1 00:00:03,843 --> 00:00:07,083 In the first decision of its kind, a federal judge in Florida 2 00:00:07,083 --> 00:00:10,243 has ruled that a sexually explicit record album is obscene. 3 00:00:10,243 --> 00:00:13,403 REPORTER: The rap group 2 Live Crew performed the original lyrics 4 00:00:13,403 --> 00:00:16,763 from an album ruled obscene by a federal judge. 5 00:00:16,763 --> 00:00:19,563 Shortly after the concert, county sheriffs' deputies 6 00:00:19,563 --> 00:00:23,083 arrested lead rapper Luther Campbell and one other member of the group 7 00:00:23,083 --> 00:00:26,523 and charged them with breaking the obscenity law. 8 00:00:26,523 --> 00:00:29,563 What he was making was essentially spring break music. 9 00:00:29,563 --> 00:00:33,963 It was Playboy or Hustler magazine, if you put that to music, right? 10 00:00:33,963 --> 00:00:36,363 It was girls, it was some nudity. 11 00:00:36,363 --> 00:00:40,043 But Luke got taken to court and he fought it tooth and nail 12 00:00:40,043 --> 00:00:42,963 to say that my First Amendment rights are my rights, 13 00:00:42,963 --> 00:00:46,283 they're the same rights that are given to every American at birth, 14 00:00:46,283 --> 00:00:47,963 which he won. 15 00:00:47,963 --> 00:00:50,203 The censorship started off with that. 16 00:00:53,803 --> 00:00:57,003 The fact that rap music also was becoming a language 17 00:00:57,003 --> 00:01:01,363 that brought commonality across the world was a problem. 18 00:01:01,363 --> 00:01:05,483 Once hip-hop starts to take a gangsta turn 19 00:01:05,483 --> 00:01:09,043 in the early '90s, thanks to N.W.A. and Dr Dre 20 00:01:09,043 --> 00:01:12,043 and early Death Row, the success of those records, 21 00:01:12,043 --> 00:01:15,563 the sales, you know, it's phenomenal. 22 00:01:17,203 --> 00:01:19,203 But the misogyny just got huge. 23 00:01:19,203 --> 00:01:22,083 The way that women were spoken about, the way that women 24 00:01:22,083 --> 00:01:25,563 were seen in videos, the whole perception of women. 25 00:01:29,563 --> 00:01:35,403 When the most important figure for a woman in hip-hop was the video girl, 26 00:01:35,403 --> 00:01:38,963 when she was more important than the female MC, 27 00:01:38,963 --> 00:01:43,083 it saddened me because some of our greatest MCs are women. 28 00:01:43,083 --> 00:01:46,323 For every song that came out disrespecting women, 29 00:01:46,323 --> 00:01:49,443 we had to then, like, do the debriefing. 30 00:01:49,443 --> 00:01:54,123 They say this, but look at us - we're doing this. 31 00:01:58,803 --> 00:02:00,643 # Come on and get down Uh, uh 32 00:02:00,643 --> 00:02:03,323 # Get, get, get, get, get 33 00:02:03,323 --> 00:02:05,243 # Come on and get down Uh, uh 34 00:02:05,243 --> 00:02:07,803 # Get, get, get, get, get 35 00:02:07,803 --> 00:02:09,963 # Come on and get down Uh, uh 36 00:02:09,963 --> 00:02:11,923 # Get, get, get, get, get 37 00:02:11,923 --> 00:02:13,883 # Come on and get down 38 00:02:13,883 --> 00:02:17,083 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 39 00:02:18,323 --> 00:02:21,563 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 40 00:02:22,923 --> 00:02:26,083 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 41 00:02:27,563 --> 00:02:30,723 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 42 00:02:31,803 --> 00:02:35,083 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 43 00:02:36,323 --> 00:02:39,803 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 44 00:02:41,083 --> 00:02:44,563 # Fight the power Yes, yes, yes, yes, y'all 45 00:02:45,563 --> 00:02:46,963 # Fight the power 46 00:02:46,963 --> 00:02:49,563 # We've got to fight the powers that be. # 47 00:03:01,083 --> 00:03:05,163 Out here in Los Angeles, you had the Rodney King incident. 