A Hip-Hop Timeline

Hip-Hop in the headlines is no breaking news, particularly because it's always breaking news. Whether it's making a case for free speech, promoting awareness, activism, or just being downright dirty and shocking, the music is hard to ignore.

Here's a list of some widely publicized and landmark interactions:

Artist:
N.W.A. (1989)
Offensive Lyric: “F*** tha Police coming straight from the underground/Young n**** got it bad cause I’m brown/and not the other color so police think/they have the
authority/to kill a minority”
Controversy: The song “F*** tha Police” prompted the FBI and various organizations to openly criticize and protest the album.
Defense: The members of N.W.A said they were just writing about the reality of growing up in their neighborhood.
Outcome: Local police refused to provide security at the group’s concerts and N.W.A. had to cancel several shows because of the conflict with law enforcement. The controversy led the album to successful sales despite little radio play.


Artist:
2 Live Crew (1990)
Offensive Lyric: “Sittin’ at home with my dick on hard/So I got the black book for a freak to call/Picked up the telephone, then dialed the 7 digits/Said, ‘Yo, this Marquis, baby! Are you down with it?’”
Controversy: The album “As Nasty As They Wanna Be” caused groups like The American Family Association to lobby for the content to be declared legally obscene. The U.S. District Court ruled any sale of the album illegal and soon thereafter, a record store owner and members of the group were arrested.
Defense: The defense at their trial largely centered on First Amendment protections. Henry Louis Gates Jr., testifying on 2 Live Crew’s behalf, pointed out that the music had roots in African-American vernacular history worth defending.
Outcome: The following year, the obscenity ruling was overturned by a higher court, and the arrested were all acquitted.


Artist:
Tupac (1993)
Offensive Lyric: “Cops on my tail, so I bail till I dodge ‘em/ They finally pull me over and I laugh, ‘Remember Rodney King?’ and I blast/ On his punk ass.”
Controversy: Tupac’s lyrical content sparked a significant backlash, including Vice President Dan Quayle.
Defense: No stranger to controversy, Tupac was born into the Black Panthers. His mother is the political icon Assata Shakur and his step-father, Mutulu, was on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for four years. Defenders of Tupac say the music is a reflection on the issues of disenfranchisement and the urban crack explosion.
Outcome: The outrage eventually caused Time Warner to drop Death Row and Interscope Records.

Artist:
Eminem (2000)
Offensive Lyric: “My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/That’ll stab you in the head whether you’re a fag or lez/Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest/Pants or dress — hate fags? The answer’s ‘yes’”
Controversy: Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” featured lines attacking women and the GLBT community. The multi-platinum album prompted the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination to lobby against the album saying it was “soaked with violence and full of negative comments about many groups.”
Defense: Eminem said his lyrics were misinterpreted.
Outcome: The rapper performed with Elton John in an attempt to show respect towards the gay community. Critics have mixed emotions about the apology.

Artist:
Young Jeezy (2005)
Offensive Lyric: “Jeezy the Snowman/I make it Winter-time/heard the streets hunger/so its dinner time/watching as they patrol/ they patrol the state/Jeezy the Snowman/ I patrol the weight”
Controversy: Jeezy, a rapper who unashamedly raps about drug-trafficking, started a line of T-shirts featuring a snowman cartoon character. The extremely popular shirts were interpreted as a glorification of the  drug trade (“Snow” being lingo for “Cocaine”) and were subsequently banned in public schools across the country.
Defense:  In an interview, the rapper claimed the snowman was a symbol of upward mobility and entrepreneurship.
Outcome: The public remains heated, but the shirts continue to sell along with Jeezy’s music.

Check out "Why Hip-Hop Gets a Bad Rap" for more recent controversies