ieas for my article on class struggle and hip hop

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
the croydonian ...
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Oct 10 2011 15:59
ieas for my article on class struggle and hip hop

Right, so for my next article I'm going to be doing something about class struggle, hip hop and the compatibility. I just wanted to share some ideas that I have got so far and open it up for discussion.

So in my intro I think I might do some name dropping of some songs and artists. I think I will talk about them chronologically and in terms of country. So at the moment I might start with mentioning...

1. KRS 1 - sound of the police,

2. Public Enemy - fight the power (might mention the video is set in a mocked up street demo) and rebel without a pause

3. NWA - fuck the police

Then for the more modern American stuff...

1. Immortal Technique, the only overtly revolutionary emcees I'm going to mention, who has did a song of him just giving a speech over a beat which mentions class directly. The only thing that detracts from it is that he talks about voting for some one who truly represents the proletariat, which of course we don't think is possible.

2. Nas - sly fox (comparable to Noam Chomsky's analysis of the media perhaps)

3. Dead Prez - politrikks

With regards to the UK, here's some I listed whilst brainstorming

1. Phi Life Cypher - fatcats, which mentions NHS cuts and general localized struggle which I think is easily comparable to class struggle and local, relevant issues which I think people can really relate to at the moment.

2. Skinnyman - council estate of mind (the whole album, not just the title track), which could be useful as an example of hip hop talking about working class demonetization and alienation

3. Lowkey (this guy is one of my favorite emcees at the moment), he has released A LOT of political tracks like Obama Nation (the 2nd part also demonstrates how politics has gotten into grime as well, as black the ripper features), Long Live Palestine, Terrorist (this could be seen as a commentary on how our human rights are being curbed in the bid to stop terrorism) etc. He also explicitly says "I'm an anarchist" in his song Alphabet Assassin, which I hope wasn't just stuck in there to make it rhyme.

I plan to mention these artists and songs in the beginning and mostly in passing. BUT, so far, I think my best bet might be to specifically talk about the Immortal Technique song poverty of philosophy because it is the most clear out of all the songs I mentioned. I also plan to draw a lot from the Hip Hop Declaration of Peace, which KRS, a forefather of hip hop, engineered in part for evidence as well. Its like a manifesto of hip hop.

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tastybrain
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Oct 10 2011 17:20

This song is totally about alienation under capitalism.

"Is this the model of life you were envisionin'? free as can be in the world of imprisonment/
I dare you to check new territory/American dream? time for another story....
reality in this world is bought and sold/ a very limited scope of life is showed"

And of course the part at the end, "hard workin broke and tired...can't get ahead no matter what you do", etc.

The workplace as a modern day plantation; "mad cause I sacrifice my day and it gets me/ a triflin hourly wage of $6.50" "Laborin' real hard hopin the boss offers/more petty cash to us bums and pauper" "Maybe I should jump up and get ill/maybe I should let these people know they gettin killed" "Dead boss/somebody call Red Cross" laugh out loud "we all are being murdered by a similar process/whether you work at the candy store or slave at the office/they misinform our minds to paint a picture of harmony/but if you listen you'll know that shit's outta tune/the function of our life is just to work and consume"

Pretty much all of Lif's work has class themes. He has a song about how no one respects you when you're broke, and another about nuclear war destroying the earth because of the evil of the ruling class.

This one is a bit more abstract, but I think it still fits with the theme of class struggle and how the poor black "underclass" is forced into criminal activity. around 3:37:

"Cats gotta eat, swallow beef horribly
Melanin, mahogany, black boys feed face arachnoid
Eight arms working short circuit manufactured, crack melted
Slinging shot guns through the mouth of cracked helmets, black felt it
Cats who pop flows shot heavy through the nostril
Brain sizzle, grab the pistol and get hostile
He caught you alone fuse blown
Unemployed screaming "That's why I robbed you!"
Tired of the Medicaid, debted by the car
No containers filled with lemonade, "You better get a job!"
Mother talked, just another hawk
He nearly ate at bodega food stamp transaction
Left me in corners, buckled me accompanied by evil hands clapping"

Of course The Coup is overtly revolutionary. "Mr. Pistol Grip Pump meet Mr. Rockafeller/We fin to take him out, do him like Old Yeller/Its been too damn long, his profits aint bin mutual/thats why today it aint business as usual" "I choose to rock tha bout, instead of rock tha boat/we threw the Mayor's body in the bay to see if it would sink or float/you try to be the mack to me you can't we got agility/ we takin factories, production plants, and all facilities"

