Wait, Rap/Hip Hop songs can be protest songs

too?
When people look at protest songs, they often mistake them for Pop songs,
this is not the case with Rap or Hip Hop songs. These songs are not seen as
regular songs, but as a voice for the people who are too afraid to have one.

The most influential rap/hip hop songs are by artists such as: N.W.A, Public
Enemy, Eminem, Killer Mike, and many more. They rap about controversial
topics such as Police brutality, Illegal business in third world countries, War,
Politics, etc.

A lot of these songs are recognized by critics as incredibly influential.

When talking about Rap/Hip Hop protest songs, there are two distinctive
types, Political and Concious. Each with their own distinctive characteristics.

Political rap/hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that was developed in the
1980s as a way of turning rap music into a call for action. Inspired by 1970s
political preachers such as The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, and Public Enemy
were the first political hip hop groups. Political rap/hip hop is the use of
rap/hip hop music to send political messages to inspire action or convince the
listener of a particular worldview. There is no single political hip hop ideology;
rather, there are multiple perspectives that range anywhere from
Libertarianism to the values of the Five Percent Nation.

Conscious tap/hip hop, or socially conscious rap/hip-hop, is a subgenre of hip

hop that challenges the dominant cultural, political, philosophical, and
economic consensus, or comments on social issues and conflicts. Conscious
hip hop is not necessarily overtly political, but the two are sometimes used
interchangeably. The term "nation-conscious rap" has been used to more
specifically describe rap/hip hop music with strong political messages and
themes. Themes of conscious rap/hip hop include afrocentricity, religion,
aversion to crime & violence, culture, the economy, or depictions of
struggles. Conscious rap/hip hop often seeks to raise awareness of social
issues, leaving the listeners to form their own opinions, rather than
aggressively advocating for certain ideas and demanding actions.

In what way do Rap/Hip Hop songs show theyre Protest Songs?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_hip_hop

Political Hip Hop

Political hip hop is a subgenre of hip hop music that was developed in the
1980s as a way of turning rap music into a call for action. Inspired by 1970s
political preachers such as The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, and Public Enemy
was the first predominately political hip hop group. Political hip hop is the use
of hip hop music to send political messages to inspire action or to convince
the listener of a particular worldview. There is no all-encompassing political
hip hop ideology; rather, there are multiple perspectives that range anywhere
from Libertarianism to the values of the Five Percent Nation.

Concious Hip Hop

Conscious hip hop, or socially conscious hip-hop, is a subgenre of hip hop that
challenges the dominant cultural, political, philosophical, and economic
consensus, and/or comments on social issues and conflicts. Conscious hip
hop is not necessarily overtly political, but the two are sometimes used
interchangeably. The term "nation-conscious rap" has been used to more
specifically describe hip hop music with strong political messages and
themes. Themes of conscious hip hop include afrocentricity, religion, aversion
to crime & violence, culture, the economy, or depictions of the struggles of
ordinary people. Conscious hip hop often seeks to raise awareness of social
issues, leaving the listeners to form their own opinions, rather than
aggressively advocating for certain ideas and demanding actions.

http://globalgrind.com/4009228/important-rap-protest-songs-of-the-last-30-
years-list/

Most important and influential Rap/Hip Hop Protest Songs

In what way do Rap/Hip Hop songs show theyre Protest Songs?

N.W.A. Fuck Tha Police (1988)

The 411: N.W.A. came out firing. And they were firing at the police. To this
day, Fuck Tha Police stands as one of the most controversial songs of all
time. On the song, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Easy E and MC Ren verbally eviscerate a
police force who had a history of overzealous behavior.

The song became so notorious it got the attention of the FBI, who contacted
the groups record label (adding even more gangsta-aura.) The song basically
introduced the world to gangsta music. And, in the process, it showed us that
gangsta music is more complicated than you might think.

Public Enemy Fight The Power (1988)

The 411: Elvis was a hero to most. But he never meant shit to me. Straight
up racist, the sucker was, simple and plain. Public Enemys frontman Chuck
D raps that line on Fight The Power, the most famous Public Enemy song.
The song was the lead track for the Do the Right Thing soundtrack, an honor
that helped boost the songs profile (or maybe vice versa?). The content is
pretty evident: its a track about self empowerment and fighting abuse of
power.

