Palestine, Kosovo, Cashmere/ No different than the avenues right here An increase in the murder rate each year/ Paramilitary unit keep the streets clear/ Curtains up on the theatre of warfare /Dramatic politics nightly preformed here/ Worldwide from Colombia to Columbine/ Stock holders keep your dollar signs on the line”
-Mos Def
Music has always been historically used as a form of resistance in America. From the days of slavery, oppressed groups have used music as a form of hidden transcript, to protect and continue their cultural identity. What makes the African-American experience so unique in American history is their relationship with the early American economy. As Karl Marx stated, commodity is capitalism’s original sin and, America’s original commodity was African people(Ball, 1). For this reason, along with the Natives, African Americans have been continually been oppressed in America history, and its from this that Hip-hop as resistance culture has arisen, and why it is so important to understand it.
Although originating from numerous influences(Heath, 49), hip-hop’s main influence came from the Jamaican tradition of allowing poets and others to sing or rhyme over the instrumental (“dub”) sides of well known reggae vinyls at parties. In the mid-1970s, the culture center shifted to New York where it blended with the spoken-word tradition that had been around for decades, and this is how modern-day hip-hop was created; it is a product of globalization and now is spread through every continent and country on the planet, absorbing and integrating whatever culture it comes into contact with. “Hip-hop, without question, demands its own degree of cultural literacy, but this is a sort of knowledge not predicated on access to any institution of formal education—it is a literacy that is thus more fluidly attained, a readership more easily cultivated (Heath, 848-9)”.
This culture was a response to the neo-liberal policies being implemented in black and Latino ghettos within the United States. ‘‘Hip hop is not merely a critique of capitalism, it is a counter-formation that takes up capitalism’s gaps and contradictions and creates a whole new mode, a whole new economics(Potter, 111)’’. By the 1980s, a few hip-hop groups had transcended the hidden transcript that Hip-hop originated with. Tupac, Public Enemy, N.W.A, etc, are but a few examples of “Speaking truth to power”, where the artist directly confronts the listener to the idea that they are being persecuted for their ideas and because they are resisting, making the private transcript public. Simultaneously, the level of political critique was raised to a new plateau by a variety of groups. A prime example would be the hip-hop/rock group Rage Against the Machine. Not only did they produce award winning music, they were a symbol of resistance against the government, specifically its global and national economic policies and the hegemony of America’s ruling class. A prime example of this would be the Rage Against the Machine music video “Sleep Now in the Fire”, a song on their 2000 album “The Battle for Los Angeles”.
The group became the voice for many movements and attempted to personify the 90’s protest counter-culture. They did songs and benefits for, among others, political prisoners Mumia Abu Jamal and Lenard Pelletier(Native American separatist leader falsely imprisoned in 1972), and with solidarity with the Zapatistas in their song “The People of the Sun”. In fact, in a benefit concert for Mumia Abu Jamal in Philadelphia, Rage Against the Machine actually did a cover of NWA’s “*** the Police” in response to the repressive actions the Philadelphia police force has taken against supporters of Mumia, a former Black Panther and muckraking journalist falsely accused of killing a police officer.
The groups lead vocalist, Zach De La Rocha, was featured in the 1994 movie “Zapatista”(which was viewed as part of the class) as an outspoken critic of the violent and repressive policies the Mexican government has used against the Zapatista Movement of Chiapas. This largely indigenous population rose up in protest of the North American Free Trade Agreement which was signed between Mexico and the United States and took away many of their property rights. This is an excellent example of how Hip-hop and activism go hand in hand, and how it plays a vital role in Keck & Sikkink’s Transnational Advocacy Networks.
The Zapatistas for example are attempting to garner support for their cause and create an alternative economy to the commodity based one the Mexican government faces. The Zapatista also stress, in Richard Falk’s terms, a heterogeneous approach where societies are allowed to pursue their own path, versus the homogenous path that Mexican government is trying to impose by attempting to crush the Zapatistas.
Another example of Rage Against the Machine’s protest tactics would be the music video “Sleep Now in the Fire”. The group decided to protest the international corporate headquarters of the world, Wall Street, by doing a street concert at the steps of the New York Stock Exchange, the belly of the corporate beast as far as the group members are concerned. Even though they were not given a concert or protest permit, the show continued regardless. Although the lyrics of the song themselves do not go into great depth, even alone they are motivational and informational. But combined with director Michael Moore’s film work, the music video for the song combines visual with the auditory to give the audience a much more complete experience.
The music video, which played on MTV, also satires the excesses of American mainstream culture represented by the ABC TV show Who wants to be a millionaire. Eventually the audience smashes the show’s set and rejects the monetary prize that the show is trying to glamorize. The music video also prominently features video footage from arguably the most important and famous American protest of the time period, the World Trade Organization protest that took place in December 1999 that was dubbed ‘The Battle of Seattle’. The video ends with the band members along with director Michael Moore being arrested. Despite this, at 2:52 in the middle of the trading day, the New York Stock Exchange was forced to close.
