By virtue of its experience, Hip-Hop as an artform in political in nature. In the tradition of early art as old as the Gilgamesh tablets, the words communicate the experience that each emcee is manifesting in the moment. Rap music is a capsule of culture — predominately affording the voiceless a mic to yell out to the universe that they existed. The exclamation is more than just a statement saying that they existed, but that they had something substantial to say.
Chuck D called the rap song, the “CNN of the streets.” In celebration of the new regime in the White House and in acknowledgment that despite how happy we are that 45 is out that we have to hold them accountable (keeping our eyes on the Biden-Harris administration with the same hawk eyes), here are 50 socio-political songs that keep in context the needs of the community as expressed by the gatekeepers on the genre.