As I sit and listen to Crosby, stills, and Nash sing Ohio
I began to wonder
How many artist out there are singing about current politics and social injustice anymore?
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot
If anyone has some damn good politically charged tunes they could recommend it would be much appreciated.
c
True tons
but....alot are screamo emo freak fests
I've never been asked what I'm protesting..intresting
I'm more of a quite riot if you ask me
somethings got to stir me
This war, pro-life, capitalism, and this whole hip hop rap fad thats demoralizing women and grivin ignorant ghetto youth the idea they should pack a nine(j/k) are a few things I feel strongly agianst
but what alternative thinker doesn't feel that way
c
Assuming you do mean "quiet," what then allows you, a quiet rioter, to insist that your musicians riot out loud for you? If you're not, why should they?
Better get used to it. If you can't give a reason, your fight signifies very little.
the ex
the bellrays and the dirtbombs have some rockin' songs addressing racism, and economic disparity (and the dirtbombs do a fantastic cover of stevie wonder's "livin' for the city", as well.)
not current, but still great:
the dicks
crass (althogh i'm not a big of a fan of them as i used to be)
los crudos
born against
reagan youth
frightwig
a.p.p.l.e.
also, sepultura, while not punk, is a great political band.
also, you obviously haven't done much listening to hip-hop/rap. to say that all of it is misogynist, and deals with only gangster shit only reveals your own ignorance. the fugees have some relevant lyrics, public enemy (duh!), old school stuff like grandmaster flash and the furious five has some lyrics that are just as relevant today as they were 15+ years ago, the disposable heroes of hiphoprisy, de la soul has some truly memorable political lyrics, the coup are great from what from little i've heard of them (and even greater live), and gil scott-heron is one of my favorites. and that's the just little hip-hop/ rap that i've listened to. i'm sure there's plenty more progressive, subversive rap out there.
ingorance is not confined to "ghetto" youth, (i hate the word ghetto, but that's besides the point), as you and i and millions of others have proven.
is there a glut of misogynist, repugnant, homophobic rap? sure, but the same thing can be said for punk and hardcore.
/end of my inarticulate, late night rant that really doesn't address your question about current bands, but that i felt like posting anyway.
I never said all rap hip hop
I was aimin it more at radio hip/hop
The stuff that glamorizes the lifestyle
I also never said ignorance was confined to "ghetto" youth
I guess if you want to take it out of context you could come to that conclusion
I just ment I don't appreciate radio rap hiphop and the message (most) of it is sending
c
also, sepultura, while not punk, is a great political band.
Decent list, Miranda, but a.p.p.l.e. and Frightwig always sucked musically. I've still got old albums by both that I feel ripped off for having purchased. Oh, The Coup I think is lame, too. But, the Furious Five and De La Soul are nifty.
Ever lived in a town with a gang problem? It's a lot less romantic than it might seem. It's actually pretty scary.
Actually, yes I have. For years in California. But, when I was a middle-school kid in the UK, I was unaware of the scope of the problem. That album opened my eyes, and prompted me to further research, and an attempt to understand. Therefore I stand by my assertion that not all gang-related rap is without merit.
Also, I fail to see what about my post inferred romanticism. I was extolling the merit of an artistic expression. One that cannot be written off because it is "scary."
Also, I fail to see what about my post inferred romanticism. I was extolling the merit of an artistic expression. One that cannot be written off because it is "scary."
Naw, I didn't mean you were romanticizing gang culture or anything like that but I'm always suspicious of granting depth or artistic merit to people who are basically urban terrorists, though. What i mean is: is the merit in the art of such value that if it didn't exist we would be culturally less than for having not experienced it. I realize that proposition is impossible to quantify but it's still something I wonder about.
Oh, and when I say "gang" I'm not talking about little kids 10-13 years old who join for protection or things like that. I'm talking about career criminals in they're late teens-mid-20's who exist solely by terrorizing people and marking completely bogus and arbitrary lines of "territory".