48 00:03:06,163 --> 00:03:09,563 When that happened and then they acquitted the officers, 49 00:03:09,563 --> 00:03:11,163 it was like, yo. 50 00:03:12,163 --> 00:03:17,083 You know what? We trying to be Americans here... 51 00:03:17,083 --> 00:03:20,083 ..and truth and justice should be served, 52 00:03:20,083 --> 00:03:22,323 and it hasn't. 53 00:03:33,083 --> 00:03:36,083 I think 2,300 businesses were burnt. 54 00:03:36,083 --> 00:03:38,083 63 lives was lost. 55 00:03:39,803 --> 00:03:41,563 You couldn't breathe. 56 00:03:41,563 --> 00:03:43,323 It was horrible. 57 00:03:48,803 --> 00:03:52,043 It was so... 58 00:03:52,043 --> 00:03:57,563 ..sad that we had to tear up our community... 59 00:03:57,563 --> 00:04:00,323 ..to hear us. 60 00:04:01,323 --> 00:04:03,523 Uprising did a job. 61 00:04:03,523 --> 00:04:06,563 We still trying to rebuild from it 30 years later. 62 00:04:10,563 --> 00:04:13,963 That's the price we pay as a society when the criminal justice system 63 00:04:13,963 --> 00:04:16,803 loses its legitimacy in the eyes of many in the community - 64 00:04:16,803 --> 00:04:18,563 all hell breaks loose. 65 00:04:18,563 --> 00:04:21,083 And so that's what we certainly saw there, 66 00:04:21,083 --> 00:04:23,563 that those riots expressed that, 67 00:04:23,563 --> 00:04:28,363 they expressed our rage at the utter loss of moral credibility 68 00:04:28,363 --> 00:04:32,083 and legitimacy when in the criminal justice system. 69 00:04:33,083 --> 00:04:35,403 The police were on the defensive now 70 00:04:35,403 --> 00:04:38,803 and there had to be a way for the police to grab the offensive 71 00:04:38,803 --> 00:04:43,043 in this culture war against police brutality. 72 00:04:43,043 --> 00:04:46,723 REPORTER: Self proclaimed gangster rapper Ice-T plays to raw emotion 73 00:04:46,723 --> 00:04:48,323 and outrageous themes. 74 00:04:48,323 --> 00:04:50,923 Today, a group of Texas police officers condemned one 75 00:04:50,923 --> 00:04:55,643 of his latest songs, Cop Killer, as an invitation to commit murder. 76 00:04:55,643 --> 00:04:58,683 I don't...I don't want somebody going out, listening to these lyrics 77 00:04:58,683 --> 00:05:00,403 and deciding they're going to dust a cop. 78 00:05:00,403 --> 00:05:02,883 The song was written before the LA riots. 79 00:05:02,883 --> 00:05:06,323 Ice-T says it was a warning to abusive police officers 80 00:05:06,323 --> 00:05:08,723 of simmering tension in the black community. 81 00:05:08,723 --> 00:05:11,483 And until these cops realise that we're not just going to 82 00:05:11,483 --> 00:05:14,883 continually get our butts kicked in the street and we will retaliate, 83 00:05:14,883 --> 00:05:17,003 they're not going to act like human beings. 84 00:05:17,003 --> 00:05:18,763 # Cop killer... # 85 00:05:18,763 --> 00:05:20,403 HEAVY GUITAR RIFF 86 00:05:20,403 --> 00:05:24,083 This song, Cop Killer, it's not a hip-hop song at all. 87 00:05:25,083 --> 00:05:27,683 It's actually a heavy metal song 88 00:05:27,683 --> 00:05:30,323 created by a heavy metal group called Body Count, 89 00:05:30,323 --> 00:05:33,563 whose lead singer happens to be Ice-T, 90 00:05:33,563 --> 00:05:36,643 who is on other records an MC. 91 00:05:36,643 --> 00:05:39,683 # Cop killer, better you than me 92 00:05:41,083 --> 00:05:43,523 # Cop killer, fuck police brutality... # 93 00:05:44,523 --> 00:05:47,323 He launched his career with this hip-hop song 94 00:05:47,323 --> 00:05:49,403 called 6 'N The Mornin'. 95 00:05:49,403 --> 00:05:53,883 But he wants to form a second act and they create this album. 