Hip Hop: Keeping It Positive

Hip-hop music often gets a bad rap. The songs are not always about girls, guns and gangsters - there's also conscious rap, which focuses on creating awareness and imparting knowledge. Conscious rappers traditionally decry violence, discrimination, and other societal ailments. Ludacris, Melle Mel and Common talks about why conscious rap is so important.

Rapper Ludacris has often been targeted for his lyrics and sexually explicit music videos. However the Atlanta native also has a humanitarian side to him.

"I have my own foundation, The Ludacris Foundation, where we give back, of course to underprivileged families. We have been doing this almost ten years now. We're coming up on our ten year anniversary."

Indeed, he's quick to point out that he also address social issues in his songs.

"I feel like the platform that I am at of course in my music, you have songs where you talk about realistic situations that are going on in life, but you also you talk about things like the song 'Runaway Love' that I have. It was bringing attention to a problem that not as many people know about . There is like a million kids that run away from home. So I feel like hip hop is definitely a form where you have an ear, you have people listening, you use that to your advantage."



Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5's seminal "The Message" and Slick Rick's "Hey Young World" are just two examples of early conscious hip-hop tracks.

Melle Mel, the main songwriter for Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, explained why it is so important for emcees to set positive examples.

"I think a lot of these younger rappers being that they are young, that they should more or less want to after they get to the point in their career. They ain't got to do much. It ain't like you got to build a playground, but you could just say what it is. 'Finish school, do the right thing, stay out of trouble.' You know, 'don't drink and drive,' anything just to make little lifestyle decisions for people, just to make their situation a little easier."

One of today's conscious rappers is Grammy winning emcee, Common. His latest music video, "Sweet," attacks his critics and highlights his frustration with the commodification of hip-hop.

"I feel like when you have a microphone you have the opportunity to influence people, more people than usual, because you have the chance to say something. If you have something to say, then say it. That means if you have had the opportunity to learn some things in life, then you need to tell those stories because those stories can inspire people. It can spark somebody who might not feel like they have hope. They hear something and they think, 'Man I can do it.'"