Genre
Conscious Hip-Hop
22 artists
What is conscious hip-hop? Conscious hip-hop is rap with a message. The lyrics are about racism, poverty, politics, history, spirituality and self-respect, and they aim to make you think, not just move.
Where it comes from. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five showed in 1982 with "The Message" that rap could describe reality. KRS-One and Public Enemy made it a movement at the end of the '80s, and Queen Latifah and the Native Tongues added positivity and pride. In the late '90s Black Star, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common and The Roots carried the torch, and in the 2010s Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole brought conscious rap to the top of the charts. In the UK, Little Simz and Enny continue the tradition.
The sound. There's no single sound. It ranges from Public Enemy's noisy collages to the jazzy warmth of The Roots and the layered production of To Pimp a Butterfly. What matters is what's being said.
Key albums
- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy (1988)
- Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, Black Star (1998)
- Like Water for Chocolate, Common (2000)
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole (2014)
- To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar (2015)
- Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz (2021)
