Hip Hop 101 for Baby Boomers

Never forget that the hip-hop you see on the TV and hear on the radio is the hip-hop that has been pre-approved for you by huge multinational corporations. Despite the materialism and misogyny that is displayed in the vast majority of rap videos, there is a long tradition of left-wing, Malcolm X and Karl Marx inspired hip-hop whose purpose is the education and radicalization of the urban underclass. In fact I would argue that, just like jazz and rock and roll before it, much of hip-hop's popular image as decadent, amoral, and materialistic is a propagandistic myth designed to dillute the culture's radical political message.







UPDATE: Sonya has a fun saga about her time with the Coup on her Post-It Comix blog.