African American culture has become widely known for their Hip-Hop music and interaction with police brutality and the government. Through this, different African American artists created something to combat these issues. The actions and choices that artists make during their career, influence future generations to expand the legacy. Along with the influence that Run DMC and Public Enemy made to society, we specifically point out the bigger picture that the NWA left behind. This research is to see the impact the NWA make for future generations of African American cultures and communities, inspired by music that are dealing with problems within law enforcement.
Through history, there are groups that influence the way not only Americans but also African Americans act in society. In Compton, California from 1986 is a group called Niggas With Attitude “NWA” made up of five individuals: Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC. Ren, DJ Yella. Their motto “Fuck the Police” became the underlying aspect to who they were and what they wanted the world to remember them by. NWA was not only the world’s most dangerous group but they also were one of its most intriguing.
In the early 1980s from Queens, New York, a Hip-Hop group consisting of three men, Run DMC exploded a new kind of music. Producing music that became globalized all across the world, making a huge impact on the New York culture, from clothing, attitudes, what we listen to, and what we say, this was the start of a new era. Looking first at the song Tricky, this song discusses how everything you do as an African American can be tricky, and you never know what the next step is or who is watching. Straight from the lyrics states that you may be able to trick some people, especially women, but you will never trick a man.
With the inspiration that Chuck D (a member of Public Enemy) had from going on a tour with Run DMC, he started his own group. Now, the mid 80s is where Hip-Hop music changed from commercial mindset to a politically speaking standpoint. Public Enemy is a group from Long Island, New York consisting of seven African American men. They consider their music as political Hip-Hop, meaning they will say what they want to say about society and the government. Overall, they want to shut down the political bias that African Americans face on a daily basis.
The motto for P.E. was to “stay black, be strong and stay who you are”, this was a message in every song that they produced. Militant black power was highly shown through Public Enemy’s time standing up and asking the community “what are you going to do?”. Along with the power, they “trained” young men and women to become soldiers with discipline, to not be afraid to fight back. One of their powerful songs in the African American culture is Fight the Power, produced in 1989 on the album Fear of a Black Planet, this was the start of Blacks wanting to fight for more political power in America. P.E. sings “Yet our best trained, best educated, best equipped, best prepared troops refuse to fight. As a matter of fact, it’s safe to say that they would rather switch than fight”. From this, there is motion that they don’t want to involve any violence while trying to fight for their rights, but they train to fight and will if they need to.
Police brutality is high within the Black community. The racial bias between African Americans and law enforcement is becoming a greater threat than any other racial bias. Thus, the quote “Fuck the Police” became a controversial statement that drew millions attention between African Americans and the law enforcement. Speaking for not only the group but for every African American in the community who was being harassed by police due to their race. Through this song, is where even today citizens believe that police are bias against blacks. In the first verse of Fuck The Police, Ice Cube makes a statement “A young nigga got it bad ‘cause I’m brown, and not the other color, so police think they have the authority to kill a minority”. This song began a protest that still 30 years later is a pop culture influence, being printed on shirts, hats, etc. which promoted violence to expand among the community.
Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC. Ren and DJ Yella wanted the Compton community and LAPD to know that they were the people, they had all the power in life. The movie Straight Outta Compton released in 2015 was made as a non-fiction representation of the overcoming obstacles that these boys faced back in the early 90s. Although the movie did not use the actual people, (Ice Cube was actually played by his son) this movie replayed the development and the process of NWA. While watching the movie, there is many scenes that reflect the message that NWA wanted to announce to public. These messages were to show that they aren’t scared of the police, violence is the key to get your point across, and that everyone has the same rights.
A scene in the movie shows a group of boys hanging out while families mill around. The police show up and make the decision to harass the boys. The cops are aggressive to the boys which in turn changes the boy’s attitude towards the police officer, resulting in violence and resist the arrest. This cop could make things not as intense, but the way that he decided to respond to the mother, shows that the cops during this time did not care who they talk to or how they talk to them.
Today, some may say that there has not been any changes between African Americans and police. African Americans look to their peers, past and present, for role models. Unfortunately, this means some idolize the NWA and their push against police brutality with their own violence against the police. This then leads to police to continue their racial bias, and treat all African Americans the same. The law enforcement nationwide has been trying to find strategies to show that it is not the police being bias, but it is the actions that these men are betraying which is causing more issues. As this issue will never come to an end, there is hope that one day things will settle and not be as violent and brutal as they are today.
Looking at the statistics of police killing of Blacks between 2015 and 2017 we see that surprisingly the number of Blacks that killed by police has dropped. Blacks make up about 13% of the population in the United States, within that 13%, in 2015, 26% killed by police, in 2016, 24% killed by police and in 2017, only 23% killed by police. As the percentage has decreased, we see that the population of Blacks in the United States has increased in 2018, so in the future we may be seeing a rise or a decline in the killing of blacks by police.
Police brutality and racism continues to be a highly publicized and politicized issue today, and there is no way to tell how much of the problem lies with the police or the African American culture portrayed here. Whether for ill or good, the historical influences had a large impact on the NWA and their music. Their music, in turn, created a societal shift that brought attention (whether positive or negative) at a global level. Relationships that outburst from the Watts Riot as well as other riots among African Americans, influence the interaction with the law enforcement, and violence that has caused issues still to today. As we continue through the historical influence of African Americans, we see a change on a daily basis through politics, globalization, socialization, and communication that is among this culture and how they fight to survive.