Lil B...usually he just talks a bunch of shit, but in this song he gets political. At 3:45: "Why in school they don't teach about the taxes/in the real world its all about the taxes/all about TV and livin above average/where the fuck you stayin'/all about your status/ what the fuck you drive to the size of ya mattress/ how big ya chain and the girls that you smashin'/how much you work plus the time you you relaxin/time spent in jail and on the streets savage/mixed with the robbers, the stress and the addicts/mixed with the greed and the guns and the havoc/mixed with the weed and the pills and the acid/killin off my people and the media is laughin/ learned about the past but the present is what's happenin/probation slavery, pissin for the master/the cops is the gang and they really beat yo ass/ and the courts is the mob and its ran by the cash

Even Big L, who is incredibly antisocial, talks about class. At about 1:00: "My moms told me to get a job fuck that/a yo, picture me getting a job, takin orders from Bob, sellin corn on the cob/ yo how the hell I gonna make ends meet/ making about $120 a week/man I'd rather do another hit/I want clean clothes, mean hos and all that other shit"

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tastybrain
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Oct 10 2011 17:52

Of course, there's this:

There's also this.

Not really about class struggle but Styles P talks about money being evil which is pretty rare for modern rap. At 2:59 "Money you the root of evil/how they print 'In God We Trust' knowin what you do to people?/But I'm a hard felon/So I grabbed two stack dirty and bloody cause I heard my car yellin"

And of course C.R.E.A.M., which I think has been massively misinterpreted. It's not about how "cash rules everything around me" is a good thing, it's a bad thing that controls people's lives.

At 1:45:
"A man with a dream with plans to make cream/ that failed, I went to jail at fifteen/a young buck sellin drugs and such tryin to get a clutch of what I could not touch/The court played me short, now I face incarceration/face it -- going upstate's my destination/handcuffed in back of a bus, forty of us/life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough/ but as the world turns I learned life is hell/livin' in the world no different from a cell"

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Chilli Sauce's picture
Chilli Sauce
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Oct 10 2011 18:10

Coup - 500 ways to kill a CEO

Also, I'm sure you can get an interview with Comrade Malone. There's already one on libcom, but PM me if you want to be put in contact.

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wojtek
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Oct 10 2011 23:58

Comrade Malone has a track called 'Breaking News' about the media and most of his album's on youtube.

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the croydonian ... wrote:
Lowkey (this guy is one of my favorite emcees at the moment), he has released A LOT of political tracks like Obama Nation (the 2nd part also demonstrates how politics has gotten into grime as well, as black the ripper features), Long Live Palestine, Terrorist (this could be seen as a commentary on how our human rights are being curbed in the bid to stop terrorism) etc. He also explicitly says "I'm an anarchist" in his song Alphabet Assassin

I don't think an anarchist would say that, plus Lowkey hangs around with Counterfire*, so he's probably a trotskyist or something.

*well he spoke at one of their conferences anyway

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Chilli Sauce's picture
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Oct 10 2011 19:11

There's also that American hip hop artist Emcee Lynx who's explicitly anarchist (although, tbh, I've never been a fan of his stuff).

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
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Oct 10 2011 20:24

@tastybrain I do remember hearing mr lif ages ago briefly on spotify and I quickly moved on. I might revisit him, as he sounds good from those two songs. Also, I would still maintain you could not see c.r.e.a.m in a class struggle way.

@wojtek If Lowkey turns out to be a trot I will cry. No, but seriously, who is counterstrike ?

@chilli sauce I just listened to emcee lynx, he is god awful. And about interviewing comrade malone, I don't know. As much as I would love to give him the exposure he probably deserves, I don't want to just give him the same interview he got with libcom, which I would probably be doing. It depends how much words I am going for. I was originally going to class this as analysis/history/theory, which would give me 800 words by Freedoms guidelines. But if I would be getting an interview with comrade malone as well, maybe I could go for a 1500 word feature ? Perhaps I could do the interview separately and ask for it to be put in the news arts section.

I have got to sort out how I want to structure this. I was originally just going to make reference to the songs in passing but now I'm thinking about maybe I could structure it around using the songs/hip hop declaration of peace as evidence, and using it as the main body of my essay. What would you guys advise ?

By the way, as much as I appreciate the recommendations of songs to listen to, I think I have got a fair bunch now actually. The deadline is later this week so I want to begin writing as soon as I can rather than finding all these songs only to have to pick a select bunch and write the article in a day.

