By the late 90s, rap was the world’s pop music. The money was flowing, creating hip-hop moguls and welcoming in the Bling Era. 

But as hip-hop went mainstream and gained commercial success, the rap music topping the charts had begun to largely shed its political messaging in favor of music that was mostly about the trappings of success: sex, partying, and money. That is, until pressure mounted and backlash to a Republican government brought politics back to hip-hop once more, leading to the mobilization of a generation and the first hip-hop president: Barack Obama.

Trymaine Lee is joined by: rapper Master P, stic of the hip-hop duo Dead Prez, rapper & activist Tef Poe, Vote or Die’s Alexis McGill Johnson, political organizer Rosa Clemente, and writer Joan Morgan. 

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For a transcript, please visit our homepage.

For More: 

• Street Disciples: The Concrete Jungle
• Street Disciples: Broken Glass Everywhere
• Street Disciples: America’s Most Wanted