HOW HIP HOP BECAME A NEGATIVE FORCE

Timothy Grimes, better known by his stage name Wise Intelligent, shares valuable insights on how hip-hop shifted from having a positive impact on Black youth to a negative one due to corrupt record executives. 

In a 2009 hip-hop summit video clip, Wise explained that positive music fostered racial pride and self-esteem among Black youth, supporting them to rebel against an oppressive system. However, poisoning youthful minds through the medium of music helped suppress our people.

As an anonymous source alleged in a letter that has circulated online, record companies that had invested in the private prison industry convened a meeting in 1991 in the outskirts of Los Angeles to hash out a deal to ensure rappers glorified violence as a way to drive Black people into the prison system. Now, our people make up 37 per cent of incarcerated people even though we comprise 13 per cent of the US population.

Let us know what you think of Wise's enlightening speech.

Photo credit for 1980s hip-hop street scene: @joeconzo on IG