A few months ago I listened to Vic Mensa’s EP There Is A lot Going On and felt almost excited about rap again. The rap I favor to listen is one that moves you. By moves you I do not mean dabbing or whatever else the kids are doing these days. But I mean rap that hits an emotional nerve. It’s the kind of rap that speaks on hardships or heartbreak, injustice and pain. Its brutal honesty strikes a chord even if it’s not personally relatable.
While like the rest of us I like the turn up, my preference has always been what’s now coined as socially conscious rap. As I started listening to Vic’s latest project it hit me as something I knew I was going to enjoy. It’s short and sweet, but packed with enough to make a point. The socio-political charged songs 16 Shots and Shades of Blue highlight Vic’s consciousness with the water crisis in Flint and his apparent disdain for the recent cop shootings in America. Some tracks weaken the EP, but Vic brings it back and closes off nicely with the title track There Is A Lot Going On.
One thing that annoys me about commercial rappers today is not seeing or hearing them speak out about social injustices in their music. They might drop a stirring line on a track, or are engaged in community initiatives but remain quiet in the medium that defines them. Yes there are still many black celebrities, rappers included, who cannot keep quiet. It’s always enlightening to see the outcry of a few celebrity rappers speak out on different platforms like marches and town hall meetings and certain news outlets.
Jay Z released a tribute song Spiritual on Tidal in the wake of the deaths of Philandro Castille and Alton Sterling. Other rappers like Swizz Beatz, Slim Thug, T.I, Master P and Young Buck even have dropped songs confronting the anger and pain on the tragedies of 2016. I feel like we should be hearing more.
I do not want to idealize hip-hop’s past but it’s hard not to in these trying times. The music has progressed and mainstream rap at the moment is defined by trap beats and turning up. While back in the late 80’s and 90’s rap reflected the injustices that was occurring then. Today not much has changed. Young black males are still oppressed and discriminated in America.
Now it seems like it takes a tragic time to spark something. Rappers shouldn’t need a headline to speak up, but should be even more inclined when there is one. Then even, it’s only a certain few and we know who they are. We have Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Twalib Kwele, Common, Killer Mike, Lupe Fiasco, or Mos Def. We call them “socially conscious”, when really they’re just rappers. I don’t like that we are sub-categorizing rappers. While it shows how much rap has evolved that now we put certain rappers in different boxes (still undecided if that’s a good or bad thing), it also implies that rappers who do not fall in this category are unsighted or unconscious, when that is not the case.
All rappers today are, or should be in a sense socially conscious. Most are aware of what is going on and this should be reflected in their music. Yes social media has made this generation of rappers more outspoken and topical. But if a rapper can shed light on his Instagram or Twitter but not through his music then what is the point?
Although we expect this from certain rappers, this doesn’t mean other mainstream rappers cannot talk about these things. Sure some rappers are not qualified to address important issues. But it’s rappers who have made their careers by being “down” and of the people who I think we should see and hear more. This year T.I. released songs We Will Not and Warzone, both were lyrically and visually powerful statements. T.I. isn’t the most political or mindful rapper. Yet throughout his career he still made songs that reflect his surroundings and continues with these tracks. Other rappers like T.I. and Vic are the ones I’m talking about in this post.
No this isn’t a problem solver, more rap songs about police brutality and the ills of being black in America isn’t going to stop bad things from happening. Everyone cannot and won’t be a revolutionary but they should not be silent.
-C