The political rage of Killer Mike’s “Reagan” is brought to life through the lenses of animation. From the influx of drugs to the Iran-Contra Scandal, President Ronald Reagan’s tenure and its legacy is given an ugly spotlight. Definitely one of the year’s more creative videos (to go along with one of the year’s best albums).
“I’m not on any side of the fence on that one. My thing is let’s just get to the truth…”
Following the political commentary on his single “Words I Never Said” and debate with Bill O’Reilly, Lupe Fiasco joined protesters at the recent “Occupy Wall Street” event in New York City. Fiasco doesn’t outright endorse a specific conspiracy (like the United States planning 9/11), but he does express a high amount of doubt in the accepted story. Lupe also has a big problem of United States’subsequent foreign policy that resulted from that national tragedy.
Chuck D has announced a new art project focused on showcasing the potential dangers of America’s current immigration policies.
Named “By the Time I Got to Arizona,” the painting was made in collaboration with Ravi Dosaj. The SceneFour artist gained immense recognition in Hip-Hop circles when the Village Voice named his art project with the RZA, Victory or Death, the “Greatest Painting of 2010.”
Chuck explains his concept as “a future Arizona border created in a sophisticated collage utilizing a cache of recognizable figures (created over the last 100 years) to show how our ‘nation of immigrants’ has been lost to legislation.” The piece will feature over 30 hidden messages, historical figures and lyrics for the viewer to decipher. This ties in with the piece’s name, with derives from Public Enemy’s 1991 protest song “By the Time I Get To Arizona,” which lambasted then Arizona governor Evan Mecham for not recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday.
500 drafts of the painting have been created, and will become available on March 4. More information is scheduled to be released in the coming weeks via www.theartofchuckd.com and www.legacyoften.com.
Former president Bill Clinton hopes that Lil Wayne’s release from prison this week will be the last time the Young Money CEO finds himself behind bars.
Clinton made the comment yesterday while making media rounds in Pittsburgh to support the region’s Democratic candidates. The question was initially posed as joke, but Clinton took the opportunity to address Wayne and some of his past comments on Hip-Hop culture.
“My daughter introduced me to rap and Hip-Hop music after I said some things she thought were not very smart,” the former president said on the KISS’s 96.1 Morning Freak Show. “This guy’s smart, and he’s got ability and a new chance now. What I hope is it’s not just something to brand him as a cool guy, but that it’ll never happen to him again.”
In 1992, Clinton became embroiled in controversy when he accused Hip-Hop activist, author and artist Sister Souljah of being a racist comparable to David Duke. He made this accusation after Sister Souljah’s comments criticizing white people and the L.A. Riots. This situation had a lasting impression of U.S. politics, and having a “Sister Souljah moment” became known as any time a political figure renounces a controversial group or person that has associations with their party.
18 years later, Clinton can respect the manner in which Hip-Hop artists tackle social issues. However, he feels that some of them become trapped into a cycle of criminality based on their upbringings.
“I think a lot of these people, like any area of life, don’t get successful by being dumb,” Clinton explained. “They’re really smart, but a lot of them had tough lives and almost think it’s cool to get in trouble every now and then, or they don’t know how to stay out. What I hope will happen is that he has a good life now.”
Lil Wayne’s prison release date may come as early as tomorrow (November 3). His eighth studio album, I Am Not a Human Being, is currently number five on Billbaord’s Top 200.
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It’s funny how people hit Clinton with that first “black president” tag during his tenure. Times were different then. Gangsta Rap was seen as the downfall of humanity. For the younger readers, that parental advisory sticker you see on albums now was birthed out of this time period, when you had people like C. Delores Tucker and Tipper Gore actually crusading against record labels and artists who made street music. Clinton kept his distance from Hip-Hop outside of having LL Cool J perform at his 1993 inauguration.
Even now, he keeps a safe political distance. Clinton acknowledges Wayne’s talent, but he’s definitely not giving a cosign to any of his songs. I can’t think of any president outside of Obama who actually has went on record as stating they listen to Hip-Hop and what artists they’re into. And even then, Obama had to tell Ludacris to fall back when the DTP founder got a little too excited during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Who wants to bet Lil Wayne drops a Bill Clinton punchline in his next freestyle/song?
