Music For Our Message - Chris "Preach" Smith

Photo Credits: Music Times(top), HeyHeyChante(bottom)


In the wake of the massive movement that is now
taking place nationwide and to some extent globally
in the struggle to decisively put an end to the
murder of Black people by police officers that by one
major estimate takes place every 28 hours in this
country, there has been a major question asked of
hip-hop on a whole: where you at? 

Let’s face it, on a whole, rap has been on a material
bent for quite some time. This has been spurred by
the corporations running labels for profit, artists and
groups all too happy to cash checks because they’ve
made it to the mountaintop, a fan base that swings
wildly from self-serving neutrality to ill-informed
idolatry at times among numerous other reasons. I
make it a point to separate rap from the entire culture
that hip-hop is because at times not doing so obscures
the real gains that continue to be made by the culture.
Among those gains now is the awakening of resistance
and empowerment that is indeed taking place in rap
these past weeks in reponse to the staggering amount
of cases involving the deaths of Black people as a result
of police brutality and ineptitude like Mike Brown, Eric
Garner, Tamir Rice and many others. I say ‘awakening’
because it does remain to be seen what will happen
going forward. But you have to pay attention to a few
notable musical efforts that speak to the heart of what’s
going down.

Photo Credits: Atlanta Black Star(top), RapUp(bottom)

Firstly, one cannot discount the impact of J.Cole right 
now at this time. Cole was one of the first rappers to
physically visit Ferguson, Missouri days after Mike Brown’s
death and the ensuing protest movement that took
place. He did so refusing a whole lot of fanfare and
media requests save for one after the visit. He also
recorded and released ‘Be Free’ in response to the
tragedy. And he’s taken that energy and built on it
with the recent release of his third album, 2014 Forest
Hills Drive. Cole also delivered a stirring performance of
‘Be Free’ during his appearance on ‘Late Night With
David Letterman’. But his impact has been fueled and
buoyed by that of Killer Mike. One half of the immensely
popular duo with El-P, Run The Jewels, the veteran MC
has been on the front lines from the jump. Appearing
on the vitriolic and venomous Fox News to defend the
people and their righteous outrage? Done. Appearing
on CNN and effectively conveying the frustration of
Black and brown people with the police and the system
on a whole? Done. Penning op-eds? Done. All of this
while creating the best hip-hop release of the year. We 
also need to shine a light on the recent words of Yaasin
Bey, put forth here in audio form. The essay has since 
gone viral across many social media platforms and has
been set to music. One can imagine what else Yaasin
may bring forth as someone who has been a vocal leader
in hip-hop. The elder statesman Chuck D of Public Enemy?
He’s never wavered, most recently appearing on ‘The
People’, the latest single from fellow Long Island natives
De La Soul that was released as a rallying song for those
marching and organizing in late November. I recently
had a chance to catch Common and Jay Electronica on
tour in D.C. last weekend and Common’s entire show was
crafted with that aim of support for the protesters across
the nation. When the lack of indictment by the grand jury
of Eric Garner was announced, among the multitude that
were out in the streets protesting the injustice in Times 
Square was Q-Tip. Even Macklemore, taken to task in the
past, showed solidarity out in the streets of Seattle with the
protesters. A shade better than the pop-rap princess 
Iggy Azalea who has gotten renewed fire directed her 
way on social media. Next time she might want to rethink
appropriating Black Panther Party for an awards show
set.

Is rap on a whole going to do a sea change and make
music for these times? Doubtful. But should we belittle &
look past the voices that are advocating, rising up and
speaking out? No. The danger in complaining that there
isn’t something that speaks to you is that you may find
yourself not hearing anything that does. Think about it;
right now, I’ve just listed a few instances where hip-hop
has helped to inform and shape the discourse. Instances
you won’t get from a mainstream media machine. There
may be more voices to add to that music in hip-hop, as
there are in other music genres(notably, the legendary
Stevie Wonder and as a surprise, D’Angelo’s recent album
announcement). The search for the music to go along with
the message of the struggle is not as difficult as you think.
It all boils down to what you choose to hear.