A.P.P.L.E. Were a band that I always really wanted to like, but they never did anything for me. I think a lot of punks bought their albums 'cause they looked like cool Discharge records or something, but turned out to sound more like a bad cock rock band from Staten Island trying to play anarcho-punk. Which is basically what they were. But I still do enjoy seeing their stickers around the city:
ALL
PUNKS
PLEASE
LEAVE
EARTH!!!
That first N.W.A. album is amazing. Later on the "gansta rap" genre became a cartoon imitation of itself, as all genres eventually do but Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police all those tracks were fucking great. And very few of the songs glorified "gang culture" in my opinion. There were a few lines here and there that were more along the lines of violent fantasy, not very different from the violent fantasies that make up a good portion of metal lyrics or ganster and western movies. I always thought of N.W.A. as the American equivalent of "Oi!" - a working class genre that eventually got appropriated for other nefarious purposes. In the case of Oi! it was a recruiting tool for the National Front and a soundtrack to pointless violence and in the case of "gangsta rap," it became a pre-packaged multi-million dollar corporate product... and a soundtrack to pointless violence.
I mean, I know plenty of people who will sing along with CockSparrer:
"Take 'em all! Take 'em all! Put 'em up against a wall and shoot 'em! Short and tall! Watch 'em fall! Come on boys, take 'em all!"
But when Ice Cube goes off:
"Straight outta Compton, crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube
From the gang called Niggaz With Attitudes
When I'm called off, I got a sawed off
Squeeze the trigger, and bodies are hauled off
You too, boy, if ya fuck with me
The police are gonna hafta come and get me
Off yo ass, that's how I'm goin out
For the punk motherfuckers that's showin out
Niggaz start to mumble, they wanna rumble
Mix em and cook em in a pot like gumbo
Goin off on a motherfucker like that
with a gat that's pointed at yo ass
So give it up smooth
Ain't no tellin when I'm down for a jack move
Here's a murder rap to keep you dancin
with a crime record like Charles Manson
AK-47 is the tool
Don't make me act the motherfuckin fool
Me you can go toe to toe, no maybe
I'm knockin niggaz out tha box, daily
yo weekly, monthly and yearly
until them dumb motherfuckers see clearly
that I'm down with the capital C-P-T
Boy you can't fuck with me
So when I'm in your neighborhood, you better duck
Coz Ice Cube is crazy as fuck
As I leave, believe I'm stompin
but when I come back, boy, I'm comin straight outta Compton"
they're all like "oh no, that's awfully violent, I don't approve of such a message..."
For real though, I don't think there's a better cultural artifact than "Fuck tha Police" that summarizes the psyche of a lot of black inner city youth, especially in L.A., in the late '80's. Maybe Boyz in the Hood, which is an awesome movie. It's an important historical primary source. You really can't blame Ice Cube and Easy muthafuckin E for the way mostly suburban white kids interpreted their documentation of their lives. Now P-Diddy, Biggy, and those clowns: they suck.
In summation:
[Dr.Dre]
Right about now, NWA court is in full effect.
Judge Dre presiding in the case of NWA versus the police department.
Prosecuting attorneys are MC Ren, Ice Cube, and Eazy mother fucking E.
Order, order, order. Ice Cube, take the mother fucking stand.
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth so help your black ass?
[Ice Cube]
You're goddamn right!
[Dr.Dre]
Why don't you tell everybody what the fuck you gotta say?
[Ice Cube]
Fuck the police
Comin’ straight from the underground
Young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority
Fuck that shit, cause I ain't the one
For a punk mother fucker with a badge and a gun
To be beatin’ on, and throw in jail
We could go toe to toe in the middle of a cell
Fuckin with me cause I'm a teenager
With a little bit of gold and a pager
Searching my car, looking for the product
Thinking every nigga is selling narcotics
You'd rather see me in the pen
Then me and Lorenzo rolling in the Benzo
Beat the police outta shape
And when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still can't swallow bread and water
I don't know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down and grabbing his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cause they slam ya down to the street top
Black police showing out for the white cop
Ice Cube will swarm
On any mother fucker in a blue uniform
Just cause I'm from the CPT, punk police are afraid of me
A young nigga on a war path
And when I'm finished, it's gonna be a bloodbath
Of cops, dying in LA
Yo Dre, I got something to say
[Eazy-E]
Fuck the police (4X)
[Dr.Dre]
Example of scene one:
Pull your goddamn ass over right now
[MC Ren]
Ah shit, what the fuck you pulling me over for?