Stop the Violence Movement Self-Destruction (1989)

The 411: 1988 was a bloody year for rapper KRS-One. His partner Scott La
Rock was killed in a shooting. Then, during a Public Enemy and KRS-One
concert, a fan was killed in a fight. These incidents inspired KRS-One to start
The Stop the Violence Movement, an East Coast-based super rap group. The
groups shining moment is the classic single Self-Destruction, which
features tough guy rappers like Just Ice, KRS-One, Kool Moe Dee, MC Lyte,
and more, rapping righteously.

Ice Cube We Had To Tear This Mothafucka Up (1993)

The 411: The first two Ice Cube albums AmeriKKKas Most Wanted and
Death Certificate were warnings: warnings that if things didnt change for
people of color in this country, there were going to be repercussions. And
then March 3, 1991 happened. That was the day Rodney King was savagely
beaten by the LAPD. That started a chain of events leading up to the 1992
Los Angeles riots (which occurred after the police officers were acquitted).

Those incidents are written about quite vividly on Cubes 1993 album, The
Predator. Cubes big told you moment came in the form of the DJ Muggs-
produced We Had to Tear this Muthafucka Up.

KRS-One Sound Of Da Police (1993)

The 411: NWAs Fuck Tha Police, the ultimate anti-police anthem, was pure
anger. KRS-Ones anti-police record, Sound Of Da Police, has a comedic
tone. On the songs chorus, he mocks a police siren (whoop! whoop!) and in
the second verse, he compares current day police officers to slave overseers
(say it quickly now: Overseer, overseer, overseer, overseer, Officer, officer,
officer, officer). The song has a different tone, and yet its just as powerful as
N.W.A.s hip-hop classic.

Eminem Mosh (2004)

The 411: Released right before the 2004 presidential election, Mosh was a
sharp and devastating takedown of the president at the time, George W.
Bush. At its essence, Mosh is an anti-war song (this was right in the middle
of the Iraq War) and in the song, he says lines like Let the president answer
on higher anarchy. Strap him with an AK-47, let him go fight his own war. Let
him impress daddy that way . . . No more blood for oil.

While Mosh is a fierce song, Eminem would get the Secret Services
attention for another track. The song was We As Americans. And in it, Em
says Fuck dead presidents, I would rather see the president dead a line
that forced the Secret Service to investigate the rapper.

Kanye West & Jay Z Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix) (2006)

The 411: The original Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix) saw the Chicago
rapper talk about the break up of Roc-a-Fella records. Then he heard Lupe
Fiasco release a freestyle over the beat, called Conflict Diamonds. On his
freestyle, Lupe spit a verse about blood diamonds in Africa. Inspired by that
verse, Kanye did his own research, and remixed the song: changing the title
from Diamonds are Forever (which is the title of an old Jay Z song) to
Diamonds from Sierra Leone. He also changed the content of the song:
spitting about the diamond conflict. Finally, he added Jay Z (who did not rap
about blood diamonds in Africa on the track).

Wayne GeorgiaBush (2006)

The 411: From Jay Z to The Game, various rappers made songs about
Hurricane Katrina and President Bushs lackluster response to the tragedy.
However, GeorgiaBush which was buried at the end of Dedication 2
is the song that matters the most. Maybe its because the tragedy hit so close
to home for the rapper (Wayne is from New Orleans); or maybe its because
of how he flipped Field Mobs cult classic Georgia; or maybe its because he
was spitting real talk like this:

Killer Mike Reagan (2012)

The 411: You might think that Reagan, the best track off Killer Mikes
excellent R.A.P. Music album, isnt presently relevant, considering that hes
talking about a president from the 1980s. But then you listen to the song.

On the track, Mike breaks down how Ronald Reagans polices from back in the
day still disproportionately harm minorities in present day America (from the
War on Drugs to the privatization of the prison system). He also explains how
*gasp* similar Reagan and President Barack Obama might really be.