Conscious or Conflicted? Are They The Truth Or Just Troubled?

January 28th, 2012 - By Drenna Armstrong

For people like myself who really love music debates, the “conscious rapper” topic is one that tends to get people all riled up.  More often than not, someone’s favorite rapper will get talked about in a negative light and come under fire for their actions not always living up to their words.  I’ve learned to not have any real beliefs in the idea of the “conscious” rapper because when you do, you’re also going to get that human side that you only thought belongs to the “gangsta” rapper.  I don’t believe many of the complaints about the “high and mighty conscious rappers” are warranted. I don’t think it’s right to expect them to ALWAYS talk about the plight of black people or to be positive every second of the day.  Then again, in life you’re often forced to take sides. Anyway, enough rambling – just take a look at a few of the conscious rappers and feel free to let me know what you think (I’m also on Twitter…DrennaB).

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  • http://profile.yahoo.com/G7MPXSHMKJSZAOMUC6PXRC6QYM Derrick

    This is the problem with being a celebrity today: there is TOO much access into their personal lives. As far as being conflicted, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who is reaching to share something positive who is also not conflicted. That gangsta-ish runs so deep that most don’t care if the image is completely made up so long as he/she represents that hardcore mentality. And the media is right there every step of the way to dish out the dirtiest details of each life. This is the end result of ‘when keeping it real goes terribly wrong’..  Would it also not be hypocritical to think that what we love in our music, we would want living next door to us? But we are all the more hypocrites because we are no different. NOT ONE OF US. The good we attempt to do and share can easily be overshadowed by our negative words and actions. Here is the reality: you’re never going to get someone who is completely conscious about society and social woes without having that same person being conflicted. After all, it is out of that conflict that the voice sharing something better is born.

  • Jc_nash

    They are deep and sensitive thinkers who tell the truth.  The truth to a sentitive thinker is painful – pain can be conflicting.  Yet they tell the truth no matter how painful it is!

  • DrennaB

    I finally got to read all the comments – had a feeling some would NOT be pleased with this one. However, I must ask: Did you all read the first paragraph I wrote when you click on the link to the article? I was pretty clear in saying that “conscious rappers” are human and that they’re not going to live up to ALL that they wrap about. Also, in talking about specific artists, I said that I think that some things shouldn’t alter our views about who they are as rappers (especially someone like Black Thought who likes to wear…nice jewelry).  Are there SOME things on here that I agree with? Absolutely but not all which is why I said much of this was comprised based on discussions I’ve had with others and their opinions. BUT as the writer, I have no problems taking the heat!

  • http://www.itsflicktime.com/ RayStrange

    You forgot Wale, he even talks about how he contradicts himself in one of his interviews

    • DrennaB

      You’re SO right.  Ugh, Wale just makes me…whatever. You’re right – I missed him too.

  • It.must.stop.somewhere.

    It should not solely be left up to entertainers to educate and uplift our people. We place too much of an emphasis on entertainers (Beyonce, Minaj etc.) they make more money than the doctor, heart surgeon or brain surgeon that will save our behinds when we are sick and dying! They make more money than the teachers that are with our children more than we are as parents! Sheesh……..

  • Geena

    I want to call the author a name that begins with an “I” and ends with a “T,” but then this probably won’t be posted. No matter what goes no in these artists personal lives why put down the positive messages they convey in their music. What does it matter what they do in their personal lives (this is especially about that jab at Talib). I hate when people say others contradict themselves. That is like being mad at a human for breathing! Contradictions are part of human nature. GROW UP!

    Next article I want to see on here is all the hip hop artist that call out and degrade themselves, black women and the black race as a whole. I want you to list all the artists like you did here and point out their faults. I’ll wait……..

    • DrennaB

      You asked what does it matter what they do in their personal lives, especially when it comes to Talib…and I said the same thing.  I ask should we let what happens with his wife affect how we feel about him as an artist.  Are we not saying the same thing there? I dunno…sounds like it.

      But I DO feel – and this is more of a general statement even though I guess you could use it here too – that if you present yourself as this amazing person 100% of the time in public but in private you’re only 10% of that, you could probably miss me with the “Well, such and such is only human.” Yeah, that excuse only holds up but for so long. To me, anyway…

      But about your article idea, I could run it by the editors and see what they think. OR, you could do it. Seriously, they do accept reader submissions (I’m not joking – maybe you would do a great job at it). I’m not against that idea because YES, people should be called out.

