The Connection Between Hip Hop And Politics
Rap and politics are contemporary issues with a timeless history. What we know today as hip hop only comes about through the unique mixture of African griot traditions, Jamaican cultural art, and Black American experience. With a mixture like this, it would be impossible to create art that is not political. The connection between hip hop and politics is a powerful one that gives expression and voice to a community that is so often trapped under the weight of oppression.
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Our magazine explores this connected history. The politics of rap have a strong topic ever since the art emerged in the 1970s. Whether it's rap being falsely blamed for a world’s evils or people noticing the nuance and truth in the music, rap has had a storied political history.
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We want to explore the space between rap and politics. The earliest rap artists were deeply connected into their political voice and this history only grows more apparent as time moves forward. Today’s hip hop artists are more political than ever and their political expression has only become more nuanced and eloquent.
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There’s no denying that hip hop and politics are strongly connected. Our magazine wants to lift up the voices of people who are exploring this connection. If we truly want to understand hip hop, we are going to need to understand the political conditions that shaped its birth and growth.
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The music and the art that we love are always political. Even the most otherwise apolitical art still exists, and is created and viewed, in concert with the political context in which it exists. This is just as true for hip hop as it is for any other form of art.
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Let’s listen to the political truths in the voices of hip hop. Our magazine is always looking to publish voices with a strong understanding of the politics of rap. Check out our articles today.
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