96 00:05:55,083 --> 00:05:58,523 # Cop killer I know your mama's grieving 97 00:05:58,523 --> 00:05:59,963 # Fuck her 98 00:05:59,963 --> 00:06:03,403 # Cop killer But tonight we get even 99 00:06:03,403 --> 00:06:04,803 # Yeah... # 100 00:06:04,803 --> 00:06:07,723 My art mimics me. 101 00:06:07,723 --> 00:06:09,803 So when you listen to my music, 102 00:06:09,803 --> 00:06:12,523 you're getting all the facets of Ice-T. 103 00:06:12,523 --> 00:06:14,963 The dirty rhymes, the political stuff, 104 00:06:14,963 --> 00:06:18,443 heavy metal, the gangsta shit, that was part of Ice-T. 105 00:06:18,443 --> 00:06:20,843 # Fuck the police For Daryl Gates 106 00:06:20,843 --> 00:06:22,723 Fuck the police For Rodney King 107 00:06:22,723 --> 00:06:25,163 # Fuck the police For my dead homies 108 00:06:25,163 --> 00:06:27,363 # Fuck the police For your freedom... # 109 00:06:27,363 --> 00:06:29,483 GUNSHOTS 110 00:06:29,483 --> 00:06:32,803 That's why heavy metal and hip-hop have a lot of affinity. 111 00:06:32,803 --> 00:06:37,163 A lot of it has to do with exaggeration and overstatement 112 00:06:37,163 --> 00:06:38,763 and political speech. 113 00:06:42,083 --> 00:06:46,323 Cop Killer is a song to just allow people to understand the rage... 114 00:06:47,323 --> 00:06:49,723 ..of a person and how far it can go. 115 00:06:51,323 --> 00:06:53,803 The record is not a call to murder police. 116 00:06:53,803 --> 00:06:56,803 It's just a way of saying, this is how angry we are. 117 00:06:58,803 --> 00:07:01,803 Nobody got killed over my record. Nobody. 118 00:07:01,803 --> 00:07:04,563 Ain't no record make you go want to hurt somebody. 119 00:07:04,563 --> 00:07:08,123 Situations and issues make you go want to hurt somebody. 120 00:07:10,323 --> 00:07:14,803 What Ice-T was talking succinctly about - bad cops, abusive cops, 121 00:07:14,803 --> 00:07:19,083 one-sided policing, the Fraternal Order of Police just thought that, 122 00:07:19,083 --> 00:07:20,803 "What the hell? 123 00:07:20,803 --> 00:07:23,563 "This cat got so much influence." 124 00:07:23,563 --> 00:07:28,803 The song goes on, "I got my brain on hype, tonight'll be your night, 125 00:07:28,803 --> 00:07:31,323 "die, die, die, pig, die." 126 00:07:31,323 --> 00:07:33,403 Catchy little number, isn't it? 127 00:07:33,403 --> 00:07:36,123 Gangster rap... Gangster rap... Gangster rap... 128 00:07:36,123 --> 00:07:38,523 That's more graphic than the evening news. 129 00:07:38,523 --> 00:07:40,563 Critics call their music insulting. 130 00:07:42,283 --> 00:07:45,003 Why did they get mad at it? You ready? 131 00:07:46,323 --> 00:07:49,243 It's the little white daughter sitting at a table, 132 00:07:49,243 --> 00:07:52,083 her father saying, "Oh, look at those niggers in LA. 133 00:07:52,083 --> 00:07:55,203 "They're rioting." She says, "They're not niggers, Dad, 134 00:07:55,203 --> 00:07:58,803 "and the police have been doing this and that for this many years", 135 00:07:58,803 --> 00:08:04,043 and she addresses all our problems and he doesn't realise... 136 00:08:04,043 --> 00:08:08,163 ..she's listening to Ice-T and Public Enemy. Home invasion. 137 00:08:08,163 --> 00:08:09,723 That's the fear. 138 00:08:09,723 --> 00:08:13,083 REPORTER: The police here in Texas were the first to call for a boycott 139 00:08:13,083 --> 00:08:14,963 of Ice-T and Time Warner last week. 140 00:08:14,963 --> 00:08:18,083 The effect? Sales of his album have tripled in Houston, 141 00:08:18,083 --> 00:08:19,803 doubled in three other cities. 142 00:08:22,203 --> 00:08:24,723 This happened in 1992, 143 00:08:24,723 --> 00:08:28,563 not coincidentally, a presidential election year, 144 00:08:28,563 --> 00:08:33,283 where George Bush, the incumbent president, 145 00:08:33,283 --> 00:08:36,363 is being challenged by Bill Clinton, 146 00:08:36,363 --> 00:08:39,083 the Democratic insurgent. 147 00:08:39,083 --> 00:08:42,083 And this song will become... 148 00:08:43,083 --> 00:08:45,843 ..a lightning rod in this campaign. 