And on another note, as well as being a drummer, I am also an emcee. I do my drumming and listen to metal etc far more often than I do writing lyrics and listening to hip hop nowadays to be honest. But I have got my mother of all political songs, so I don't have to intersperse my random political references points into other songs anymore, pretty much written. Maybe I could submit that to the arts section ? Would you guys be interested in me copying and pasting the lyrics ?

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Chilli Sauce's picture
Chilli Sauce
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Oct 10 2011 20:55
Quote:
@chilli sauce I just listened to emcee lynx, he is god awful. And about interviewing comrade malone, I don't know. As much as I would love to give him the exposure he probably deserves, I don't want to just give him the same interview he got with libcom, which I would probably be doing. It depends how much words I am going for. I was originally going to class this as analysis/history/theory, which would give me 800 words by Freedoms guidelines. But if I would be getting an interview with comrade malone as well, maybe I could go for a 1500 word feature ? Perhaps I could do the interview separately and ask for it to be put in the news arts section.

FWIW, I know his politics have developed/matured considerably since that last interview, so it'd probably be good to have something more recent from him. I've also heard an rumour about new tracks....

Also, I can try to dig up my partner's dissertation ("Misogyny and Socially Conscious Hip-Hop") if you think it'd be helpful. No worries if not, but PM me if you're interested.

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
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Oct 10 2011 21:11

I'm not interested in the dissertation, but thanks anyway.

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wojtek
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Oct 11 2011 01:54
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the croydonian ...
No, but seriously, who is counterstrike ?

Counterfire are a SWP split group.

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And on another note, as well as being a drummer, I am also an emcee

Can we hear some? Pwitty pwease?

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Arbeiten's picture
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Oct 11 2011 00:18

yeah Lowkey is aight. I don't think he is personally a trot, he is just 'anti-imperialism' (anti the the wars in the middle east if you will) and the trots love that so they are naturally inclined to his direction. I think his music is quite good, but yeah, interesting company to keep to say the least

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Anarchia's picture
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Oct 11 2011 01:44

There's a doco called HipHop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes which is prob worth watching before you write this, if you haven't already seen it. Could be some stuff in there you'll find useful.

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tastybrain
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Oct 11 2011 02:08
the croydonian anarchist wrote:
@tastybrain I do remember hearing mr lif ages ago briefly on spotify and I quickly moved on. I might revisit him, as he sounds good from those two songs. Also, I would still maintain you could not see c.r.e.a.m in a class struggle way.

Well, maybe not "class struggle". Wu Tang are certainly no communists. But class is certainly a theme, "a young buck who never had much", etc. None of these people are pro-revolutionaries to my knowledge, except Mr. Lif, The Coup, and Keny Arkana. But even in non-political rap, class comes across as a major theme.

Good luck with you paper btw.

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Chilli Sauce's picture
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Oct 11 2011 06:37
Quote:
But even in non-political rap, class comes across as a major theme.

That's a really interesting paper in itself.

Also Mr. Lif is the shit!

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
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Oct 11 2011 08:17
wojtek wrote:
Quote:
the croydonian ...
No, but seriously, who is counterstrike ?

Counterfire are a SWP split group.

Quote:
And on another note, as well as being a drummer, I am also an emcee

Can we hear some? Pwitty pwease?

Whoops typo. I just had a quick look at the home page and it looked fairly alright, until I went to the theory section and it talked about the anniversary of Lenin and Trotsky books. That might not necessarily mean that they are Leninist's or trots, or does it ?

And here is some tracks, miserable cunt is the most recent decent one. I will post the lyrics to my political song in a separate post now.

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
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Oct 11 2011 08:26

Yo Im an anarchist, crazy hippy evangelist
only a kid so its scandolous
artists of the struggle are vandalists
taggin a name or a circled A on walls
out reach tools, to teach the fools, we make our own rules
there will be no laws against spirit molecules
aint seduced my jewels, we dont value consumerism
gotta break out like colors from pink floyds prism
seperatin sixfold schism, hexagonal lyricism

sexism is a problem thats teething, im seethin
and Im truly believin that patriachy's a heathen,
but there is more to this demon than a glass ceilin
splattered sprayed and made with souls and semen

coz within the struggle, some dont think the genders are equal
fuck that, we gotta unite and show them the power of people
we all workers at the end of things, gotta have solidarity,
fuck fake divisions, fake polarity and reality

