Question: How has the impact and legacy of Hip-Hop/Rap culture in Philadelphia impacted the current state of social movements like the Black Lives Matter movement?
Project Description: Since the 1980s, Hip- Hop and Rap culture has blossomed in the city of Philadelphia. Many of these rappers from Philadelphia grew up experiencing the struggles that many minorities have faced for decades on end. Early rappers like Black Thought and Lady B used their raps as a way of highlighting the various struggles in the community. With the rising popularity of Rap in these impoverished communities, many musicians have rose in popularity giving a platform to social issues. Rappers like Black Thought and Lady B had trailblazed a path for their communities so that they could use Rap to voice their issues. This has given rise to rappers like Meek Mill, a Philly native who used his experiences to bring a voice and change to many social issues like criminal justice reform. With my project, I want to explore the history of Hip-Hop in Philadelphia to see how it gave many impoverished communities a voice. I will be investigating Philadelphia native rappers and their impact on their communities. How has rap culture helped impoverished communities? How have rappers from Philadelphia bolster the Black Lives Matter and criminal justice movement? From these questions I will put all of this together to show the rise of rap and Philadelphia and how it has brought to light many social justice issues.
Format: Instagram Infographic Gallery
Secondary Sources:
Betcha Don’t Know These Philly Rappers for Their Social Impact By Tony Abraham. “Betcha Don’t Know These Philly Rappers for Their Social Impact.” Generocity Philly. August 30, 2016. https://generocity.org/philly/2016/08/30/philly-rappers-giving-back/.
This article is about different rappers from Philadelphia and their impact in their communities. It shows how these rappers have given back to their community and gave their communities platforms to talk about ongoing issues. I will be using this article to show how many rappers from Philadelphia have used their platform to better help their communities.
Pendleton, Tonya. “From Lady B to Meek Mill, Tracing the Roots of Philly Hip-hop – June 15, 2018.” WHYY. June 13, 2018. https://whyy.org/articles/from-lady-b-to-meek-mill-tracing-the-roots-of-philly-hip-hop-june-15-2018/.
This article from WHYY talks about the roots of Philly Hip-hop and all of its history. This article talks about the great impacts Philadelphia rappers had from Lady B all the way to present day with Meek Mill. I will be using this article to show the history of Hip-Hop in Philadelphia. This article talks in depth of the history of great rappers from Philadelphia past and present which shows the growth of rap in Philadelphia. This popularity growth of rap shown in this article shows how impoverished communities in Philadelphia now have a voice.
Primary Sources:
McLaughlin, Eliott C. “Plea Deal Ends Meek Mill’s Years of Excessive Punishment, Prosecutor Says.” CNN. August 27, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/27/us/meek-mill-probation-over/index.html.
This article by CNN is about Meek Mill and the conclusion of his court case. After over 10 years and a huge legal fight with the Philadelphia court system, Meek Mill accepted a plea deal to end his probation. This case caught widespread attention as Meek Mill (a very well known rapper) was using his rap platform to show the flaws in our current criminal justice system. I will be using this article to show how rap in Philadelphia has given many communities in Philly the opportunity to speak out about criminal justice reform.
Owens, Cassie. “The Philly Rappers Making One-minute, Socially Conscious Clips for Instagram.” Https://www.inquirer.com. October 22, 2018. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/philly-rap-underground-instagram-gunjin-kprice-fisbanga-battle-freestyle-video-viral-20181022.html.
This article by the Philadelphia Inquirer showcases independent rappers and using social media as a platform to speak out about social justice issues. Because of the blossoming popularity of rap in Philadelphia and the rise of social issues, many independent artists have taken to social media to speak out about issues. I will use this article for my project to show how the rap has impacted many rappers to speak out in their community to bolster social justice movements.
Rushing, Ellie. “Meet the Youth Rap Group Bringing Songs of Racial Justice to the Streets of Philly Protests.” Https://www.inquirer.com. June 22, 2020. https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/music/young-flames-philadelphia-youth-rap-guns-down-george-floyd-20200622.html.
This article by the Philadelphia Inquirer is about a rap group from Philly that uses music to promote social justice issues. This comes from the protests for George Floyd as many people took to the streets to speak out about racial justice. From this article we see how many people in the Philadelphia community are using rap to speak out about social justice issues. I will be using this article to show many people art using music like rap to bring social justice issues like the Black Lives Matter movement and Criminal Justice reform to light.