Hip Hop: The Voice Of a People

Paper Summary:

The paper tells us that Hip Hop artists powerful lyrics describe the crack cocaine epidemic in detail. For examplethe paper tells us that many songs describe The ''Dark Alliance", which attempts to link the CNA and the crack epidemic. The paper also explains that other songs describe the tragic results that blacks underwent due to the crack epidemic and also the torment that the black city communities faced. The paper notes, however, that many Americans do not believe that these songs are a legitimate source of information.

From the Paper:

"Hip hop artists powerful lyrics have been ringing throughout popular culture in America for years; however, it was not considered a legitimate source of information in the eyes of many powerful Americans. This is painfully apparent when in the 1980's rapper Chuck D famously said "rap is the CNN of Black America.(np)" It would take nearly two decades after the crack cocaine epidemic for a "legitimate" source of information to not only to tell the story, but also put it on center-stage. In 1996 a journalist named Gary Webb from a small California newspaper wrote an article that put the world of media in absolute turmoil. Webb wrote about the racist travesties that had been affecting Los Angeles since the 1980's. His article titled "The Dark Alliance" attempted to definitively link a connection between the CIA and the crack epidemic in 1980's. Webb argued that the CIA, in an effort to raise money to finance the Contra revolution to overthrow the Nicaraguan regime, funneled crack cocaine from South America to the streets of Los Angeles. This elaborate system focused on two people, Danilo Blandon and "Freeway" Rick Ross. Blandon, who was apparently working with the CIA, supplied Freeway Rick and in turn Freeway Rick sold it."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "2Pac lyrics." AZ lyrics. 30, Sept 2007 <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/2pac/changes.html>.
• Davis, Mike. "The Hammer and the Rock" City of Quartz. (1990): 291
• Fouche, Rayvon. "The Wretched of the Gulf: Racism, Technological Dramas, and Black Politics of Technology." The Black Scholar Winter 2006: 7-12.
• Goldberg, Robert Alan. "Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America" Mainstreaming Conspiracism. (2001): 234
• "Immortal Technique Lyrics." AZ lyrics. 8,Oct 2007 http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/immortaltechnique/peruviancocaine.html

More papers on Hip Hop: The Voice Of a People:

• Dissertation or Thesis # 53203 : "Hip Hop Music and BEV"
• Analytical Essay # 4265 : "With the Horns of a Lamb and the Voice of a Dragon"
• Film Review # 16861 : "The Birth of a Nation"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: