Thankfully, this commitment to spitting truth has remained a constant staple of the [hip-hop] culture over the past twenty-five years. From Melle Mel to KRS-One to Chuck D to Dead Prez to Eminem, hip-hop has never been afraid to spit truth to power and tell the country what’s really happening in the streets. Of course, you may hear some of the struggle, particularly the raw poverty and ignorance, in the voices of rappers, but we can’t forget that voice is expressing their reality. That’s why while I encourage the high notes, at the end of the day, I’m more worried about cursed actions than curse words. The bigger problem is that the negativity exists, not that the rappers are expressing it. Instead of attacking rappers for expressing our reality, we should applaud them for forcing us to address the wounds of poverty and disenfranchisement that continue to fester in this country.
And from England to Germany to the Gaza Strip to South Africa to Taiwan, you can find rappers spitting truth to what is happening in their worlds, too, warning us to pay attention to their conditions before it’s too late. So if in America sometimes it seems like the message has drifted away from protesting and toward partying, then maybe we need to look at what we’ve created and remind ourselves what we’re capable of. Spitting Truth is a tradition we need to not only respect, but protect!
Watching [my father’s] example, taught us that if you see a truth that’s being ignored, you have to speak up for it. Even if it’s hard, even it it’s dangerous, or even if on the surface it doesn’t look like it’s going to effect your life directly, you still have to speak up. It helped us realize that spitting truth to power isn’t a luxury, but a duty.--Russell Simmons