F*ck the police!
Those words still possess a power that make middle America uncomfortable, but those same exact words changed the landscape of music, hip-hop culture, and millions of black and Latino youth who were being terrorized by the very people said to “protect and serve” them – the police.
Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince didn’t need mainstream American deeming them dangerous, angry, or disturbed young black men, they already knew they were “n*ggas with attitudes” or as they would stylized it, N*ggaz Wit Attitudes.
Never letting anyone else define their movement or sabotage their mission, the young determined collective known as N.W.A. electrified a nation with their will to be honest, whether America liked it or not.
Their brash delivery may have gotten them banned from thousands of radio stations and landed them on the FBI watch list, but without their frustrated moments of honesty, police brutality might have never become a national issue.
One can’t mention the impact of hip-hop culture without mentioning hip-hop’s political fact checkers, Public Enemy.
Founded during the time when America was divided by then-president Ronald Reagan’s conservative conquest and polarizing policies, the politically charged hip-hop group Public Enemy caught the attention of America when they began challenging the government to stop promoting false truths.
Addressing the lies and propaganda of the American media and the federal government, Public Enemy became just that, public enemy number one.
With powerful missions and messages like “Lies” and “F*ck Tha Police,” N.W.A. and Public Enemy caught the attention of the United States government for their ability to mobilize and empower America’s urban youth to speak out against the injustices plaguing their communities.
When it was announced that these two polarizing hip-hop groups were nominees for this year’s induction ceremony, it solidified hip-hop’s impact on the music community across all genres, not just the beat-boxing, head-bobbing kids who could personally relate.
Public Enemy and N.W.A. uprooted their stories from the mean streets of the urban landscape and personally brought their message to the front door of American youth in the most rural of towns and MADE them understand their struggle.
Despite their delivery being hip-hop, what N.W.A. and Public Enemy stood for was nothing short of rock and roll.
N.W.A. and Public Enemy changed the conversation of a nation and the landscape of music, and if that ain’t rock and roll, I don’t what is.
Brittany Lewis is the Music Editor at GlobalGrind and a Howard University Alumna. Brittany considers herself seasoned on all the pop culture ish that matters. Follow her on Twitter @Buttercup_B.
