What are some examples of important political hip-hop lyrics?
More than half a century since Grandmaster and the Furious Five released The Message in 1982, there have been many watershed moments in which political hip-hop songs have captured the attention of the public. Here are a few of them:
F–k the Police by N.W.A (1988)
N.W.A, a rap group from Compton, California, used this piece to highlight how cases of police brutality and systemic racism were interconnected. It channelled Black America’s outrage over racial inequity and the lack of law enforcement reform.
Lights start flashin’ behind me
But they’re scared of a ni–a so they mace me to blind me
But that sh*t don’t work, I just laugh
Because it gives ’em a hint not to step in my path
In a 2017 HBO documentary, The Defiant Ones, several members of N.W.A explained the events that led up to F–k the Police. Although many of the members had experienced police harassment, unwarranted stops and aggressive treatment by law enforcement in Compton California, the pivotal event was several members, Dr Dre and the late Eazy E being arrested for shooting paintballs at cars on a freeway sometime before the release of the song in 1988.
Although the arrest was justified, the aggressive nature of the arrest from the police was the tipping point for the creation of F–k the Police.
The song led to significant controversy and backlash from law enforcement agencies. The FBI responded by sending a formal letter of complaint to the group’s record label, condemning the lyrics for what it claimed was an inaccurate portrayal of law enforcement and incitement of violence against police officers.
At the time, some major radio stations in the US refused to play the song. Detroit Police Sergeant Larry Courts issued a warning to N.W.A not to perform the controversial song during its concerts.
On June 19, 1989, during a performance at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, however, the group defied the order from the Detroit police and began playing the song, at which point police officers stormed the stage and disconnected the equipment. Amid the chaos, the group members fled the stage and returned to the hotel. They were arrested in the hotel lobby by Detroit police that same night.
After a brief detainment, they were released without charge.
Fight the Power by Public Enemy (1990)
Public Enemy, a politically charged rap group that was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an institution celebrating the musical accomplishments of artists who have shaped rock and roll, in 2013, used this song as a rallying cry against systemic discrimination and social inequalities, with a particular focus on the struggles faced by marginalised groups, most notably African Americans.
To revolutionise make a change nothing’s strange
People, people we are the same
The song called for collective action to confront oppression, as reflected in the lyrics,
What we need is awareness, we can’t get careless
The song also prompted controversy for its accusation against Elvis Presley of appropriating Black music, with the lines:
Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant s- to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was simple and plain
Mother f- him and John Wayne
‘Cause I’m Black and I’m proud
I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped
Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps
Arnold said: “[This was] Chuck D affirming his Black identity and saying his influences – which include Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur) and Louis Farrakhan – haven’t been celebrated by the mainstream US in the same vein as the actor John Wayne, who was a white supremacist. The implication is that US iconography is also majorly white supremacist, and that’s the power Public Enemy fights against.”
Fight the Power was the main soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, which won Best Picture and Best Director from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association that year.
At the time, the lyrics prompted outrage among fans who considered Elvis Presley and John Wayne US culture icons.
Fight the Power was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance at the 1990 Grammy Awards.
U.N.I.T.Y by Queen Latifah (1993)
The song U.N.I.T.Y. confronted critical issues of respect, empowerment and solidarity, with specific focus on the Black community. The song challenged the objectification and mistreatment of women while making an impassioned plea for mutual understanding between Black men and women.
By daddy smacking mommy all around
You say I’m nothing without ya, but I’m nothing with ya
A man don’t really love you if he hits ya
This is my notice to the door, I’m not taking it no more
I’m not your personal wh*re, that’s not what I’m here for
And nothing good gonna come to ya til you do right by me
Brother you wait and see (Who you calling a b***h?)
U.N.I.T.Y. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in 1995, earning a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. The song climbed to number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and made an even stronger showing on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it reached number 7.
Changes by Tupac Shakur (1998)
This song was released two years after Tupac Shakur, also known popularly as 2Pac, was killed in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After nearly 30 years of investigation and speculation, authorities apprehended Duane “Keffe D” Davis on September 29, 2023, charging the ex-gang leader as an accomplice in the killing of Tupac Shakur in 1996. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin on February 9, 2026.
The song Changes was recorded in 1992 but remixed by Trackmasters producer Poke and included on Tupac’s Greatest Hits compilation in 1998.
The song explored issues of systemic inequality, racial injustice, economic hardship, community violence, and the pressing demand for transformative social reform.
Cops give a damn about a negro,
pull the trigga, kill a ni**a, he’s a hero
The track aimed to shine a light on the normalisation of police violence against Black people.
Give the crack to the kids, who the hell cares, one less hungry mouth on welfare,
With these lyrics, the song exposed how the crack-cocaine drug epidemic had devastated Black communities, suggesting a calculated effort by the US government and state authorities to deepen cycles of poverty.
Tupac invokes the memory of Black Panther Party co-founder Huey Newton, whose call for resistance ended in his violent death:
Time to fight back, that’s what Huey said, two shots in the dark, now Huey’s dead.
Although the reality of what is being expressed appears grim, there are more hopeful elements.
Take the following lines, for example:
We gotta start makin’ changes. Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers
I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other
With these lyrics, Tupac advocates for unity and solidarity within the Black community.