Common or Wikipedia:The Roots, because I know that ain't the whole deal. The real joy is when you can kick it with everyone. That's what hip-hop is all about. ... They keep trying to slip the 'conscious rapper' thing on me. I come from Roosevelt Projects, man. The ghetto. I drank the same sugar water, ate hard candy. And they try to get me because I'm supposed to be more articulate, I'm supposed to be not like the other Negroes, to get me to say something against my brothers. I'm not going out like that, man."[3]

Similarly, Wikipedia:Talib Kweli confirmed in a recent interview with VIBE magazine that the title of his next album will be Prisoner of Consciousness, a reference to his constant labeling as a "conscious rapper". Wikipedia:Tupac Shakur has several distinctly Conscious Hip Hop songs like "Changes" or "Shed So Many Tears".

See Also[edit]


References[edit]

  1. Thompson, Amanda. Gender in Hip Hop: A Research Study. (PDF) Humboldt State University. URL accessed on 2006-06-09.
  2. Brown, Roxanne L. Todd Boyd’s Lessons on the Rise of Hip Hop: Move Civil Rights and Historical Context Out of the Way. (PDF) The Center for Black Diaspora. URL accessed on 2006-06-09.
  3. ( misnomer:Conscious Hip Hop vs Gangsta Rap?.

External links[edit]

Template:hiphopCategories:Articles nominated for deletion on Wikipedia (AfD)