Soundcheck: Who Will Occupy Hip-Hop?
posted in: Music News • Urban
Look around, and it’s starting to look more and more like the sixties than the new millennium. People are protesting about everything from the war, poverty, joblessness, race relations, civil rights, health care, abortion and education. The political and social blast from the past touches all aspects of daily life, but one component has yet to rise to the occasion. Where’s the music? In the sixties, countless artists like Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye and The Beatles provided the soundtrack to a revolution. Who will be our hip hop heroes? At the moment, a handful of heavyweights have stepped in; carving out a road map for others to follow. While some use the microphone to deliver a message, others are pushing their values in other ways. Lupe Fiasco: Lupe was one of the first artists to get in on the Occupy Wall Street action, joining the protest in its first week. He sparked national controversy with his comments about President Obama earlier this year (link to ˜Words I Never Said/lupe piece) and has continued to voice his concerns while empowering others to do the same. “We’re a society based on consumerism¦We blur our own lines between what we need and what we want, he said at the protest. “For me it’s about critical thinking and being critical about everything that’s going on around you.” Lupe has demanded the truth behind the 9/11 attacks for years, and adds it to his list of demands to the government. Millions of people have died behind that,” Lupe told We Are Change. “For the sake of what? For the price of what? What really happened to cause millions and millions of people to die? If it was just a terrorist attack, then so be it. Let that be known. Let that be out and vetted so the public can see it. And I think [the US] would get more support. I think you would get more support from Muslim countries if it was just a more open and honest kind of thing instead of this kind of cloudy, mysterious, behind-the-scenes kind of operation.”Lupe is one of the few emcees who have taken is gripes to the mic, releasing the politically-charged single, Words I Never Said on his latest album, Lasers. His powerful performance of the song at the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards (link to: BET AWARDS) made an even bigger impact with help of Erykah Badu.
Talib Kweli: Talib Kweli turned up at Occupy Wall Street after being invited by CitizenRadio, a politically-charged podcast by comic Jamie Kilstein and journalist Allison Kilkenny. Kilstein prepped the crowd for Kweli’s appearance, noting “first cameras came to mock you, now they can’t fucking ignore you.”
Kweli took the mic and delivered an a capella performance of Distractions to the amped-up crowd at Liberty Plaza. “I couldn’t come back to my home town and not check this out,” he told Rolling Stone before his performance “I didn’t realize that this was something that was meant to last, with no end. It’s self-sufficient and is connecting people to people. It’s beautiful.”
David Banner: The rapper/ philanthropist who has received countless accolades for his ongoing support of Hurrican Katrina Relief efforts has visited Occupy Wall Street, and invited MTV cameras to join him last week. He told MTV, “One of my only criticisms of hip hop right now is that we all”like everybody”we can’t separate ourselves. All of us have become so corporate that people don’t even feel like we’re a part of the people, especially rappers and punk rockers,” Banner said. “People always felt like we were them. We were their voice. He too is waiting for the music to follow the times, and for artists to use their influence for the cause. He also noted that the many upper, middle class white kids at the helm of the protests should be appreciated, not demonized; and that their presence strengthens the plight of the ‘others’. “They’d just send the police out there, throw some tear gas, plant somebody in there. Call it gang violence, whatever, ya’ll know what they do in the ‘hood,” Banner said. “When their children are out there is when it becomes a movement. And I used to fight that and be mad at that, but what we got to understand is, in every movement, even in the ’60s, young, white, middle-class people were a major part of the movement. We have to stop separating ourselves.”
Bun B: The legendary Bun B of UGK has hit the streets of Houston to join their Occupy Houston efforts to fight back against “corporate irresponsibility and unfair political, social and economical influence.” He told The Houston Chronicle, This is something that I think everybody at some point and time should be concerned about as a resident of Houston and as a citizen of the world.” He encouraged his loyal legion of 300,000 Twitter followers to get involved. “Don’t just tweet about it. Be about it. Come on down,” he tweeted. “If you’re unemployed and not job hunting today, join us if you can.”
Russell Simmons: The hip-hop mogul has been a supporter of Occupy Wall Street efforts from the beginning. Worth an estimated $340 million, he tweeted early on that he’s part of the 1% who would happily pay more taxes, noting the unfair discrepancy between the classes left most of his employees with a higher tax bill than him. He walked Kanye West through the protest one day, and offered up a solution to the city’s beef over protestors’ trash. He tweeted Mayor Bloomberg, Dear @MikeBloomberg — I will pay for clean-up of Zuccotti Park to avoid confrontation. I don’t wanna go to jail but I will be there ready!” He followed up with advice for the city’s leader,”Damn looks like they are gonna start a war out of this non violent movement. This could set off lots of chaos,” he tweeted. Adding, “The law says the young people can stay. I love the mayor, my advice don’t allow this to get violent.” He took to MSNBC in late September to lend more support to the movement, prophesying a bigger revolution may be under way. Last time I got involved in a protest I brought a hundred thousand people there, for the Rockefeller Drug Laws, he said. And if I get involved really heavily in this one, we find the agenda and have a common ground¦ we can bring hundreds of thousands of people¦ small seeds are planted, but it could grow into something very big.
Immortal Technique: Rapper Immortal Technique showed up at Occupy Wall Street in a show of solidarity, and spoke to RT and said, People that are on Wall Street, people that are in the government, a lot of them are refusing . . . to acknowledge their responsibility in what’s causing all of this.
50 Cent: While he hasn’t visited a rally yet, 50 Cent is battling poverty at home in another way. He and Street King energy drink are launching “One Like = One Meal” on Facebook. For every Like that Street King gets, the company will donate a meal to a hungry child. The Queens-bred rapper has pledged to match the meals if they receive one million likes in the first seven days. Looks like Fifty is ready to put his money where his mouth is.