Let’s talk about political commentary in popular rap songs.

Rick Ross’s “Hustlin”

“We never steal cars, but we deal hard
Whip it real hard whip it whip it real hard
I caught a charge, I caught a charge
Whip it real hard, whip it whip it real hard”

Clearly Rick Ross has been a victim of racial profiling. All he does is deal, he never did anything as felonious as stealing cars. Despite this fact, the police STILL throw charges at him. Is this an example of drug dealers getting their due comeuppance, or the policemen discriminating against a black man trying to make a living? Rick Ross begs us to ask this question of our society today.

Yung Joc’s “It’s Goin Down”

“Time to set it off let these n*ggas know
Have ya every seen a chevy wit the butterfly doors?
I ride real slow no need to speed
Gotta make sure ya see the buckets on my feet
Feds on my trail but they don’t think i know
I keep my hands clean cuz I never touch dope
Every time I see ‘em look ‘em in they eye
Ask ‘em how I know its me suprise!
Put it in the air rep where ya stay
Take a step back blow the kush in they face
Stuntin is a habit let ‘em see the karats
I’ma make it rain n*gga I ain’t scared to share it”

This is a heartfelt analysis of the modern-day young black man addicted to materialistic extravagance and victimized by the racist government as a direct result of his obvious signs of wealth. Mr. Joc makes it very clear that he has never aided or abetted any drug dealers, yet the federal government insists that he must be, because how else could a young black man afford such possessions as the Chevrolet with the butterfly doors, or even the buckets on his feet? An in-depth analysis of the final couplet of the verse shows an inner sadness to Mr. Joc that the casual listener may not catch. He refers to stunting as “a habit”, which immediately brings to mind a comparison between extravagant spending and drug addiction. Then, the use of the word “rain” in the final line brings to mind the image of falling water– perhaps tears rolling from the cheek of Yung Joc, upset that he must hide his inner anguish behind the “cubes on his neck” and the “black beamer coupes”?

From the first moments of this scathing commentary on society in America, Ghostface holds nothing back:

“Yo, Oh, Yo Rae… I can’t feel my face
My heart pounding and shit (audible heart)
Paranoid as a motherfucker right now, who the fuck?
Close the blinds and shit! Who that? Captain Kirk?
The stark…enterprise, enterprise I was on and some shit?
..I need some pussy though I’m ready for a catwoman or
something f-fuck it, lets go!”

To the casual rap fan, this opening sequence may seem like a simple coked up Ghostface talking nonsense to fellow rapper Raekwon, but there is much more. He refers to his heart pounding and feeling paranoia, which is in reference to the police and federal agents looking to put Ghostface and his associates in jail. The government leaves Ghostface Killah no oppertunity to be succesful and persue his American Dream besides selling cocaine. Here enlies the tradgedy of it all. Ghostface is left with no options but to persue his dream in an illegal way.

Shame America. Shame.

“Some say a drug dealers destiny is reachin the ki’
I’d rather be the man behind the door, supplying the streets
A hundred birds go out, looking like textbooks
when they wrapped and stuffed
four days later straight cash, two million bucks
strictly powder, no cut
your coke is vialed in, whats up?
Y’all beefin over little shit, we sniff, the balance split up”

In this section of his second verse, Ghost conjures up images of textbooks to describe the kilos on cocaine that he is selling. He uses textbooks to show how the inner city schools are underfunded, and the kilos of cocaine become the textbooks to these young people looking at a futre with no options.

Overall, we should be ashamed as a nation that Ghostface Killah has to make a song like Kilo. We need to take a look at ourselves as a nation and realize that WE are pushing the youth towards cocaine dealing. I personally thank you, Ghostface Killah, for making me realize the weight of our actions.

