More recently, many hip hop artists have opening supported Barack Obama's run for the President of the United States. Common has always been an outspoken political voice in the hip hop community, and he is also featured in this video in support of the candidate.

Post Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there was a lot of talk in the hip hop world about how the African American community in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast had been treated unfairly.

Perhaps the most famous, was Kanye West who declared that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Also, in lyrical form, Mos Def commented on the injustices as well in the song "Dollar Day." In this song Mos Def comments on the way blacks were treated during and after the storm, and is critical of the government's reaction.

This for the streets, the streets everywhere
The streets affected by the storm called... America
I'm doin this for y'all, and for me, for the Creator

God save, these streets
One dollar per every human being
Feel that Katrina clap
See that Katrina clap

Listen, homie, it's Dollar Day in New Orleans
It's water water everywhere and people dead in the streets
And Mr. President he bout that cash
He got a policy for handlin the niggaz and trash

Kanye and Mos Def weren't the only ones who voiced opinions in the time after the storm. And, while Kanye has received a lot of attention (both praise and criticism) for his remarks about the President, he stands by his words. Again, the main concept of political hip hop is giving a voice to those who don't have one. These artists used their level of fame to rap (or speak) about something that many average people were saying, but weren't being heard. At the end of his song, Mos Def raps "Don't talk about it, be about it": one last reminder to voice your opinion and actively fight for change.

The Coup is a group based out of Oakland, California, who's lyrics aim to criticize American politics, capitalism, and even police brutality and prostitution. This song, "Everything" has lyrics such as "Every cop is a corrupt one" and " Every truth ain't evident, Every slave story, present tense".

The Coup released their album "Party Music" in late 2001 and experience poor sales numbers post September 11th. The original cover of the album (which was actually made months before the 9/11 attacks) depicted two members of the group standing in front of the World Trade Center as it blew up. After the attacks, the cover design was immediately pulled, and the album was released with an alternate cover. The attention that the original cover drew also brought the group a lot of criticism over the lyrical content of their music.

Today the current members of The Coup are Boots Riley (who has considered himself a communist since age 14) and Pam the Funktress.

“Let’s Get Free” is the debut album from Dead Prez – the hip hop duo of stic.man and M-1. The album was received well by both critics and their audience. Rolling Stone gave the album a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, and declared that the duo’s self described style of being "somewhere in between N.W.A and PE” is limiting. The album comments on the public education system, the commercialization of the hip hop industry, self-destruction in the black community, black liberation, socialism, the existence of God, and even eating healthily. One of the most popular songs from the album is "Hip Hop" in which they rap "You would rather have a Lexus? or justice? a dream? or some substance? A Beamer? a necklace? or freedom?" Another popular song is "I'm an African." This excerpt from the song proves their distrust and unhappiness with the government.

Bounce to this, socialist movement
My environment made me the nigga I am
Uncle Sam came and got me and arrested my fam
Try to infiltrate and murder off the best of my clan
I'm not American, punk, Democrat, or Republican
Remember that, most of the cats we know, be hustlin
My momma work, all her life and still strugglin
I blame it on the government and say it on the radio
And if you don't already know
All these Uncle Tom ass kissin niggas gotta go

M-1 had attended Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University where he met stic.man. They quickly realized that they could use their love of music and their knowledge of politics to make a positive change, so they turned their thoughts into lyrics and began rapping about the injustices they saw around them. They are still considered one of the most revolutionary and politically charged groups.

Interestingly enough, there is actually a National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC). Their mission statement is:

Challenged by the silent majority of nonvoters and the influences of Hip Hop, the National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to the political, educational, and organizational empowerment of all (disenfranchised) individuals, groups and local communities throughout the nation. The NHHPC collaborates with national and international partners to increase grassroots activism and civic participation.

Their goal is to speak up for a population of people whose voices were previously unheard…the same population that hip hop is usually associated with. I was interested to find this site, and I it was interesting looking around. There are even Local Organizing Committees who’s goal is to “ ensure a community free of misogyny, violence, disease/infections, and seeks to increase its influences the values, life practices and creative expression of young people, artists and entertainers.” They also hope to inspire more people in their communities to vote, and they often use hip hop as their avenue to do so. In 2004 National Public Radio’s Program, Morning Edition, did a piece on the NHHPC which helped to create more buzz about the organization, you can listen HERE.

“FIGHT THE POWER”

To revolutionize make a change, nothin's strange
People, people, we are all the same
No, we're not the same
Cause we don't know the game
What we need is awareness, we can’t get careless
You say what is this?
My beloved lets get down to business
Mental self defensive fitness
Bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see
in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say…fight the power.

The group Public Enemy was one of the first hip hop groups to build their entire image on their political views. The song “Fight the Power” is regarded by many as PE’s anthem, and is one of their most popular hits. According to Rolling Stone, Public Enemy is "Arguably the most important and politically controversial group of its time, Public Enemy introduced a hard, intense, hip-hop sound and vocal delivery that changed the course of rap and influenced a generation of artists." In this particular interview, Chuck D of Public Enemy discusses the "poisons that are seeping into society.... like carbon monoxide", how hip hop artists today are fighting to be the same, and the effect of hip hop on society today.

This is a video for Immortal Technique's song "Bin Laden". Also featured on the track is Mos Def and Eminem. The song was very controversial when it was released in 2005. Immortal Technique is critical of the Bush Administration (the chorus of "Bush knocked down the towers" is sampled from a Jadakiss song) and previous Republican presidents, saying "And of course Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons; we sold him that shit, after Ronald Reagan's election".

Immortal Technique (born Felipe Coronel) was raised in New York City and grew up surrounded by poverty, discrimination, and violence. He received multiple assault charges and ended up going to jail for a 1-2 year sentence. While in jail, he began to write down what he experienced as a child and what he saw around him at the time, he occasionally participated in verbal battles and started to create songs with the lyrics he had compiled. Once he was paroled, he returned to New York City and began battling full time. Tech was known for his brutal honesty mixed with strong political views. He has refused to ever sign to a label and prefers to have complete control over his music. After September 11th, he became even more politically inclined and has recently began speaking on hip hop and political panels.