Let's face it - U.S. politics revolves around a bunch of old baby boomers who are still fighting all the same battles, and the majority of media outlets serve only to reinforce this agenda. The HHL politics section reports on politics from a hip-hop perspective, and current events that matter to the hip-hop generation. Our goal is to provide insight into the world of politics from the hip-hop perspective.
It’s just after 11 a.m. on a hazy Memorial Day in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. Outside Tillie’s of Brooklyn, a trendy café near the corner of DeKalb and Vanderbilt avenues, a multiracial group of a dozen young men and women arrange themselves in a semicircle to be briefed on their itinerary for the afternoon.
Standing before them is the author and activist Kevin Powell, 42, who holds up a voter registration card. “You all have a working knowledge of local politics,” Powell says. “You’re gonna hear people say, ‘I don’t think my vote matters,’ but you gotta have a quick response.” Soon after, the lively group splits up and veers into different directions, hauling campaign literature, voter registration news materials and bottles of water. (more…)
John McWhorter, author of “All About the Beat,” and Glenn Loury of Brown University debate the political value of hip-hop - and both make some interesting points. From the New York Times.
Renowned rapper and activist Immortal Technique, in conjunction with Fat Beats Record Store, will be encouraging the hip-hop generation to register to vote at his record release party in New York for his third album, “The 3rd World.” News sources confirm that the party will start at midnight on Monday, June 23rd at the New York location of Fat Beats Record Store.
Immortal Technique and Fat Beats owner and founder Joseph Abajian decided to include a voter registration booth at his record release party with the shared goal of getting the hip-hop generation involved in the presidential election. Says Mr. Abajian, “The original intent of hip-hop was to lead a more informed, righteous life by getting kids out of gangs and educating them.” (more…)
Somerville, MA - Cerebral palsy has rendered his hands useless and confined him to a wheelchair, but activist Keith Jones is anything but constrained. Rather then succumb to resentment or sink into a system that has left so many others with disabilities behind, Jones, 38, has taken life by storm.
The multitalented entrepreneur who was recently featured in the documentary “Labeled Disabled” has self-produced two hip-hop albums, can write with his feet, and on June 20 will officially announce the news that he is running for John Kerry’s seat in the U.S. Senate. (more…)
I see ol’ G Dubb gettin’ funky with the daps! UK News sources today reported on President Bush’s “hip-hop handshake,” which appeared to rattle British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a little during Bush’s final European tour stop yesterday. If Obama would’ve done some shit like this, it would’ve been labeled a some kind of Anti-American ghetto pound, or even another “terrorist fist jab,” right?
The 2008 Third Bi-Annual National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) will be held August 1-3, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The NHHPC is a bi-annual gathering of social justice activists, organizers, students, journalist, scholars, artists and concerned citizens who come together to define the political agenda of the Hip Hop community.
On July 28-31, 2008, a pre-convention will be held called “The State of Hip Hop,” which will include a film festival, concerts, art exhibits, academic symposium and Hip Hop dance contests. Thousands of young activists, educators, entertainers, journalists, artist, students and concerned citizens are planning to come to Las Vegas to discuss the role of Hip Hop culture in political and social activism at the 3rd Convention of the NHHPC. (more…)
Hip-hop has always been political. It was founded as a genre that detailed the socioeconomic problems New York City youths encountered in the 1970s. But four years ago hip-hop stepped into the arena of electoral politics.
Sean “Diddy” Combs launched the Vote or Die campaign to encourage people to vote. Russell Simmons’s Hip-Hop Summit Action Network took an active role in registering voters. A Hip Hop Convention in New Jersey sought to create an agenda of issues important to the community. (more…)
I saw this cat open up for Kweli once, and he ripped it. Soobax, (pronounced “sohbah”) the first single from K’naan’s upcoming album “The Dusty Foot Philosopher Deluxe Edition,” is percussion-fuelled protest music at its finest. Set in K’naan’s native Somalia, the song is a fervent look at life in a war-torn country ruled by competeing warlords and their gangs. (more…)
After a long campaign that has been credited by many pundits for effectively transcending the race issue, Senator Barack Obama has now directly confronted the delicate topic. Following a mainstream media firestorm about recently-publicized and reprehensible comments from Obama’s former church pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the senator delivered a highly anticipated and powerful speech on race relations in America Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Moreover, it was the most courageous and brutally honest discussion about race that I have ever heard from a politician in my lifetime – let alone one running for President. (more…)
It’s just after 11 a.m. on a hazy Memorial Day in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. Outside Tillie’s of Brooklyn, a trendy café near the corner of DeKalb and Vanderbilt avenues, a multiracial group of a dozen young men and women arrange themselves in a semicircle to be briefed on their itinerary for the afternoon.
Renowned rapper and activist Immortal Technique, in conjunction with Fat Beats Record Store, will be encouraging the hip-hop generation to register to vote at his record release party in New York for his third album, “The 3rd World.” News sources confirm that the party will start at midnight on Monday, June 23rd at the New York location of Fat Beats Record Store.
Somerville, MA - Cerebral palsy has rendered his hands useless and confined him to a wheelchair, but activist Keith Jones is anything but constrained. Rather then succumb to resentment or sink into a system that has left so many others with disabilities behind, Jones, 38, has taken life by storm.
The 2008 Third Bi-Annual National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC) will be held August 1-3, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The NHHPC is a bi-annual gathering of social justice activists, organizers, students, journalist, scholars, artists and concerned citizens who come together to define the political agenda of the Hip Hop community.
Hip-hop has always been political. It was founded as a genre that detailed the socioeconomic problems New York City youths encountered in the 1970s. But four years ago hip-hop stepped into the arena of electoral politics.
After a long campaign that has been credited by many pundits for effectively transcending the race issue, Senator Barack Obama has now directly confronted the delicate topic. Following a mainstream media firestorm about recently-publicized and reprehensible comments from Obama’s former church pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the senator delivered a highly anticipated and powerful speech on race relations in America Tuesday in Philadelphia.