lets strike, lets march, like on the 26th
direct action beat them to within a single inch
of death, Im far left till my last bar and breath
My bars re like bringin back mic club.net
fused with libcom, and hearin when the moment their mouths met
this is revolutionary rap, and I know I aint the best
I dont compare to a lowkey or tech cd or set
and we gotta go hard to try and protect

these poets, who expose loosely liberal liars
the undergrounds got to replace them when one retires
epiphanys lyrically designed to enlighten I find
red and black stars light up the night sky of my mind

but stars and stripes, nah we clean that shit with rags and wipes
an embelem of the real tyrannical terrorist types
not those who call the middle east war zone home
for them, its equal to seein 50 skulls and bones

suddenly begin to hear cries screams and moans
as their invaded by oil corporations and army drones
economic warfare, crippled by foreign dependance
much the same here, akin to landlords and tenants
the right wing think poverty is a kind penance
even makes me sick to say the sentance
fail to realise the underlying elements
pretendin the root cause dont bare any resemblanace
to what can once and for all end this

revolution over capitalism, its gonna have to be violent
and it means Im gonna have to not be silent
it means you gotta say goodbye to private property
you are not your possesions, and its really shocked me
when people thought croydon spirit was based on reeves
or a common enemy in the looters, the thieves
it stems from class consciousness, though thats rarely expressed

coz thats what the state try so hard to supress
thats why theyve eroded our right to protest
the system is designed to ruthlessly opress
and their reasons for doin so is what Ill adress next

see theres no such thing as human nature
its only a favor to justify the present ideology
and whatevers dominates the modern psychology
legitamise indiviualism with no apology
liberal values govern the contemporary psych
im not gonna say what I think human nature is like
because behaviour is determined by surroundings, a fixed state would take poundings,

coz we are all adaptable,
reactable, pragmatic and practical, but actual
ly, theres no point in listin adjectives see
but not because we are controlled by the powers that be
not there, organised religion is heirachy intolerance is bought up and bred
there, the power of god you match with your heart and dont share
with where , the clouds float above in the heavens
mentioned by reverends, durin sermons on the sins theres seven
symbols of oppression
dwindle as I make 12 disciples become eleven
but spirituality is something I dont tend to oppose
I wonder where your mind goes, when it flows
on DMT, something Ive referenced already, did you catch it
I spit meaninful shit, can you understand it

now lets see whats next on my agenda
i think its the solution, coz im not a ball curver or bender
Im talkin bout anarcho communism, with mutual aid
no one gets paid, direct democracy, the higher grade
real freedom for both man and woman will be made
and yes I know what most are thinkin, its nice but it wont work
its the inevitable classic reaction thats so knee jerk

have you heard, of what went on in spain, in 1936
catalonia got a substantial taste of this shit
but im not lookin for this change, in just one city
im not lookin for pity, for victims of franco's fascism
soon after the society got goin and got established
before it was banished, savaged, vanished from the earth
its memory tainted, faded, so now you think im jaded
stuck in the past, but this aint a phase that wont last
these are my beliefs, but Ive barely touched the surface
and wonder if this was worth it, coz what Ive learnt so far it
is like a skim read, but I think its planted the seed
the growth has potential to be exponential, incredible
this food for thought got me hungry though
I need to stop rhymin and go get an edible

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wojtek
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Oct 11 2011 09:22

Duuude

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the croydonian ... wrote:
That might not necessarily mean that they [Counterfire] are Leninist's or trots, or does it ?

Well known Trots John Rees, Lindsey German and Claire "I'M IN CHARGE" Soloman are members. There's a libcom thread about the split if you care about such sectarianism.

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
the croydonian ...
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Oct 11 2011 10:22

Ah fair enough. I am not familiar with the term "fucking A". Is this a compliment or you trying to say my rhymes are shit tongue

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wojtek
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Oct 11 2011 12:05

nah, it's fucking AWESOME circle A cool

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Arbeiten's picture
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Oct 11 2011 10:49

yeah man, Counterfire is a result of trots not being trotty enough so trotting off and starting there own trot group. Does that clear it up?

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mons
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Oct 11 2011 11:34

More to the point than who Lowkey hangs around with, he's into conspiracy theories, he's sexist, he's pro-national liberation, he thinks the police are necessary, etc. That shouldn't mean we can't like his music or we wouldn't like hardly any music at all, but I don't think he's an anarchist and if he called himself one (other than in that song where he was just using cos it began with 'a' I think) we should point out the inconsistencies between that and the fucked up stuff in his politics. Also I think he's a bit overrated and most the good political rap is less explicitly political and more the politics comes through more implicitly, like Jehst, Task Force and stuff.
Look forward to reading your article though!