  • WPTH

    You lost ALL credibility by honorably mentioning Ludacris in this list. LUDA?! P-Popping, Yous a Hoe, Move B!tch Luda?! That is probably the definition of ludicrous. David Banner has a song here and there like that but he actually HAS conscious songs. What conscious songs has Ludacris ever made? My Chick Bad? Act A Fool? There is zero contradiction or conflicting with Luda. He degrades women ALL the time and never mentions social issues. 
    Drenna Armstrong be honest, you are just a Luda stan. And Nas’ absence from this list makes it rather pointless.

    • Is It 5:00 Yet?

      He did do “Runaway Child” with Mary J. Blige a few years ago. That was a conscious song…

      • Giavannih

        “Runaway Love” was a perfect example of that…^^^^^

    • ConsciousListener

      Um apparently you dont listen to ALL of Luda’s music…try listening some of the songs on Release Therapy again…the songs you mentioned were on his first few albums…its called MATURITY…thts wht most of these conscious rappers have to do…mk the nusic that appeal to the masses and then mk the music they really want to. Lupe Fiasco included!

    • DrennaB

      A Luda…stan? REALLY?If that were really the case, I probably wouldn’t have mentioned him at all.  I do like him though but that wouldn’t stop me from calling him out on something if I felt I should.  There ARE a couple a people I’m a HUGE fan of but I’ll always go my best to keep it in control when I write.

      And yes, I did unintentionally forget Nas…

  • harlemQueen73

    Leave my Tupac alone!

  • Craiglistseller9000

    This article is as expected when written by a woman…
    1. Tupac and every other rapper on here often contradict themselves…
    2. Yes David Banner is right.  Take the Ying Yang twins.  Their album with the Whisper Song had good Conscious raps on there…but to get someone to buy you might have to sell your soul.
    3. You are missing NAS.  He does the same thing.
    4.  At least these rappers say something other than money cash hoes 24 like rick ross, and all these other garbage rappers.

    AND FINALLY:  If you want some real conscious rappers listen to gospel hip hop.  Artist like Lecrae, Da Truth, KJ-52, King Kulture, and Kirk Franklin to name a few.  They are Conscious, rap with a purpose and love the Lord

    • Rendeezil

      If u are truly REAL..others will accept your flaws because as an artist you make an effort to CORRECT your flaws. Your audience grows with you.
      But some of these guys are having conflictiing opinions because they are not real artist. They are products. Just about any product has to be recalled to get the kinks out…something doesn’t work ie. Conflicting interests. Bottom line anytime u sign a contract u r owned. If u r true of your craft u would want to protect it. The money wouldn’t b worth it….
      A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways. How bout “What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Looks like fame,fortune, and idolatry. BTW I’m a female.So technically all we see is the decievers being decieved. Cause at the end of the day they are being used as well to dumb the masses.

    • DrennaB

      Please…don’t ever let the fact that I’m a woman make you think that I don’t know hip-hop or music in general. 

      1. Yes, that’s the point of the piece.
      2. I don’t know that Banner is right about that. Do you want to stand firm in your beliefs? In MY opinion, if that is solely what you want to do you won’t sell your soul.
      3. Yes, I absolutely FORGOT Nas and I’m glad all of those who mentioned him did that. Hell, I haven’t been right with Nas since his guest appearance on “Oochie Wallie.” LOL!
      4. I didn’t say they didn’t have anything to say or that what they say is irrelevant because of their personal lives.
      5. LOL…you really want to start with Gospel artists? Let’s not…

      • G*Star

        What do u mean when u say let’s not in reference to gospel artist?? Please don’t bash gospel music because of “whatever” u believe or don’t believe in! Thanks!

        • DrennaB

          Oh no, it isn’t about belief at all. It is about the idea that you could make a very similar argument about SOME gospel artists.

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  • Yaame

    Mos Def is Muslim hint the alias and our ancestors were Muslim as well meaning they too had multiple wives. Just because European society says that behavior is barbaric doesn’t make it necessarily true. With there only being a few artist promoting black positivity how dare u right this BS?

    • …

      Only around 20% of the enslaved Africans brought to our part of North America are estimated to have been Muslim. A smaller number arrived as Christians, generally Catholic. But vaste majority were various animist and ancestral based faiths that were absorbed into and changed Southern Protestantism.

      Anyway. A Muslim man is only supposed to take another wife if he can provide the exact same level of privilege, support and comfort experienced with his existing one-wife family and without in any way decreasing the lifestyle of the first wife, kids with her, and even potential kids with her.
      The new wife becomes a sister wife. She is supposed to be approved by the first wife and her family. The wives are a family unit and work together. Everyone is family.
      People don’t read the Qur’an and Hadiths. The words of Muhammad (pbuh) himself. They take a concept and run with it ignoring its context and intent.

