12 of the Best Political Voices in Hip-Hop
There's a potent strain of leftist politics woven into the history of rap and hip hop, and these artists have been pushing it harder than ever in recent years.
With all the negative attention that Kanye West has been earning for himself in recent days...and months...and years, it's important to remember that he is a political outlier.
The vast majority of the time when rappers involve themselves in politics, they do not align themselves with figures like Donald Trump. There is a long tradition of hip hop artists using their platforms to call attention to important social movements and endorse liberatory left-wing politics.
These 12 artists are some of the most significant voices in hip hop and politics who have made serious efforts to spread important messages, and in some cases have done a lot more than that.
Killer Mike
Political Lyrics: We exploit the youth, we tell them to join a gang / We tell them dope stories, introduce them to the game / Just like Oliver North introduced us to cocaine / In the 80's when the bricks came on military planes —"Reagan"
Killer Mike is both a solo artist and one half of the duo Run the Jewels—along with El-P. He made a name for himself in politics through his vocal, active support for both the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns of democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
His lyrics, as exemplified by "Reagan" off his 2012 album R.A.P. Music are among the most specifically political in the music business, getting into the detailed history of government malfeasance, and making it clear that he has no patience for politics as usual. His Netflix show Trigger Warning explored issues from education to religion and ways to support black-owned businesses.
Killer Mike has said that he doesn't criticize riots in response to police violence, echoing Martin Luther King's sentiment that "riots are the language of the unheard," but has tried to encourage city's to channel that energy into productive action in the aftermath. His tearful plea to the people of his home city of Atlanta "not to burn your own house down" during riots in the wake of the horrific killing of George Floyd became national news.
On an unrelated note, Meow the Jewels is straight fire.
▲Cardi B
Political Lyrics: Went from makin' tuna sandwiches to makin' the news / I started speakin' my mind and tripled my views —"Get Up 10"
Cardi B is another rapper who became heavily involved in promoting Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in 2020. While her lyrics generally have more to do with sex, money, and putting haters in their place, her social media presence has become highly political.
Along with her love for "Daddy Bernie," she has criticized Donald Trump's pandemic response, spoken out about police killings, and pushed Joe Biden to support Medicare For All. Her off the cuff, often vulgar approach to political speech is engaging and relatable. She has already endorsed fellow Bronx native Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for president in 2024 (not that AOC has said anything about running).
Also, watching conservatives freak out about "WAP" has been a joy.
▲The Roots
Political Lyrics: Yo, a revolution's what it's smelling like, it ain't going be televised / Governments is hellified, taking cake and selling pies / I ain't got a crust or crumb, to get some I'd be well obliged —"I will Not Apologize"
Founded by Questlove and Black Thought in Philadelphia in 1987, The Roots is one of the best bands of all time. Their songs are musically complex and their lyrics frequently deal with the uncomfortable realities of systemic racial and class oppression in America.
In 2018 The Roots performed at the Concert for Peace and Justice, which was put on by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama to commemorate the opening of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum, which document the history of enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration in America. Questlove wore a shirt to the concert that said "Kanye doesn't care about black people."
For all their political engagement, it's strange to see The Roots serve as the house band on maybe the most apolitical talk show on Network TV—The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. But while Fallon is happy to goof around with conservative politicians like Donald Trump and Michele Bachmann, The Roots have found ways to get their jabs in.
For Bachmann's 2011 appearance the band played Fishbone's "Lyin' Ass B****", and for Trump in 2016 they played a portion of Erykah Badu's "20 Feet Tall" that goes "Then you, you built a wall / A 20-foot wall / So I couldn't see."
▲Kendrick Lamar
Political Lyrics: Ain't nothin' new, but a flu of new Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-licans / Red state versus a blue state, which one you governin'? / They give us guns and drugs, call us thugs / Make it they promise to fuck with you —"Hood Politics"
Kendrick Lamar is among the most acclaimed hip hop artists working today. In 2018 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his album DAMN's musical merit and lyrical power, but King Kendrick has been rapping about the oppressive forces in American life for years, commenting on America's oppressive criminal justice system, and the harsh realities of his upbringing in Compton on notable albums like Section.80, Good Kid M.A.A.D. City.
