Now I know this has been a topic for, really a few years now, but with recent comments from two of our leaders in Hip-Hop amidst recent events in our country…I’ve realized these guys have nothing more to say that’s even worth hearing at this point because music, the arts, and culture have been hijacked and none of these artists can be the voice of the people, because they are no longer of the people. Jay-Z is out here defending being a billionaire when the world is on the brink of economic collapse and the poors are having to use klarna cards for gas. How out of touch can you be what are we doing here?

But why are you looking at celebrities for political opinions? Where the f*** is Ja? And why is it Hip-Hops responsibility?

The Chappelle skit is classic, but it created this idea that looking to our artists to be a voice for us is absurd. But historically, art has long played a role in politics and revolution. Jose Marti of Cuba was a poet that wrote and supported revolution for his people, he even died for the cause, and now his words live on in the song Guantanamera. Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Victor Jara, were international artists and activists. In the states we had Marvin Gaye write What’s Goin On. Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Gil Scott and Nina Simone all wrote songs that represented the political voice of the people at the time. But it’s not just black genres, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, CCR, Guthrie, The Cranberries, even f***ing u2.
So sure it’s not Hip-Hops responsibility, but historically political music has had a place in the American zeitgeist and especially hip-hop itself, and it has been an unsurprising irony that while the business of hip-hop has been at its biggest the genre has been at its quietest.

Over 50 years ago America’s hero Muhammad Ali stood up against the government who wanted to send him to war in Vietnam, and he gave up prime years of his career in jail standing up for what he believed in. Nina Simone fought for the civil rights movement and suffered for fighting in what she believed in. They believed in righteousness over monetary gain. Do you think anyone currently in the industry would put themselves at risk like our heroes of the past?

Now this might seem like a tangent but stay with me here because this is where I think the answer to all of this lies. Whenever people would criticize drill music and all the music videos that were going viral where these rappers were smoking on packs, the defenders would say that you can’t blame the rappers because they are just making music about their material conditions. Now regardless of whether or not you think that’s an excuse or absolves them of any wrongdoing, it is a statement of fact that those rappers are talking about what they know and about their material conditions.

And that is also the answer for why we no longer have artists that are making music that voices the political concerns of the people. They can no longer relate or be our voice because they are no longer of us. All our heroes have been bought and paid for. And the few artists that did struggle amongst us at one point have been so insulated from the regular man that even if they could relate to us, they wouldn’t dare risk losing it all and being one of us again.

TLDR F*** Jay-Z

seems like a worthwhile read. gonna give this a read when i have more time

Yea I've been wondering this too. Good post OP

Conscious music is looked down upon. When rap was at its peak conscious music was expected. Pac, Cube, Dre etc.. The downfall of conscious/political rap has coincided with the downfall of culture as a whole. Now in America? just a bunch of idiots and w****s. Obviously being very general and pessimistic but thats what it feels like living here these days lol (not complaining about the second part )

Capitalism tends to twist the products of a society from primarily being objects produced for their social use to objects produced for finance and commodity. Capitalism historically moved from being a vehicle of trade to a monster that consumes the entire being of a entity

Houses used to be lived in, cars used to be driven, jobs used to be contributive roles in society. They are now viewed through the lens of equity and wage before their socially relevant use-case

In the same sense, art and culture have been entirely hijacked by the vehicle of capitalism. The expressions of critical thought, of the human condition, or reflection etc. are, in the most popular places of society, simply vehicles of finance and profit in the most fundamental sense. BUT, the social consequences of these behaviors in art is dangerous for capitalism, and are thus replaced with aesthetics that SEEM profound or progressive to maintain appeal

The artist has been traded out with the celebrity. The ego of the creative does not serve humanity and social concepts but capital. People in the past looking to popular musicians for social concepts is different from now because of how the industry, and artists themselves, see the craft.

Do not let the state of things make you question the way things fundamentally are in art, but rather the way we produce and treat art TODAY. Capitalism has made today different from the past.

It’s about what we choose to make the future look like

Ppl soft asf these days its that simple

Why inconvienience myself when i can live an amazing life otherwise

Selfish

There was already a thread on here where some people were posting underground music that had some sort of political message. It sparked some convo in the streamer / YouTube space. I think YNS may have touched on this. FD Signifier and maybe Mike Eagle as well. It’s just definitely not in the mainstream. Mainstream rap artists are all bought and paid for by corporations. And America is not a country it is 15 corporations in a trench coat (Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing, Pfizer, Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta

with the music industry becoming more professionally constrained and the internet having raised the cost of speaking your mind along with the risk of alienating specific groups that organize in echo chambers it's really no surprise... any sort of backlash today is instant and global, it's just not worth it

I think as nobodies we're not really in a position to tell someone whose every word is scrutinized under a magnifying glass what to do

All those "if you ain't talking money" raps were a catalyst to the bullshyt

Eh, i think blaming capitalism for every woe of humanity is sorta lazy

A lot of things that are tangental to capitalism have been very problematic i.e. technology, death of culture etc

Plus the industry looks like it just sucks ass and whittles away some of the brightest of stars

Can you imagine a prime Pac or Cube during the Trump era?

So basically its all Jay's fault

Will read later, seems pretty in depth.

Love threads like this @op

Yea this is where what americana said is very on point, the industry figured out how to cycle thru bullshit artists to dominate financially while supressing real artists

Basically its easier to make money when the bar is low and u have cornered the market. Weve been conditioned to be dumb and easily entertained

That snake can rap but yeah

Capitalism is a system of production, it’s not tangential to social issues but fundamental, since social conditions remain determined (and determinative of) a foundational system of material economics and production.

The production and use of culture and technology must be viewed through the lens of capitalism.

While I don't think looking to artists to be a voice for the masses is an absurd thing and it is definitely something that should be encouraged, because like you said there's precedent for it. I still dont think it should be their responsibility or something to criticize them for if they dont. For every Nina Simones, Fela Kutis, Harry Belafontes during those times, there were probably significantly more artists that didn't use their art in the same manner. Which is why the former stood out.

Because there's just people who aren't equipped to utilize their art as medium for political thought and when they attempt to, they look and sound crazy....La Russell for example.

And the artists that are capable of doing so, are more hesitatant to do so because how music listeners are in this day and age. They dont really want political and concious music all that much. And when they do get it, they nitpick it a part to pieces. That shift happened back in 2016 tbh. I think we give artists and labels a lot of s*** but not nearly enough smoke to the fans and listeners for how that type of music is received.

boooo. i'd rather listen to Hov than you tbh

@op i think we need to expect more from our artists i agree. we're in a place of real existential peril, maybe more than any other time in the 21st century.

we need a culture to meet it. not what we have which is just dancing at the end of the world.

specifically for america we are so under educated we barely have the ability to imagine anything let alone anything liberating

i think you should engage sincerely with this topic and maybe reflect on why you're defending someone who's a zionist shill that's sold out a lot of people a little bit of money

everyone i know who has to tour to make a living, has fully turned on their own passion.

whenever i talk to them they just tell me how much they struggle with keeping up with their schedule and how sad it makes them to have to constantly do "x,y, and z" because they're in their 30s and now don't really have any other career options.