  • Alicia Collins

    This article is silly. These are recording artists. It was the public who puts them up on a pedestal. The Common/Drake thing was down right ridiculous. Can we describe them in the same manner we discuss other popular artists who let us down.

  • Liish

    :::sigh:::: This article frustrated me a little because:

    1) No matter how revolutionary the thought, and positive the mindset, people are people. These people make good point in their music but their personal lives are subject to the same effery that the rest of us go through. If Mos believes in several wives, let him, that his choice as a man and the women he deals with are the only ones it affects. At least Talib is arguing with his wife instead of his mistress. Fights, however they go down, are part of relationships. Lauryn’s solo debut pretty much sums it up. it was about being foolish in love and relationships and making decisions that others might not deem wise.

    2) Being conscious doesn’t mean you can’t talk about sex. It doesn’t mean you can’t talk about it explicitly & vulgarly. That’s what sex is sometimes. I’m about to be real ignant for a moment and say I perfer when David Banner (wit his fine self) is talking dirty. His social commentary is just more interesting to me when its not in song format. Plus music is a business, and conscious doesn’t always sell.

    3) Some women are b!tches. They are.Dang. People have to accept that. Some people are n!ggas. We are have b!tch and n!gga tendencies. There is no realer way to put it than to say what it is. Shoot I love me some Common. I don’t care when he talks like that, even when he is alluding to sex, being a lil disrespectful, or talking about how he pulls pu-tang from being a conscious rapper.

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  • Natashahardy82

    You forgot about Nas

  • Sugar_Spice

    I think a lot of true artists in general who are conscious can be conflicted; Van Gogh, Heath Ledger, Virginia Woolf. As far as recording artists go, there are so many people they need to appease from the record executives, to fans, to their own beliefs.  It is a lot of pressure.  I would also say I agree with David Banner that there are certain records that need to be made for people to listen.  It’s sad to say but most people would rather dance to a “make that a** clap” song as oppose to a song about poverty.

    • JN31

      Exactly; he’s doing what he has to do to survive. The people who don’t want to hear the make it clap songs can do what I do- don’t listen to them.

      The term ‘conscious’ simply means to be aware of your surroundings. The truth is we are all surrounded by both the ‘positive’ way of living your life and mixed with some of the ignorant rants heard in some music today. 

  • icanbutiwont

    Well regarding the issue of the “conscious rapper” it is very difficult to disseminate what these people are thinking as they desperately try to hover between mainstream and the real. The thing is rapping about black thought doesn’t pay bills, furthermore lets be honest for a minute. Most black people especially the youth who desperately need historical and cultural discussions would rather support lil wayne over Kweli. ANYDAY! As for the matter of being conflicted I think that all rappers are, especially the ones like Waka Flocka which a lot of youth behave like, cry at nights wondering why they daddy didn’t love them and why from the get go his mother referred to him as “my little MAAAN!” Most black men were never boys because of their social experience and perception of life as hard and you have to be thug to get by always watching your back cause your homie might put you on ice. Imagine how recked a man is if he as been thinking this way from he was eight. A confused mama who refuses to acknowledge the part she played in ruining her own life by choosing to be with a thug that has swag and a father who isn’t even there to shoulder some of the blame. Something is wrong in the psyche of blacks with slavery heritage. Destroyed family life, a million mile start by everybody else and hatred towards one another…smh What about Kanye West, now thats a portrait of a man in a dire situation he had a REAL WOMAN for a mother and when she passed he basically lost it and now his creativity has not diluted however its change trajectory and is heading down a dark path. 

  • JN31

    And how perfect are you? Because they have a recording contract they should be free from making mistakes? Why do we always have to be one or the other. Geesh, these are humans with human emotions. Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong. Malcolm X used to be a pimp and Martin Luther King was known for stepping out- what do these small pieces of someone have to do with their whole character? 

    • DrennaB

      I don’t really disagree with you at all.

    • Eerr33bb32dd2d3111dllll1

      My friend just met a chocolate man on Blackwhitemeet.COMit’s where for men and women looking for interracial’ship for a fabulous lifestyle
      It’s a nice place for black white sing’les, to interact with each other…no bounds or extremes in front of true love.

  • bigbootyjudy

    The only one I really disagree with is common black thought david banner and ludacris hoes in different area codes and such within his first 2 to 4 albums but I have seen he has revolved into an adult to tackle more realistic issues the rest of these artist I agree with to me taking the songs about how these artist love their sex or even where his jewlery come from is ridiculous way to say they’re aren’t conscious really?! You reaching

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