Since Rage Against the Machine broke up in 2000, various other groups have gained prominence and continued to carry the torch of hip-hop resistance. One such group is Philadelphia based Jedi Mind Tricks. Although they are not traditionally known for their explicitly political music, their 2006 Album: Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell changed this trend and contains several songs with very powerful messages. One such song is “Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story” vocalist RA: The Rugged Man, who for about three entire minutes casts the listener into the shoes of the rapper’s father His “verse recounts the war experience of his father, Staff Sergeant John A. Thorburn, who was a cold-blooded killer, until an ambush in Cambodia nearly killed him. He reaches a moment of clarity while in the hospital, but after being sent home, he discovers his exposure to Agent Orange, leaving two of his children severely deformed and handicapped, and, eventually, killing one of his sons.”1
John A. Thorburn was one of the many Americans that served in the Vietnam War. The song challenges the mainstream idea that the North Vietnamese are America’s natural enemy. The song also discusses the repercussion of war in general to those who have to fight it. Also, it discusses the effects of the chemical warfare, from which the repercussions are still being felt by marginal communities in the United States as well as in Indochina. Minorities and the poor were extremely over-represented in the numbers they served, died and were injured in the war and this was another branch of the neo-liberal project of dealing with these superfluous and undesirable populations. Additionally, the Vietnam War itself was a neo-colonial project against a region that resisted integration into the global neo-liberal economic order. This song is just one example of the powerful cognitive links Hip-hop creates in the mind of its audience, between US policy at home and abroad.
Another example would be the track “Shadow Business” which also makes a similar conceptual link. The first part of the song is about the horrors of the conditions slave labor that is taking place in American Samoa. By initially using a documentary very similar to Naomi Klein’s “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies “, informing the viewer of the controls used by the factory owners, along with the actual working conditions, which are often 90 degrees. The first verse talks about the economic status of men, and specifically women, who are often sexually abused. The quote “what did 400 years in grave teach us? /only the cleverness of slave masters”. Makes an important historical link between the treatment of workers today and of slaves in the past makes an important bridge to the second verse.
The second verse is by no coincidence about another form of forced labor which exists within the United States, the Prison-Industrial Complex. The rise of this phenomenon is a product of the privatization of prisons and the cutting of social spending and is directly tied to the enormous rise of poverty and the prison population starting in the late 1970s which continues until today. The verse contains much information for the listener concerning prison labor. The first line is “There are 1. 6 million people locked in jail/they’re the new slave labor force trapped in hell.”, which also sets the tone for the rest of the song. Their exploitive nature is discussed in the second part, they generate over a 1 billion dollars/ but only get paid .20 cents an hour/. This is all the time while companies make profits. Slavery is not a lie/ legal conviction of the crime. The music video that was created for this song features additional footage taken from various documentaries on the topic. Ultimately, Jedi Mind Tricks is able to condense the information from various scholarly articles and transform this often inaccessible information form into one that can reach and educate a much wider and diverse audience.
Jedi Mind Tricks sets the pattern of the vast majority of ‘positive’ commercial rappers, who while mostly focusing on other subjects, do contain a revolutionary or radical message. Some other examples of this would be “A Song for Assata” by Common, “Big Business”, “War” and “Proper Propaganda” by Dilated Peoples, “War” by Mos Def, “Changes” by Tupac, and “Bombs over Baghdad” by Outkast, among various others.
While this covers the trend of present day rappers, there are several that do not fit this mold. Dead Prez, The Coup, Immortal Technique are examples of hip hop groups that are at least rhetorically completely dedicated to revolution and the overthrowing of current regime. In addition to that, they actively seek to educate their listeners about the realities of the world, and why it is up to their listeners, as American citizens to do something about it. The rapper Immortal Technique may be the most outspoken of this category. Titling his albums Revolutionary Volume 1 and Revolutionary Volume 2, he leaves no question in the listener’s mind of his views. Although all of tracks on this album are outspoken criticisms of the current political, economic and social culture, the track 4th Branch may be the most appropriate for this discussion.
Throughout the entire song, Immortal Technique directly challenges the hegemonic project of the controlling economic forces and their close ties to the military. His allegations are not unfounded; the same companies that form the Military-Industrial Complex also control the media in the United States. He directly challenges the dominant mainstream American view of nationalism, patriotism, and the identity of America and its history:
“How could this be, the land of the free, home of the brave? /
Indigenous holocaust, and the home of the slaves/
Corporate America, dancing offbeat to the rhythm/
You really think this country, never sponsored terrorism?/
Human rights violations, we continue the saga/
El Salvador and the Contras in Nicaragua/
And on top of that, you still want to take me to prison/
Just because I won't trade humanity for patriotism”
“Embedded correspondents don't tell the source of the tension/
And they refuse to even mention, European intervention
Or the massacres in Jenin, the innocent screams
U.S. manufactured missiles, and M-16's
Weapon contracts and corrupted American dreams
Media censorship, blocking out the video screens”
“They bombed innocent people, trying' to murder Saddam/
When they gave him those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran/
This is the information that they hold back from Peter Jennings
“Read about the history of the place that we live in /
And stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children”
Overall, threw various methods and tactics, these groups seek to inform the American public, motivate people to educate and take action and maybe most importantly, build solidarity, expand Gramsci’s counter-hegemonic cultural space, and allows for debate among various marginal groups. Overall, its best features is it that it is a completely democratic, grass roots phenomena that no one can own, because anyone can make hip-hop and educate and inform others. Also, it is rooted in agitation and struggle, and in the timeless words of Frederick Douglass: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncommon_Valor:_A_Vietnam_Story
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