Music Sound

Conscious hip hop (sometimes called positive hip hop) is a term used to refer to hip hop that focuses on social issues. It differs from political hip hop in that it is not necessarily overtly political. The main themes of conscious hip hop include religion, aversion to violence, feminism, and the economy. Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" was the first political and conscious hip hop track, decrying the poverty, violence, and dead-end lives of the black youth of the time.

Terminology

Some conscious artists have criticized the name. Mos Def criticizes the label, saying:

"They keep trying to slip the 'conscious rapper' thing on me...I come from Roosevelt Projects, man. The ghetto. I drank the same sugar water, ate hard candy. And they try to get me because I'm supposed to be more articulate, I'm supposed to be not like the other Negroes, to get me to say something against my brothers. I'm not going out like that, man."[1]