On “One Four Love,” from the 2000 project Hip Hop for Respect, several rap stars team up to fight the powers that be, in response to the 1999 murder of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was shot 41 times by NYPD plainclothes officers in the Bronx.
The pain and suffering as a result of those tragedies have accounted for some of the most impassioned songs denouncing various law enforcement agencies and calling for reform - if not abolition - of police forces nationwide. However, specific instances, such as the assault of Rodney King, as well as the murders of Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Jeremy McDole, and countless others at the hands of the police have sent the hip-hop community into a rage. famously taking the LAPD and other police departments across the country to task with the incendiary salvo “ Fuck tha Police” in 1988 to KRS-One undressing African-American officers abusing their power on “ Black Cop” in 1993, artists from all regions aired their grievances with the racially-motivated tactics of the boys in blue. Before and after Chuck D and Public Enemy helped coin that phrase with their seminal 1989 contribution to the Do The Right Thing soundtrack, hip-hop artists have spoken on the strained relationship between the criminal justice system and the Black community, with law enforcement being the main target of that ire.ĭuring the ’80s and ’90s, the anger built from decades of watching minorities being victimized by those sworn to serve and protect began to spill into the lyrics of rap’s biggest stars. In hip-hop, “fighting the powers that be” is a sentiment and call to action that is all too familiar. In light of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests and calls for justice worldwide, we look back on 10 instances where rap artists were inspired to speak out against police brutality and corruption on wax.
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