01/17/07 Coon Alert: How Conscious Is Conscious Rap?

Hip hop purists take note: Kanye West guest stars in The Game’s “Wouldn’t Get Far" music video, which will be premiering soon. Over a Creative Source “I’d Find You Anywhere" sample, Game and Kanye take aim at some of the video industry’s top models, alleging that promiscuity has fuelled the careers of Melyssa Ford, Vida Guerra, and the like.

Kanye West on the set of the "Wouldn't Get Far" video shoot.

The chorus goes: “You wouldn’t get far, fucking them rap stars/You know who you are, put your hands up, ladies/If you kept your legs closed (it would be just a waste of time)/But you know…"

Forget about The Game. He is a skilled rapper, sure, but it is generally agreed that his subject matter seldom strays from its gangstafied, misogynist roots. Of interest is Mr. West’s gross deviation from the consciousness that he has come to embody in the eyes of hip hop purists and black intellectuals the same.

Content and concept driven: Kanye represents what rap should be, right? He’s the man behind “Jesus Walks" and “Heard ‘Em Say." Rap music with a message, just like back in the day. Plus, when black leaders held their tongues and tucked their tails in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, Kanye boldly told the world what nearly every person of color felt: “George Bush does not care about black people."

The hip hop elite place MCs above rappers. Jay-Z is a rapper, they will argue; Kanye West is an MC. But purists often suffer amnesia when it comes to holding these so-called saviors of the genre accountable for their lack of consciousness and, at times, downright ignorance. The question begs: how conscious is conscious rap really?

It is deplorable that Kanye West’s heroics overshadow his misogyny and casual use of the word bitch. See “Gone," “Wouldn’t Get Far," “Call Some Hoes," “Roses," and “Brand New." Other conscious artists are granted similar leeway by male and female consumers. Common recalled a time “when bitches had Gucci tags" and “hoes wore clothes that exposed their figures" on his celebrated opus, Resurrection. Still, who remembers?

On the other hand, rappers (not MCs) are assigned blame for the deteriorating mores of today’s youth and the denigration of black women. It is well known that Lil’ Wayne will “make it rain on them hoes," but outside of his fan base, when is he credited for penning “Georgia... Bush," one of 2006’s more poignant rap songs, or “This Is What I Call Her," in which he begs his woman to call him a slut for a change? Take it back even farther: who remembers 2 Pac, the quintessential thug rapper, for “Keep Ya Head Up" and not “I Get Around?"

If conscious is to be a label worn by MCs such as Kanye and Common—and make no mistake: they do wear it—it should be earned through a demonstrated abstention from the misogyny that characterizes much of hip hop music today. Unless, of course, one makes the argument that consciousness is independent of the struggle for gender equality, which, unfortunately, appears to be the prevailing consensus.

What else can a career move (for either Game or Kanye) that profits chiefly from shitting on women of color be called but an act of tapdancing coonery?