As a life long fan of hip-hop music, one of the things that I loved about it is the anti-establishment, challenge authority message in the music. N.W.A’s “Fuck the Police, Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power, 2 Live Crew’s “Banned In the USA” all carry a theme Libertarians endorse. Which is, always challenge authority and people or institutions that try to control your actions.

I always found it funny that virtually all in hip hop align themselves with Democrat politicians, when it was the Democrats like Cynthia Tucker and Al Sharpton who waged a war on hip hop claiming rappers like Tupac and Ice Cube were the reasons black neighborhoods have become beds for gang violence and drug crimes. Not the War on Drugs or the United States policies which turn low income people into criminals just by living in a certain neighborhood.

Libertarians have been against the War on Drugs since it’s beginning, believing that you own your own body, and by prohibiting someone from something, only creates more crime and an environment where gangs, organized crime, and violence is the norm. Another libertarian issue is police brutality. Libertarians, not Democrats, and certainly not Republicans, have long been opponents of police brutality, SWAT tactics, misuse of force, and warrantless search and seizures by ALL policing agencies, city, state and federal.

Consequently, Hip-hop artists like Will.I.Am. were on the campaign trail with Barrack Obama from the beginning. After his election, Young Jeezy released the voracious “My President is Black”, a bombastic track that aspired to be the new black anthem and seemed to imply a melding between Hip-Hop culture and mainstream society. On the night of the inauguration, Barrack Obama was showered in praises, blessings, and performances dedicated in his honor by powerful hip-hop luminaries like Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Can you imagine the Juice Crew dedicating a rendition of “The Symphony” at the inauguration of Jesse Jackson in 88′? More likely it would have been The Four Tops or The Temptations. It certainly wouldn’t have been Gil Scott Heron.

These spectacles would appear to signify that American politics had moved so far left, that hip-hop and urban culture had become acceptable to political elites. But it is quite the opposite. Hip Hop culture has embraced political elitism, because Hip-Hop has become elitist. However it has more to do with Social status then political ideology. If you examine closely Hip Hop and urban black culture you will discover that hip-hop is less progressive than it appears in your rear view mirror.

Did you know that hip-hop is registered as a religion? It was officially recognized in NY as a religion thanks to the so-called “prophet” of hip-hop, KRS One, less than 5 years ago. He didn’t want to just “spit” (rap) lyrics, but be the example of his beliefs. These “lyrics” released “beliefs” that the founders of hip-hop adapted from mixing ideas of dominant religions to unify, teach, and change their generation. Thus KRS One is right about one thing: hip-hop is no longer just music, but something you live. Even though hip-hop music wasn’t originally created by Christians, it can still be redeemed as music by the Church.

Well what about Christian hip hop? Even though rap is recognized as “hip-hop” music, rap is simply “rhythms and poetry”. Christian rap music can be poetic and set to rhythms that are holy, like the book of Psalms or Lamentations. But if rap is hip-hop music, then as a religion, rap would be its “worship music”. Looking at the origin of this culture, it would be hard to mix two religions because Christianity worships the Holy Trinity, but hip-hop proclaims every person as “god” for “self-worship”. Thus the origin and role of hip-hop music in our society should then be questioned and explored.

This all started by one of the founders of hip-hop: Afrika Bambaata. As a Muslim kid growing up in the South Bronx, he led the Black Spades gang post-Civil Rights era into 70s. Meanwhile, disco music was being dethroned by a new street sound where DJs were cutting into climactic beats of music and speaking over it. Always a trendsetter, Bambaata went from wielding guns to scratching records against DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash (other hip-hop founders), gaining respect without using violence.

For over two decades now America has witnessed the change in the hip-hop scene from an art form born of a subculture to politically and emotionally express the views of the Black community and civil rights descendents to an idol and material obsessed culture that encourages and unapologetically boasts about the darkest, most destructive parts of common Black society.

The forty million people in this country who look like me know that single parenting, high crime rates, minimal post-secondary education, drug use, premarital sex and material obsession plague some but not ALL members of our society, so it strikes me as odd then, that so many blacks look the other way when black people (in the form of hip-hop artists) receive innumerous international attention for promoting these exact concepts. So much so in fact, an on-looker ignorant to predominant black America would use these images to paint an inaccurate picture of the Black Community that would likely hinder future progress- BACK to the high character we once displayed.

They can listen to a song and dream of living “the good life” but that same artist turns around and advocates for more public housing, food stamps, and overall government dependency. When will Hip Hop draw the line and share the whole story about their success with the very people that need the most inspiration?

“Back in the Day” is a 1994 West Coast hip hop single by Ahmad. Released when Ahmad was only 18, the song is a nostalgic remembrance of childhood and young teenage years, from a somewhat jaded adult perspective.

In East of Havana, Producers Charlize Theron; Clark Peterson; Megan Riley-Grant and Juan Carlos Saizorobatoro, through the provocative photography of Christophe Lanzenburg, tell the story of the rap group (tribe) called El Cartel whose goal is to unify all HipHop Culture in Cuba to strengthen the people in their bid to revolutionize the tiny Island Nation of Cuba.

Did Obama change hip-hop? As much as he’s lowered the seas and reduced the deficit. I like Common but if he really thinks Obama has changed the face of hip-hop, he hasn’t been listening to hip-hop.

The 1980′s were a time of great change for Urban America. It was a time of high levels of crime and of poverty. For some, however, it was a time for wealth and for innovation. Out of the difficulties of the 80′s, nevertheless, came a new and an exciting sound. First heard on the streets of the Bronx, and then throughout every borough …that sound was Hip-Hop.

Kanye West seemed like an American willing to take a stand against injustice when he spoke out against President Bush during Hurricane Katrina. Now after another public speaking snafu, it just seems like he merely spoke out of line – again.

Meet Arkansas new rising star “Epiphany” an artist that is definitely here to stay and is bringing back real hip hop music for the world to enjoy and appreciate. He claims home to the South – Little Rock, Arkansas to be exact but his music can be appreciated by anyone and anywhere.

Hip-hop in Cuba has grown partly as a result of state subsidies through the creation of the Cuban Rap Agency, as well as a record label, “Asere Productions,” and a rap magazine called “Movimiento.”However state subsidies of rap in Cuba comes with a price.

by Star In the 70′s, a new form of music took over New York City.  Young men and women needed a new sound and the creative forces of their generation gave it to them. Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Blow, and a host of “DJ’s” carried the sound from hoods, to street corners, to clubs, and [...]

by Richard Ivory  If you love sounds of Outkast and Nappy Roots then perhaps you’ll love the lyrics of Tre and Easy Lee from the group MOJOE, a new southern style group that is taking the nation by storm. There ability to mix ole school classics with the industries latest genre is breathtaking. Tre and [...]

M.I.A. Paper Planes Uploaded by ecureuilvolant – See the latest featured music videos.   Paper Planes” is an alternative hip hop dance song written and produced by the British artist M.I.A., a British-born songwriter, record producer, singer, fashion designer, and artist of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It was released as the album’s third single in [...]