As an indisputably black musical invention, rap music holds an honoured place amongst the myriad of other historically black music forms including jazz, blues, and rock ’n’ roll. Most notable is the fact that it’s the only black music form so thoroughly enjoyed in the mainstream, globally, by massive numbers of non-black music enthusiasts, and where the overwhelming group of the genre’s heroes are black.
Naturally, this brings up a bunch of complex questions, many of which are good to raise during BHM, as African diasporic communities reflect on their histories, on the here and now, and on going black to the future. Why? It’s simple. Rap does not exist on a separate island from society, where racism has been rearing its ugly head far too often. In fact, one could argue that we’ve been in the midst of an anti-black racist renaissance over the last few years. University of Montreal students mocking Jamaican culture, while in blackface in late 2011? Well, hey, if guys sporting KKK Halloween costumes with nooses in Campbellford, ON, are actually winning awards, while students at the University of Toronto were similarly sporting blackface a few years earlier, then maybe there’s some weird moronic virus spreading.
And it brings to mind why maybe more protest poetry, or what is dubbed Conscious Rap music might be needed — and played across mainstream media platforms, both on and offline. Sure, the term Conscious Rap has become a part of some confusing didactic labeling process that many esteemed wordsmiths from KRS-One and Talib Kweli to Kendrick Lamar have been trying to shed, as politically inspired MCs. But turning up the volume on rap music with a message, any message that doesn’t involve overindulging in the three Bs — booze, ‘babes and blunts — would be refreshing on a few levels.
London, ON-bred Shad represents a new breed of anti-racist, pro-black rhymer who is essentially communicating some of what Public Enemy’s Chuck D might’ve rhymed about, but in a more subtle (yet complex) way that suits his own generation’s needs.
Shad “Brother (Watching)”
Buzzy Compton-based MC Kendrick Lamar also embodies a new breed of raptivist rhymer who, much like Tupac (whom he idolizes), is able to capture the complexity of black struggle and identity, with no apology for offending the weak at heart. As he once remarked to Rolling Stone: “Yeah, I liked Mos Def coming up. I liked Snoop, too”
Kendrick Lamar “Hiii Power”
Will any of this positive lyrical activity stop GOP representatives from calling Obama a tar baby, or stop them from sending offensive chimpanzee e-mails? Maybe not. But we can only remain hopeful.