[Dr.Dre]
Cause I feel like it, Just sit your ass on the curb and shut the fuck up
[MC Ren]
Man, fuck this shit
[Dr.Dre]
Alright smartass, I'm taking your black ass to jail
M. C. Ren, will you please give your testimony to the jury about this fucked up
incident.
[MC Ren]
Fuck the police and Ren said it with authority
because the niggaz on the street is a majority.
A gang, is with whoever I'm stepping
and the mother fucking weapon
is kept in a stash box, for the so-called law
wishing Ren was a nigga that they never saw
Lights start flashing behind me
But they're scared of a nigga so they mace me to blind me
But that shit don't work, I just laugh
Because it gives em a hint not to step in my path
To the police I'm saying fuck you punk
Reading my rights and shit, it's all junk
Pulling out a silly club, so you stand
With a fake assed badge and a gun in your hand
But take off the gun so you can see what's up
And we'll go at it punk, I'ma fuck you up
Make ya think I'm a kick your ass
But drop your gat, and Ren's gonna blast
I'm sneaky as fuck when it comes to crime
But I'm a smoke em now, and not next time
Smoke any mother fucker that sweats me
Or any ass hole that threatens me
I'm a sniper with a hell of a scope
Takin out a cop or two, they can't cope with me
The mother fucking villain that's mad
With potential to get bad as fuck
So I'm a turn it around
Put in my clip, yo, and this is the sound [Bang, Bang]
Ya, something like that, but it all depends on the size of the gat
Taking out a police would make my day
But a nigga like Ren don't give a fuck to say
[Eazy-E]
Fuck the police (4X)
[Eazy-E]
Yo, man, what you need?
[Dr.Dre]
Police, open now. We have a warrant for Eazy-E's arrest
Get down and put your hands up where I can see em
Just shut the fuck up and get your muthafuckin ass on the floor [Huh]
Yo Eazy-E, why don't you step up to the stand
and tell the jury how you feel about this bullshit
[Eazy-E]
I'm tired of the mother fucking jacking
Sweating my gang while I'm chilling in the shacking
Shining the light in my face, and for what
Maybe it's because I kick so much butt
I kick ass, or maybe cause I blast
On a stupid assed nigga when I'm playing with the trigger
Of any Uzi or an AK Cause the police always got something stupid to say
They put up my picture with silence
Cause my identity by itself causes violence
The E with the criminal behavior
Yeah, I'm a gangsta, but still I got flavor
Without a gun and a badge, what do ya got?
A sucker in a uniform waiting to get shot,
By me, or another nigga.
and with a gat it don't matter if he's smarter or bigger
[MC Ren: Size don't mean shit, he's from the old school, fool]
And as you all know, E's here to rule
Whenever I'm rolling, keep looking in the mirror
And there's no cue, yo, so I can hear a
Dumb mother fucker with a gun
And if I'm rolling off the 8, he'll be the one
That I take out, and then get away
And while I'm driving off laughing
This is what I'll say
[Eazy-E]
Fuck the police (4X)
[Dr.Dre]
The verdict
The jury has found you guilty of being a redneck,
white bread, chicken shit mother fucker
Wait, that's a lie. That's a goddamn lie
I want justice! I want justice!
Fuck you, you black mother fucker
[Eazy-E]
Fuck the police (3X)
I threw a 4th o'july party and actually pulled out "Straight Outta Compton" and put it on. After a while I just took it off 'cause it's no longer exciting or sounds that good to me. Objectively I can see how it's a great album (or, really, about 1/2 & 1/2) but after having it for 18 years I'm finally bored of it.
out now
Joined: 2006-12-12
Location: Halwey,mn