lets talk race: Hip-hop perspective

We cannot live in the past forever. Civil rights had its day;
Now it is time to move out of the way, have a peep at the race,
I think hip-hop culture has helped me generation,
See race in a slightly different perspective
And who never thought Obama going to be the answer?

My primary interest, you rap about me
When the bullet that goes, against my will strikes,
When the lights go out and I reminisce,
And it's my only chance to calm down

And we hate po-po
Want to kill us dead in the street for sure, nigga
We're at the COPS knee, our breath is getting shallow,
And his pistol is about to go off.
Will we be, okay?

The plight of blackness or brownness in America is hardly new,
K.dot lyrically murdered a nigga blacker than him,
The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice,
More like the biblical bitter herbs to me for sure.
1


Color your hate, color your rage, I color my hood.
I was going to kill a couple niggas, but they did it to themselves
Everybody's suicidal, they never even need our help
Nobody wants to die young, but who wants to talk about life?
Yeah, fuck the police just made it past 25 and here I am.

24/7 in 365 days, hate perpetrated towards us
Like King Kunta before us,
Everyone wants to sever our legs.
Where were you when we were walking'?
Now that we run the game,
Everyone wants a piece of us

We have our eyes wide open.
We will no longer remain deafeningly silent,
Enough is enough, we will proclaim,
Because it is not just business as usual;
Hatred and bigotry should not be the only things that sell.

We've been so focused on the lack of action 
That we've missed the true elephant in the room: 
As a society, we're really screwed up, 
And our future generations will be born with the same vices 
Until we genuinely stand up and be counted when it matters.
Knowledge is the path to empowerment.
Ours is yours, and yours is ours.2
I'm done with servitude, and I'm not going to die a coward.3
I hope we obtain justice; like a phoenix,
We will rise and tower above the city, our message louder.
The identical rose, but with a black blossom

4


Link:










Meaning of my original hip-hop dmp
         In my origin hip-hop dmp, I sampled Kendrick Lamar's lyric, and we hate po-po
Want to kill us dead in the street for sure. This line shows the way that
The African American community feels resentful of police brutality and the racially motivated killing of innocent African American folks in the streets. However, as Michael
Eric Dyson explains that conscious rap is "rap that is socially aware and consciously connected to historic patterns of political protest and aligned with progressive forces of social critique" (Dyson, 2007: 64). Indeed, the majority of conscious rap artists such as Kendrick are well aware of the tradition they perpetuate as well as their ties to prior eras of African-American political struggle and artistic creativity.
         Another thing mentioned in my lyrics is the way black people treat fellow blacks with darker skin tones than theirs. I refer to Kendrick Lamar admitting to killing someone darker than him in complexion. This is perhaps because they are legitimately African compared to me. The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice, is the line that proves the irony of this point. Thus, while hip-hop music is an effective technique for articulating complicated social and personal views, it must be understood as only one component of a much larger system of cultural practices through which personal ideas are digested and articulated in immediate and urgent situations.
         Fuck your ethnicity is an inspiring and unifying track that sets the stage for world-shaking musical acclaim and artistic activism. The lyrics are socially conscious, introspective, and brimming with substance. Although hip-hop has always demonstrated a capacity for articulating serious social issues and amplifying critical perspectives on negative conditions that disproportionately affect the African-American population, the political nature of the conscious rap subgenre is frequently deemed unsuitable for commercial interests, despite the sales and tour successes of such unambiguously politicized hip-hop acts as Public Enemy. Through hip-hop music, the "genuine" Black American is framed not as a complicated, intelligent, or even creative individual, but as a "real nigga" who has ducked gunshots, worked a triple beam, and spent at least one time in prison. (Bynoe, 2004: 149). Additionally, hip-hop artists are frequently depicted as role models or leaders, whether they desire it or not; in some circumstances (such as the hip-hop duo Dead Prez), they welcome this responsibility, assuming a major leadership position in social justice movements (Asante, 2008).
         In my lyrics, I make a mention of the institutional racism that is embossed in our culture and how sometimes we blacks are the perpetrators. In a sampled lyric by Kendrick Lamar, he says he was going to kill a couple of black folks, but they did it to themselves. According to him, everybody is suicidal, so they didn't need his help doing it. Additionally, I make mention of the fact that black folks do not make it past 25 years without being incarcerated or dead. As much as nobody wants to die young, it is a shame this vice of race-motivated killings is not spoken about enough to my liking. I get to the heart of the matter, which is that black residents are habitually subjected to unjust and unequal treatment inside white-dominated institutional power structures. Hip-hop is just but a platform to express our displeasure with this systemic vice.
         In the last two stanzas, there is a rallying call to all Americans and the international community at large. Everyone is called to keep their eyes wide open and to no longer remain deafeningly silent because enough is enough and it is not business as usual. Hatred and bigotry should not be the only things that sell. Additionally, suggestions on what to do with this knowledge are indicated. First and foremost, knowledge is power, and with this particular knowledge, servitude is a thing of the past, and the black community is not going to die as cowards. With knowledge, justice will be obtained, and like a phoenix, everyone will rise and tower above the city, making our message louder.

References
          Baszile, Denise Taliaferro. "Deal with it we must: Education, social justice, and the curriculum of hip hop culture." Equity & Excellence in Education 42, no. 1 (2009): 6-19.
          Harrison, Anthony Kwame. "Racial authenticity in rap music and hip hop." Sociology Compass 2, no. 6 (2008): 1783-1800.
          https://youtu.be/phV2TiKtcug
          Jacobson, Ginger. "Racial Formation Theory and Systemic Racism in Hip-Hop Fans' Perceptions." In Sociological Forum, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 832-851. 2015.

                   1          Harrison, Anthony Kwame. "Racial authenticity in rap music and          hip hop." Sociology Compass 2, no. 6 (2008): 1783-1800.
                   2
         
                   3          Harrison, Anthony Kwame. "Racial authenticity in rap music and          hip hop." Sociology Compass 2, no. 6 (2008): 1783-1800.
                   4          Harrison, Anthony Kwame. "Racial authenticity in rap music and          hip hop." Sociology Compass 2, no. 6 (2008): 1783-1800.