HIP-HOP IN OAKLAND
Origins of Hip-Hop and its Emergence in Oakland
Post-Civil Rights Movement Duality
After the incredible progress achieved by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s stimulating opportunities for upward economic mobility and quality education for African Americans and other minorities, there was backlash in the late 1980s. Police profiling and brutality,the prison industrial complex, and economic inequality inreased exponentiallly. The juxtaposition of the civil rights movement and the policies of the Reagan era was most confusing for urban minority youth who were confronted with institutionalized racism in a post civil rights movement society. The next wave of public discussion and debate concerning civil rights and racial/economic equality was met by the urban youth in a culturally specific capacity; Hip-hop Activism. (Clay, 2012).
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Avoiding Incarceration and Violence Through Music
Incarceration of black males peaks drastically through the 1980s and 1990s. Racial tension, urban violence, and distrust of the criminal justice system were motivations for minority youth to utilize hip-hop in their resistance to social, racial, and economic injustice. Hip-hop activism is largely credited as emerging initially in New York in the late 1970s, yet Oakland was not far behind the trend.
From East Coast to Oakland
Motorcycle Mike Dappa produces one of the first successful hip-hop records in Oakland in 1981 entitled "Super Rat". The message was empowering; Motorcycle Mike related the "Super Rats" of Norway, unable to be killed with poison, to the perserverence of black men in Oakland and their ability to survive and prosper in the face of adversity. His success inspired young West Coast artists such as Too $hort, E-40, and MC Hammer. (Billyjam, 2013)
Black Panthers Contribute to Conscious Hip-Hop
Oakland's Black Panther Party chapter recognized the emergence of hip-hop and its potential for activist contribution. Many Oakland hip-hop artists were directly influenced by the Black Panthers; some leaders would allow hip-hop freestyle battles and various hip-hop culture parties to take place in their houses under the agreement that the youth commit to political education from the previous generation of political activists. Boots Riley, Del Tha Fukee Homosapien, and Tupac Shakur (his mother, Afeni Shakur, pictured at a Black Panther rally) were among this generation of Black Panther educatied hip-hop artists who included politcal and social commentary into many of their lyrics.
Freedom Archives
Oakland Hip-Hop is Recognized and Established
Oakland Hip-Hop became internationally recognized with the massive hit "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground in 1990 from the album Sex Packets. Money-B and others in the rotating dynamic of group membership were success stories of the involvement and education the Black Panthers contributed to Oakland's hip-hop youth. The success of Digital Underground established the West Coast and Bay Area as formidable competitors to the previous monopoly New York had over hip-hop culture respect and recognition.
Oakland's Hip-Hop Success
The success of Digital Underground and Oakland's respect in the now international hip-hop community paved the way for other young artists in Oakland to pursue their careers in hip-hop. International success was achieved by artists such as Oakland native Too $hort. Oakland was recognized by Bay Area rappers as a city of opportunity in their pursuit of their careers; Vallejo born hip-hop superstars E-40 and Mac Dre were born in Vallejo yet relocated to Oakland and repeatedly identify with the city and articulate their love for it in many of their works.
