Comments

1
While Killer Mike and Bernie Sanders have contributed in an interesting way to the intersection of hip-hop and politics, it is painful to suffer through these kinds of over-simplistic, birds-eye views of what "politics and hip-hop" means, as if the content of mainstream, on-the-radio superstars is the only metric by which we should judge such things.

Tef Poe, Talib Kweli, Immortal Technique, Rebel Diaz and countless others have been combining hip-hop and politics for years -- many of them actually on the ground, not in a studio making obligatory protest music. Taking nothing away from Killer Mike, but he didn't bring anything "back," he merely became the most visible extension of an already existing movement.

The work of these folks -- not to mention the emergence of a Kendrick Lamar -- simply should not be omitted or glossed over when attempting to paint a valid picture of the state of hip-hop and politics.

Hip-hop doesn't need more weak, surface-level, cursory analysis and doesn't need lame, backhanded compliments like "hiphop finally has something to say..." Hip-hop's BEEN saying things.

If you're going to write about hip-hop, delve deeper or stay out.
2
@1

And yet both the contemporary political hip-hop you mention and the candidacy of Bernie Sanders have been largely rejected by black audiences.

It's not just Bernie/political rap vs. "the mainstream," it's Bernie/political rap vs. the black mainstream. It looks to me like this is what Charles is trying to point at.
3
@1: Charles doesn't need backup from me; still, in his defense he has been writing about hip-hop, rap, and the genre's close relations since he was much younger and much better looking than he is today. Mudede's got be on the sad side of 50 by now (?)

A Stranger search of "Mudede, hip, hop, rap" yielded 'About 4,400 results'. A few chunks of coal don't throw shade on a vein full of diamonds.
6
^^^ you're barking up the wrong tree. We get paid mad cash to post comments on The Slog.

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