149 00:08:45,843 --> 00:08:48,563 APPLAUSE 150 00:08:45,843 --> 00:08:48,563 It is sick. 151 00:08:48,563 --> 00:08:52,963 It is wrong for any company to issue records 152 00:08:52,963 --> 00:08:56,883 that approve of killing a law enforcement officer. 153 00:08:57,883 --> 00:09:02,083 It was a way for Bush to solidly position himself as tough on crime. 154 00:09:03,763 --> 00:09:08,083 Which really helps with white voters who are particularly... 155 00:09:08,083 --> 00:09:10,803 ..predisposed to think of black folks 156 00:09:10,803 --> 00:09:13,403 as the threat to their existence. 157 00:09:14,403 --> 00:09:16,443 It was an awful time... 158 00:09:17,443 --> 00:09:20,323 ..and hip-hop became the sort of punching bag 159 00:09:20,323 --> 00:09:23,123 in this presidential election. 160 00:09:23,123 --> 00:09:24,723 CHEERING 161 00:09:26,403 --> 00:09:29,403 Eight years of Reagan, four years of Bush... 162 00:09:30,563 --> 00:09:33,803 ..and the country was going through the ending of R&B, 163 00:09:33,803 --> 00:09:38,083 that was Reagan and Bush, with the hope that we were clearing out 164 00:09:38,083 --> 00:09:42,723 of the swamp and out of the muck with a Bill Clinton nomination. 165 00:09:42,723 --> 00:09:44,483 Give us a job! 166 00:09:47,083 --> 00:09:50,803 4,000 Democratic Party delegates are in New York today 167 00:09:50,803 --> 00:09:53,803 for the start of their convention at Madison Square Garden. 168 00:09:53,803 --> 00:09:56,563 It will end on Thursday with the formal nomination 169 00:09:56,563 --> 00:09:58,803 of Bill Clinton as the party's candidate 170 00:09:58,803 --> 00:10:01,083 in November's presidential election. 171 00:10:02,083 --> 00:10:04,323 In the name of the hard working Americans 172 00:10:04,323 --> 00:10:07,563 who make up our forgotten middle class, 173 00:10:07,563 --> 00:10:12,323 I proudly accept your nomination for President of the United States. 174 00:10:12,323 --> 00:10:13,803 CHEERING 175 00:10:16,083 --> 00:10:20,723 Bill Clinton, who is the governor of Arkansas at the time, 176 00:10:20,723 --> 00:10:24,563 enters the presidential stage as a candidate. 177 00:10:26,563 --> 00:10:30,803 Bill was interesting cos we saw Bill Clinton on Arsenio Hall's show. 178 00:10:33,363 --> 00:10:35,563 Something as simple as that 179 00:10:35,563 --> 00:10:38,723 really kind of made Bill Clinton appeal to us. 180 00:10:39,723 --> 00:10:43,163 You know, playing his music, he hung out with black folks, 181 00:10:43,163 --> 00:10:47,083 he, you know, spoke in this kind of charming Southern accent. 182 00:10:47,083 --> 00:10:50,083 He was from down-home Arkansas. He was one of us. 183 00:10:51,083 --> 00:10:55,803 But there was a sense that Bill Clinton was going to be 184 00:10:55,803 --> 00:11:00,083 someone who responded to the issues we were having in our community. 185 00:11:00,083 --> 00:11:01,803 APPLAUSE 186 00:11:01,803 --> 00:11:04,723 White racism may be black people's burden 187 00:11:04,723 --> 00:11:07,083 but it's white people's problem. 188 00:11:07,083 --> 00:11:09,323 We must clean our house. 189 00:11:09,323 --> 00:11:10,963 APPLAUSE 190 00:11:14,563 --> 00:11:19,843 He decides that he is going to engage civil rights leaders. 191 00:11:23,083 --> 00:11:27,323 So he speaks at Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition Convention 192 00:11:27,323 --> 00:11:29,083 in 1992. 193 00:11:30,083 --> 00:11:33,563 But it's there that Bill Clinton decides 194 00:11:33,563 --> 00:11:36,363 he's going to take on hip-hop. 195 00:11:37,803 --> 00:11:44,083 Namely, the activist component in the form of Sister Souljah. 196 00:11:44,083 --> 00:11:48,083 It's definitely a warning about the fact that we are under 197 00:11:48,083 --> 00:11:52,083 a police state, we are under military domination in this country, 198 00:11:52,083 --> 00:11:54,403 and that we have a criminal justice system 199 00:11:54,403 --> 00:11:57,963 that absolutely does not work for African people. 