"No More White Lies, My President is Black". Has American Political Rap Changed with Obama? (eBook)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: 1,0, University of Siegen, language: English, abstract: Nearly 400 years after slavery in the United States (US) begun an African American, actually a man of half African and half American descent, has probably changed the United States forever.
During his election campaign, he promised hope and change. His words inspired millions all over the world, not only in the US. Just by campaigning Obama changed the world‘s views on the United States. Moreover, and this will form the thesis of this paper, Obama has changed Hip Hop as well.

With every step taken in African American history, considering being brought to America as the first and Obama being elected president the most recent one, African American music has changed. Until Obama appeared the changes have mostly been stylistically, afterwards it mostly changed content-wise.

The first chapter of this paper will deal with the first 300 years of African American music in the US and will present an overview of the developments in African American music that lead to Hip Hop as we know it. The second chapter will be about the first decade of Hip Hop, the 1970s. I will describe the circumstances that led to and accompanied the evolution of Hip Hop, with a special focus on Hip Hop‘s birthplace, New York City. Chapter three will deal with the rebellious and radical era of political rap in the 1980s, coined by rap groups such as Public Enemy and Boogy Down Productions.

In chapter four I will discuss the 1990s and its so-called political nihilism. Gangsta rap was and is generally seen as nihilistic and nonpolitical. But, having a closer look at it I will show that Gangsta rappers also reflected the political circumstances around them, and therefore following the traditions of African American music of the preceding decades to criticize those who vice versa criticized them. In addition, to the commercially successful gangsta rap, I will also discuss so-called conscious rap of the 1990s.

The years under the George W. Bush administration will be the topic of the fifth chapter. Bush‘s inner and foreign policies, 9/11 and the disaster of Hurricane Katrina led to a whole new focus of political rap.

The final chapter will deal with Obama and Hip Hop‘s reaction towards him as a person, as a political figure and his politics. Rap has let its skepticism behind, in order to publicly endorse and support a presidential candidate. Vice versa, Obama represents a new political style towards Hip Hop.