Arts Blog: Hip Hop isn’t All Inappropriate

Posted by Elisabeth Brubaker

Hip Hop Music has been negative since I can remember. People like Tu-Pac, Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne all promote (or promoted in Tu-Pac’s case, R.I.P) a lavish lifestyle, doing drugs, drinking ’til the sun comes up and having women hang on them like they are God.

Within the past decade few artists have been successful at promoting a clean message- a message of hope. Common is the most successful artist I can think of in the past decade of being progressive and positive. Common writes about his daughter in his song “Be”:

“Bush pushing lies, killers immortalized
We got arms but won’t reach for the skies
Waiting for the Lord to rise
I look into my daughter’s eyes
And realize that I’m gonna learn through her
The Messiah, might even return through her
If I’m gonna do it, I gotta change the world through her”

In other songs Common preaches “how beautiful love can be, on the streets love is hard to see…”

Four years ago my brother Ben Brubaker created an annual benefit concert called “Hip Hop for Hope” as a project for an African diaspora class at Tulane University. Brubaker created the concert not only to display his passion for hip-hop but to give back to a community that gave so much to him before Hurricane Katrina. The first year in the making Brubaker raised more than $6,000 for the M.L.K. Charter School. (Side note: This is the school in the lower 9th ward Obama spoke at last month.)

While the concert has struggled with different political issues and a lack of attendance from the Tulane community, the local hip hop crowd has grown and the 501 c 3 continues to give all of the proceeds to local charities. Not only does Brubaker focus on giving hope to communities that need it, he focuses on offering a positive message from the artists that donate their time to perform.

This years artists included Mia X, Mannie Fresh, The Show, and Dee-1 among many others. The money this year went to a few charities including the Roots of Music Program run by Rebirth Brass Band’s Derrick Tabb who is currently nominated for the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.

It’s important to remember that not all kinds of hip hop music are inappropriate, degrading, or about substance abuse. Just check out artists like Common and Dee-1 who are doing good for their communities.

Full disclaimer: My brother Ben Brubaker is the founder and CEO of Hip Hop for Hope and manages hip-hop artist Dee-1.