Dem Franchise Boyz and the socio-political ramifications of “White Tee”"

I gotta couple throwbacks it just I choose not to wear them
White tee extravganza n*gga like a foot locker sale
N*ggas think i done fail but my paper stacking a lot
Or you can throw back this but
Partner check my nine
And im a ghetto gangsta white tee laws gone hate ya
Street games with a little fame them hoes gonna chase ya
Can’t escape from this white shit it done covered the map
Like crack did in the 80’s and it took over the trap
Come to the hood and you can find me trapping in my white tee
Standing with a full grill n*ggas might try me so how i be still in my white tee
Rock jeans Tiger green yeah hoes like me
Haters try to bite me
Some try to dislike me
Became a rich n*gga and the feds try to indict me

These young men who go by the nom-de-plume of Dem Franchize Boyz make some startling parallels between three plagues upon the black community:

1. The dominance of a Caucasian, or “white”, society and government while the average African-American is placed into an inferior role.
2. The affliction of cocaine, traditionally found in a white color, upon the black community since the 1980s.
3. The popular craze of black people forced by societal standards to wear “white tees”, a label akin to the yellow Stars of David Jews had to wear during the Holocaust, a sign of the social status and intentions of young African-American males.

The color scheme black/white conflict is dabbled into the imagery throughout these gripping lyrics. Think of the reference to Foot Locker– a store whose mascot wears shirts where black and white stripes are always pushing against one another, in eternal combat. Dem Franchize Boyz attempt to “escape from this white shit”, and the haunting image of young black men running endlessly from this wave of white cocaine, white policemen, white merchants and the white apparel that they sell to the black community, but there is nary a place on the map that can shelter the boyz from this sea of white. Everywhere that anyone of any economic class– especially wealthy African-Americans– goes is ruled by white.

Think of some of the words that these boyz use to rhyme with “white”:

- tight
- excite
- bright

This calls attention to a fact that many etymologists fail to understand when analyzing the word “white”– the racist originators of the English language rhymed white with only words with positive context. Even the only slightly negative word used in the song that rhymes with white– “bite”– is a word that in real life is quite a positive term. Without biting food, we cannot swallow and retain sustinence. Does this imply without white people, we would not be able to LIVE?

Now, think of some of the words that rhyme with “black”, a point of contention that Dem Franchize Boyz subtly and masterfully direct you towards:

- hack
- wack
- lack

The case is made for itself.

The most important political commentary is in the chorus, the chanted affirmation of “Yep in my white tee,” repeated ad nauseum. Why would they repeat the phrase so often when the listener gets the idea after a couple of repetitions? Perhaps the boyz wanted to remind us that they constantly must provide affirmations to the white powers-that-be, giving them exactly what they want, over and over and over again. Perhaps they are answering the white government’s indictments, or perhaps their repetitive “yep” is meant to conjure up the image of slaves repeatedly placating the desires of their masters. Although slavery is over, Dem Franchize Boyz wish to remind us that white is still constantly surrounding and dominating the black community in every shape and form, that one cannot wriggle away from the oppression of the white man and his white vices just as one cannot wriggle out of his own tee-shirt without using his hands. Dem Franchize Boyz use this anthem to remind the black community that only by banding together can they change their own definition and take off their white tee of oppression.

Finally, the matter of how strongly Sharpton complained about hip hop versus Imus is a fair question, but I think it gives Sharpton too much power in this setting and fails to look at other factors. First of all, people were able to become outraged over Imus because of whom he attacked — college students, females, underdogs who made it to the national championship game only to lose to a chronic powerhouse. They had the national attention. Plus, the cumulative impact of Imus’ comments made him an easy target. Also, women’s groups got involved – not just Sharpton and Jackon. NOW, and women’s athletics also staged protests. The Rutgers team spoke out. The internet fueled the story everywhere. Advertisers withdrew sponsorship. The writing was all the wall. These events are lagers than Sharpton ever was. If corporate sponsors backed out of hip hop as they did with Imus, hip hop would reform or dry up as well. The fact is, however, that people really do not care about black women being insulted by black men (with a few exceptions – including Sharpton). Hip Hop brings in billions of dollars. Too many wealthy executives are not going to let a boycott of hip hop take place.