I distinctly remember an NME interview with Jay Z around the time Blueprint came out. The interviewer was told that he couldn’t ask the ‘greatest rapper alive’ about anything politics-related because he didn’t feel qualified to answer and wasn't interested in the subject.
Fast forward seven or so years and Jay was on stage around the world (including Glastonbury and London) shouting ‘Fuck Bush’ and campaigning for Obama. Under Dubya it wasn’t just Mos Def, Talib or Dead Prez who went political. Eminem was suddenly a conscious rapper protesting against the Iraq war on Mosh. And after Katrina Kanye West announced on national TV “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
So I guess what I’m saying is- the former President was good for Hip Hop. Yes I said it. Songs about Barack are currently coming out but love-letters to the promising President will certainly get boring over four (or maybe eight) years.
Fast forward seven or so years and Jay was on stage around the world (including Glastonbury and London) shouting ‘Fuck Bush’ and campaigning for Obama. Under Dubya it wasn’t just Mos Def, Talib or Dead Prez who went political. Eminem was suddenly a conscious rapper protesting against the Iraq war on Mosh. And after Katrina Kanye West announced on national TV “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
So I guess what I’m saying is- the former President was good for Hip Hop. Yes I said it. Songs about Barack are currently coming out but love-letters to the promising President will certainly get boring over four (or maybe eight) years.
Posted are two of my favourite anti-Bush tracks from Mos Def (certainly one of my Top 5 MCs) and Big Boi- who was never political on early Outkast albums.
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