The tension was always there, you just weren't listening


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"And we hate po-po. Wanna kill us dead in the street for sure," - Kendrick Lamar, 2015

Since George Floyd Was murdered in Minneapolis by police officers, there has been a lot of discussion about race relations in the United States. There has been a lot of great discussion between people but there has also been a lot of arguing and clashing to a stand still- a mixed bag.

Surprisingly enough, so are the avid white listeners have also been acting surprised an appalled at these riots. Like these protests and riots have come out of no where, like they just decided one day they were going to destroy their community. This is simply not true.

Rappers like Kendrick Lamar, YG and Jay-Z have been talking about a systemic bias against people of color since the invention of hip-hop. People just weren't listening or at the very least have been brushing them off as thuggish lyrics railing against our protectors.  

We've known about these issues for decades. We've played music talking about it at parties while we got fucked up during college. We quoted their lyrics for posts on Instagram and twitter and we've certainly debated some of these verses as the greatest of all time. We even cheered for Kendrick Lamar for winning a Pulitzer for his album DAMN.

I mean, right-wing commentators on The Five dismissed the idea there was brutality and violence in the African American community by poo-pooing Lamar for his lyrics in "Alright," from To Pimp a Butterfly.

On Fox and Friends, Rudy Guiliani called Beyonce's performance outrageous for using the Superbowl as a platform to attack the police.

Those same people are acting shocked and appalled that these oppressed people and their allies have even conceived protesting police violence, as if the music was never there. 

While I can understand conservatives for acting like deer in head lights. I'm appalled that people who have listened to the music and claim to be supporters have turned their back on the African American community. Like I wrote in yesterday's post - they need us now more than ever to march, speak out or at the very least signal boost what's going on.

They've been trying to tell us about this issue for years and while some things have changed for the better, a good majority of things have not for people of color in America. So to reiterate what's going on, here are a handful of songs that talk about police brutality or systemic oppression to prove that these rappers have been trying to tell you about for years:

99 Problems - Jay-Z, 2003
Close Your Eyes (and count to fuck) - Run the Jewels Ft. Zack De la Rocha, 2014
One time comin'- YG, 2016
Sound of Da Police - KRS-One, 2000
Illegal Search - LL Cool J, 1990
Crooked Officer - Geto Boys, 1993
Trapped - 2Pac, 1991
Don't Die - Killer Mike, 2012


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