Black History Fact: When Hip Hop Took on Everything from Hollywood to Education.. Remember these songs?

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 Public Enemy meets Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube

Burn Hollywood Burn.. This video speaks for itself.. An incredible song and video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6MlwT1lBk0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxBs4f4RIU

Grand Puba founding member of Masters of Ceremony and later Brand Nubian kicked off one of the dopes  songs about education I ever heard… Here he talks about what we’re being taught and how it has major impact did one of the dopest songs aboutt education & the pyschological effects of  racism..The name of the cut is called ‘Proper Education’ click link to hear:  http://bit.ly/cknaJy

In ’92 The Dismasters sampled Martin Luther King & did a Hip Hop version of Black Nat’l Anthem The name of the song was ‘Black and Proud’ …click link to hear:  http://bit.ly/bF1yuz

This is one of the most underrated groups to come out during the Golden Age of Hip Hop… They were Philly based 3xDope.. They had a cut I would rock all the time called ‘Increase the Peace’ where they sampled both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.. It was the first time I had heard the two slain leaders in the same songs..  And incredible piece click link to hear: http://bit.ly/d4CtCO

My home girl DJ Chela from North Carolina turned me onto this song from her fellow North Carolinian .. Its from a dope artist named K-Hill.. The cut features lots of quotes from Malcolm X.. The song is called ‘My People’ click link to hear: http://bit.ly/bbv4JD

Erase Racism featuring Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane & Biz Markie.  

A land mark song that spoke honestly and scared folks half to death back in 199o

click link below to watch..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUg6EuYEKk

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Comments

  1. e-scribblah says

    the first two cuts are interesting, given that Cube has become a major Hollywood star and KRS’ song is currently being used to advertise a new movie about cops with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis.

  2. Robert Jr. James McClendon says

    “When Hip-hop took on everything from Hollywood to Education”. Question – Were they making records to sell units or were they really trying to” take on” the very same people who owned the studio, record labels, video cameras, film, and directors, who they were signing contracts for? Activism is what Bill Cosby talks about, just addressing an issue is often what “Hip-hop” did to make money for the record makers and the people who owned the record labels. Maybe I am just too old for this stuff. Educate people about Dr. Charles Drew and AIDS. Educate people about… I can not tell nobody what to educate any one on during Black History Month, but a lot of this Hip-hop stuff is just bogus, Davey D. Only thing them brothers took on was the part of saleman for those who owned everyt damn thing. Flavor Flav is a great history lesson for our people what all the people listed above are and were truly about – just getting paid. Let’s kick the ballistics, D!

  3. In contrast to today’s standards, hip-hop back then was like a library. Like the manager in “Major League”, I’m getting too old to be diving into lockers (in this case, playlists)…

  4. e-scribblah says

    yeah dave it’s called “Cop Out”. original title: “A Couple of Dicks” (i kid you not). the tagline? “rock out with your glock out” — a ‘comedic’ look at police brutality, no doubt.

    here’s a URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1385867/ . the TV commercials playing now have “sound of da police” in the background.

    i’m not surprised, actually–at least KRS got paid–and if you look at the original PE/Cube/Kane song, it was talking about the lack of black characters in hollywood movies and how they portrayed “jigaboos” when they did appear onscreen.

    so while there are probably more black people on screen nowadays, not much else has changed, except cube is making “family” films now instead of neo-blaxploitation fare.

    i do remember that Kool G Rap/Biz cut, though–easily the most conscious song for both of them. props for bringin’ that one back…

  5. just to address robert’s point, i think hip-hop activism is a double-edged sword. you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. kool g rap may want to erase racism but he’s okay with sexism, a la his treatment of karrine stevens. krs coins the term edutainment then has to license his song to H’wood just so his kids can eat, diluting its message in the process. Cube has well-deserved anger on BHB, but then plays a stereotype in Menace, goes up against a rubber snake in anaconda, and becomes the black chevy chase in some pg-13 movies. Kane says he’s 5% but makes a sex book with Madonna. at least Chuck has kept it real.

    so are we saying hip-hop shouldnt have tried to ‘go conscious’ in the first place? should we aspire to nothing else than pants to the ground and goin’ dumb? i think we need to look at hip-hop as part of a larger societal debate, not an be-all and end-all in and of itself.

  6. Critical Eye says

    Robert:

    I think you may want to look back at some of the Hip Hop put out at that time, and some of the MODERN-DAY UNDERGROUND HIP HOP (yes, I said it: MODERN-DAY) BEFORE you start spouting inconsistencies and fallacies. You stated, “Educate people about Dr. Charles Drew and AIDS”. Actually, KRS-ONE had a song out back in the day called, “YOU MUST LEARN”, in which he rhymes:
    Lewis Latimer improved on Edison/
    CHARLES DREW DID A LOT FOR MEDICINE/.

    Also, Oakland-based rapper PARIS (and NOT PARIS HILTON) stated in his RECENT song, “Evil” the following (look carefully AT THE LAST FEW LINES, Robert – you see what Paris is talking about???):

    After all is said and done here and I could afford/
    I’d concentrate deeply on controllin’ abroad/
    And think about a way to take control of they land/
    I’d create a virus made to murder people en masse/

    Last time was Tuskegee, but now it’s for real/
    HOUSE BILL 15090 would just kill/
    With germs THAT WOULD MURDER WHEN SPERM AND BLOOD DRIPS/
    And kill ‘em all worser than burned, they’d die quick.
    ****NOTE: Look up HOUSE BILL 15090, Robert****

    Also, KRS-ONE, Public Enemy, who celebrated their 20TH – (GET IT?? 20TH), Paris, Queen Yonasda, Crew Grrl Order, NicNac, Jasiri X, X Clan w/Brotha J (who I saw perform about 3 years ago in Covington, KY – yes, you heard me right – THREE years ago), and COUNTLESS OTHERS are STILL making music like that TODAY – but you know what? Too many people, LIKE YOURSELF, are too damn busy expecting eMpTyV, viaCON, Bamboozlin’ Exploitainment Tell-LIEvision, and other mainstream media outlets like that to show the real deal. Mainstream media has one agenda and one agenda only – to pander to the dollar bills that advertisers and corporations throw in their face.

    Check your facts before you speak next time.