Kendrick's 2016 performance at the Grammys, in which he marched out with a group in prison uniforms and shackles—before breaking the chains—was lauded for its powerful imagery, and his song "Alright" off 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly served as an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Immortal Technique
Political Lyrics: And the world doesn't believe that you fightin' for freedom / Cause you ****ed the Middle East, and gave birth to a demon / It's open season with the CIA, bugging my crib / Trapped in a ghetto region like a Palestinian kid —"The 4th Branch"
Peruvian-American rapper Immortal Technique moved with his family from Lima Peru to New York City when he was two years old to escape political violence that was tearing apart their home. As with politics in the rest of Central and South America, the conflict was heavily influenced by historic interference in the region by the United States.
Maybe it's understandable, then, that Immortal Technique would adopt a stance that was highly critical of American foreign policy, rapping about American imperialism, the war in Iraq, and advocating for a global socialist revolution. He's also outspokenly critical of the music industry, and insists on maintaining full control of his work.
In June of 2008 he teamed up with Omeid International to build an orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan.
▲Chuck D
Political Lyrics: Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps / Sample a look back you look and find / Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check —"Fight the Power"
Public Enemy is maybe the most influential socially-conscious rap group in history, pushing criticism of imperialism, the police, and America's institutions of power since they got together in Long Island in 1985. But prior to 2015 founder Chuck D hadn't really gotten involved much with electoral politics.
That changed with the first presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, who earned Chuck D's approval in the debates leading up to 2016. And in 2020, when Sanders was once again running, Chuck D supported him with a live performance of Public Enemy Radio at Sanders' Los Angeles rally.
▲Best: Childish Gambino
Political Lyrics: Police be trippin' now (woo) / Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy) / Guns in my area (word, my area) / I got the strap (ayy, ayy) / I gotta carry 'em —"This Is America"
Writer, actor, comedian, director, and rapper Donald Glover—AKA Childish Gambino—used to be known for lighthearted comedic performances like his role as Troy Barnes in Community, or Jason Rogers in Mystery Team, but in recent years he has embraced a darkly satirical bent examining gun violence and the struggle of being Black in America in his hit single "This Is America," and his acclaimed FX show Atlanta.
Glover also got directly involved with politics when he endorsed and then joined the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang as a creative consultant—weeks before Yang dropped out of the race.
While some took issue with Yang endorsing Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders on the basis of "the math" (and possibly also in the hopes of earning a spot in the Biden administration...), his signature policy proposal of providing universal basic income—$1000 a month to all Americans—has been gaining traction as historic unemployment ravages millions of families.
▲Meek Mill
Political Lyrics: We was tryna keep the house warm when winter came in / But they rather detain us, locked us in cells with strangers to raise us / Animals go in cages / That's what the slave masters told the workers when they slaved us —"Big Dreams"
Meek Mill didn't have a choice to be political. Following a violent 2007 arrest for drug charges (which Meek disputes) and "illegal carry" of a firearm (which is typically met with a fine and house arrest), the Philadelphia rapper was sentenced to two years in prison and eight years probation.
Since that time, a series of petty charges—for crimes such as popping a wheelie on a dirt bike—along with the bizarre, possibly biased approach of the judge presiding over his case has seen meek return to prison multiple times, in addition to extending his probation in a seemingly indefinite struggle with America's Justice system.
Meek has become a symbol and a prominent voice in the movement to reform America's justice system. In July of 2019 Meek's original conviction was overturned, and a new trial was ordered with a different judge. Two weeks later Amazon released its five-part documentary Free Meek about his struggle.
▲Noname
Political Lyrics: I'm Obama pushing the button, in Libya, Pakistan / Humanly a hypocrite, the sinner and the civilian / The pettiest that it gets, I'm America at its best —"Song 32"
Chicago-based Noname is a new class of rapper that is not about flexing and bragging, but learning and teaching. Going by Noname and rocking a style on stage that she could as easily wear to volunteer work at a nursing home, she makes it clear that the message of her lyrics should be the focus more than the person singing them.
In addition to songs and a social media presence seeking to raise awareness of issues like American imperialism, the danger faced by Black trans women, and the disturbing history of the FBI targeting activists through its COINTELPRO, the "Diddy Bop" rapper has also made it her mission to push the value of reading.
Describing herself as "a confused n***a reading difficult books trying to understand this shit like everyone else," she founded a book club last year that has introduced participants to Black women authors through partnerships with Black-owned bookstores and to books covering topics from worker's collectives to the Haitian Revolution and educational theories for addressing oppression.
In January of 2020, Noname inaugurated the first "Library Card Registration Day," encouraging fans to make use of their local public libraries.
