Internal Colonization and Revolt: Rap as an Underground Political Discourse in Oakland, CA

Abstract

This paper briefly explores the relationship between the Black Panther Party (B.P.P.) and local rap music in Oakland, California to compare this relationship to mainstream rap music. As rap music continues to gain exposure and popularity, hip-hop culture has increasingly become a topic in the social sciences and humanities. However, most studies of hip-hop culture have predominately focused on the mass-market trend toward worldwide commercialization of rap rather than fully examining how underground units continue to inform and innovate the mass trend. Inadequate attention is currently paid to the political development of rap as an underground narrative from a single location. Summarizing results from primary sources drawn from Oakland, CA, this paper contends that rap’s development partly stems from origins in the “war” between the Black Panther Party (B.P.P.) and COINTELPRO efforts. There are two major local consequences to this starting point. First, the messages in rap from Oakland, CA over the past thirty years were shaped and influenced by the militant, radical, and political nature of the B.P.P. in a way that mainstream rap music was not. Second, the styles of rap from Oakland, CA gained attention about a decade after other domestic locations (such as New York, NY) and on the basis of street authenticity being marketable. This raises significant questions about the agenda setting role of local rap artists — namely, their ability to create messages and styles of music that are more resistant to co-optation even while achieving a modicum of local popularity and commercial appeal. As such, this paper offers new insights into urban politics and provides a new outlook on addressing fundamental questions of power and equality in a liberal democracy.