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
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Oct 11 2011 15:06
wojtek wrote:
nah, it's fucking AWESOME circle A cool

cheers mate. I think its pretty comprehensive as well, covers a lot.

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soc's picture
soc
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Oct 11 2011 15:16

I can't help to provide you an other brilliant piece of art, if hip-hop and class war is the topic.
Also, there are some other interesting French stuff. (No subtitle, but the you can find the lyrics and translate through google).

BTW, how can I embed the youtube video itself?

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Ed's picture
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Oct 11 2011 15:43

Yo, so I just want to echo what others have said about the most interesting stuff from a political point of view is the hip hop that isn't explicitly political (or at least by rappers who aren't explicitly political).. so yeah, it's cool to hear dead prez rap about Maoist black nationalism or Lowkey talk about Palestine, but I reckon that a lot of the stuff that comes out by other hip hop acts which aren't using it as a medium to convey 'A Message' end up being way more interesting..

For instance, 'I hate my job' by Cam'ron basically sums up the position of loads of unemployed and unskilled working class people.. and other stuff like 'The Future is Now' by Non-Phixion, goes from downright reactionary to explicitly radical (like a lot of people imo).. or the stuff that came out from UK acts like Task Force or Terra Firma isn't really Political, but def gives a snapshot into British working class life (same goes for Skinnyman, who you mention).. I mean, shit like early 90s gangsta rap had all kinds of shitty reactionary stuff in it as well, but there was also a progressive side to it (which you can say 'Fuck Tha Police' was an expression of, or '2Pacalypse Now')..

Obviously not wanting to fuck with your article so close to deadline, but I reckon another article that would be worth writing is something more along the lines of 'themes of class in hip hop' or 'how hip hop expresses working class life' or something..

Also, Chilli Sauce:

Quote:
Also Mr. Lif is the shit!

I think you meant to write "Mr. Lif is completely shit!".. just saying, like..

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Oct 11 2011 16:13

Oh yeah, and just for those wanting to see some new UK hip hop with political content.. DefDFires - The Palace.. north-west London smashing it as per..

PS soc, to embed youtube videos, you need to write [ youtube ] **code thing after the equals sign** [ /youtube] (but obviously minus all the spaces and with an actual code, not just writing 'code thing..' wink )...

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Baronarchist
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Oct 11 2011 18:12

No one mentioned 2pac? If confirmed reactionaries could understand 'niggerish' they'd be very confused by his messages.

1. Brenda's got a baby
2. Keep ya head up
3. Changes
4. Po' nigga blues (cause i had 2)
5. Crooked nigga too
6. It aint easy
7. Better Dayz - This one is the true soundtrack to the struggle, I like lowkey but something about him seems untrustworthy. He's like a Lenin.

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Arbeiten's picture
Arbeiten
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Oct 11 2011 18:21

Big

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the croydonian anarchist's picture
the croydonian ...
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Oct 11 2011 19:11

this is obviously meant to be humorous but do you reckon I could still use it to talk about un employment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNho0h_yQQ

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mons
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Oct 11 2011 19:49

I fucking love that Dr Syntax song! And yeah, definitely, why not? It's pretty communist..

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Standfield's picture
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Oct 12 2011 12:11

Tyler the Creator and the OFWGKTA lot are constantly described by the mainstream media as anarchist and nihilist... The nihilist part is correct at least. Either way, they have some pretty decent songs, and I find a lot of their lyrics really interesting... They can be quite confrontational and shocking, but from the interviews I've seen, they seem pretty intelligent. Class and religion comes out a lot in their work.

"Move with all the socially Socialists,
And we hangin' by the rope and shit,
We give each other hope like gifts."

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tastybrain
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Oct 12 2011 19:36
Standfield wrote:
Tyler the Creator and the OFWGKTA lot are constantly described by the mainstream media as anarchist and nihilist... The nihilist part is correct at least. Either way, they have some pretty decent songs, and I find a lot of their lyrics really interesting... They can be quite confrontational and shocking, but from the interviews I've seen, they seem pretty intelligent. Class and religion comes out a lot in their work.

"Move with all the socially Socialists,
And we hangin' by the rope and shit,
We give each other hope like gifts."

Yeah they're super anarchist. Especially when they talk about raping women.

Idk, they could have a lot of class themes in their music but there is also a lot of nihilism, like you said. Those dudes kinda scare me eek But I guess that's the point.