▲Paperboy Love Prince
Political Lyrics: Hold the door open for everybody, Ima Invite 'em in / The system try to kick you down while you just try to live. —"Hop the Train"
Of course political activism is one thing, but how many rappers actually run for political office? Paperboy Love Prince of Brooklyn went from making a goofy music video supporting Andrew Yang in 2019 to running to be the first non-binary member of congress in 2020.
While the 26-year-old Paperboy, who was the first artist signed to Azealia Banks's Chaos & Glory Recordings, lost out to incumbent Nydia Velazquez in the Democratic primary for New York's 7th district, they are still planning to run in November as an independent candidate. And though their fashion sense is on the opposite end of the spectrum from someone like Noname—Paperboy dresses as over-the-top as possible—the two would have a lot to talk about in terms of pushing for equity across racial, gender, and class lines.
In addition to Andrew Yang's UBI proposal, Paperboy Prince supports Medicare For All, the establishment of a national network of community centers, and a $500 federal stipend for every citizen to use in support of political campaigns—which could go a long way toward democratizing campaign finance. The primary ethos of their campaign has been spreading love and positivity.
▲Linqua Franqa
Political Lyrics: 'Cause nobody tells you: you conceive it, you can grieve it / 'Cause all we see's the stigmatization of a procedure / Feedin' off misinformation, and tradin' conversation for secrets / Like my own mother, who had an abortion at my age and didn't say shit either —"Eight Weeks"
Another young rapper who recently took the step of running for political office is Linqua Franqa, AKA Mariah Parker. In 2018, at the age of 26, Parker ran for District 2 county commissioner in Athens, and won!
The linguist, PHD candidate, and co-host of the Waiting on Reparations podcast ran on a platform of "bold, progressive leadership," pushing for fair wages, expanding access to higher education and public transport, and fighting discrimination.
Her lyrics tackle political issues from abortion to family separation with the creativity and flow that show off her linguistic expertise.
▲Best of the Best: Talib Kweli and Mos Def
Political Lyrics: Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build / Over money and religion there's more blood to spill / The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal, what's the deal? —"Thieves in the Night"
Talib Kweli and Mos Def, AKA Yasiin Bey, first formed their duo Black Star in 1998 for a self-titled album that is revered to this day. While the two have yet to release a second full album together—reportedly it's coming soon—they've continued to collaborate both in their music and in their extensive political activism.
Along with rapping criticism of the American justice system, Mideast violence, and reckless capitalism, the Brooklyn-based rappers have committed to activism even when it hurts. In 2000 they organized 41 artists to contribute to the "Hip Hop for Respect" CD and accompanying video after the killing of Amadou Diallo by the NYC police—who shot 41 bullets at Diallo.
In 2005 the duo joined a demonstration at New York's city hall to demand that the US government remove a million dollar bounty from Assata Shakur's head. The radical Black activist and Godmother of Tupac Shakur allegedly killed a police officer in self defense, was put through an unfair trial, and eventually escaped prison only to be exiled from the US and labelled a terrorist.
Kweli in particular has made a habit of making his politics known, attending Occupy Wall Street protests, a demonstration against the Florida stand-your-ground law that allowed George Zimmerman to walk free after killing Trayvon Martin, and the Ferguson, Missouri protest following the killing of Michael Brown.
In 2019 Kweli was banned from performing in Germany because of his support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The movement seeks to treat Israel like other apartheid states as long as the nation continues to treat the Palestinian people inhumanely, and deny them their rights.
The movement has unfortunately attracted some anti-Semitic elements, which has led some—including the nation of Germany—to label the entire movement as anti-Semitic, rather than critical of Israel as a deeply flawed nation. Kweli responded to the ban by saying, "I'd rather be a decent human being and stand up for what's right than censor myself and lie about BDS for a check."
But for all that Talib Kweli has done to stand up for what he believes, Yasiin Bey took things a step further when, in 2013, he agreed to be subjected to the force-feeding techniques applied to prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He was strapped to a chair and held down while the feeding tube was pushed into his nose.
The whole thing was filmed to raise awareness of the practice and speak out against it, and the resulting footage is harrowing. The experience, which bey described as "unbearable," left him in tears. That takes some serious conviction...
▲Now if Kanye would just follow these examples, and go back to developing his YZY shelters for the homeless and criticizing presidents for their racist mishandling of major disasters, and stop (literally) demonizing vaccines and Planned Parenthood—and especially stop running interference for the Trump campaign—he could easily earn a spot on this list.