200 00:11:59,563 --> 00:12:04,803 Clinton had been closely associated in the minds of many people, 201 00:12:04,803 --> 00:12:07,323 many white Americans, with black folk. 202 00:12:07,323 --> 00:12:09,523 CHEERING 203 00:12:09,523 --> 00:12:14,523 It becomes, "How can I demonstrate that I'm not beholden 204 00:12:14,523 --> 00:12:18,843 "to these, um, African-American activists?" 205 00:12:20,803 --> 00:12:24,763 By then critiquing this rap artist. 206 00:12:24,763 --> 00:12:28,843 I defend her right to express herself through music. 207 00:12:28,843 --> 00:12:31,723 But her comments before and after Los Angeles 208 00:12:31,723 --> 00:12:34,803 were filled with the kind of hatred that you do not honour. 209 00:12:34,803 --> 00:12:37,923 She told The Washington Post about a month ago, 210 00:12:37,923 --> 00:12:42,083 and I quote, "If black people kill black people every day, 211 00:12:42,083 --> 00:12:44,203 "why not have a week and kill white people?" 212 00:12:45,203 --> 00:12:47,083 I know she is a young person 213 00:12:47,083 --> 00:12:50,003 but she has a big influence on a lot of people. 214 00:12:52,083 --> 00:12:55,323 We met Sister Souljah, Lisa Williamson, 215 00:12:55,323 --> 00:12:58,203 as an organiser and an activist. 216 00:12:58,203 --> 00:13:01,563 We in Public Enemy thought that, like, what can we do? 217 00:13:01,563 --> 00:13:05,803 She doesn't rap but we could include her voice - a dynamic... 218 00:13:05,803 --> 00:13:08,523 Probably one of the most dynamic speakers ever. 219 00:13:08,523 --> 00:13:10,923 # We are at war Come on! 220 00:13:10,923 --> 00:13:13,323 # Black man, where is your army? Come on! 221 00:13:13,323 --> 00:13:16,403 # The black man is so dope there's no reason we can't win 222 00:13:16,403 --> 00:13:18,723 # Everybody's going to have to get serious 223 00:13:18,723 --> 00:13:19,963 # Terminator X 224 00:13:19,963 --> 00:13:22,123 # I try to teach and reach I drop bombs... # 225 00:13:22,123 --> 00:13:25,803 They used it as, "Oh, look what she's talking about. 226 00:13:25,803 --> 00:13:29,723 "She's being divisive. She's really kind of, like, charging up 227 00:13:29,723 --> 00:13:34,283 "these disenfranchised troops of hers to make them think that, 228 00:13:34,283 --> 00:13:38,083 "you know, that they got to come forward with the uses of violence 229 00:13:38,083 --> 00:13:41,323 "in the United States of America," and that was just bullshit. 230 00:13:41,323 --> 00:13:44,243 They used it as campaign fodder. 231 00:13:45,563 --> 00:13:49,443 She's talking to the black community and the gang bangers, 232 00:13:49,443 --> 00:13:53,563 like, "Listen, don't kill yourselves," right? 233 00:13:53,563 --> 00:13:55,683 You know, "be able to understand 234 00:13:55,683 --> 00:13:59,243 "that there's somebody bigger than you that wants to kill you." 235 00:14:01,563 --> 00:14:04,003 Sister Souljah was used as a vehicle, 236 00:14:04,003 --> 00:14:06,803 like black victims of racism. 237 00:14:06,803 --> 00:14:11,563 A poor excuse for an agenda-less candidate. 238 00:14:11,563 --> 00:14:16,083 What is your relationship to black youth beyond the patronising gesture 239 00:14:16,083 --> 00:14:19,603 of picking up black babies and patting them on their heads? 240 00:14:21,563 --> 00:14:26,803 It was a way for Bill Clinton to position himself. 241 00:14:26,803 --> 00:14:31,243 "See? I'm a Democrat and I support liberal social policies... 242 00:14:32,563 --> 00:14:36,883 "..but I'll protect white voters against the 'them'." 243 00:14:48,803 --> 00:14:51,483 In the end, Clinton wins. 244 00:14:53,403 --> 00:14:56,563 In just 11 weeks, the presidency of the United States 245 00:14:56,563 --> 00:14:59,803 will change hands from George Bush to Bill Clinton. 246 00:14:59,803 --> 00:15:01,563 CHEERING 247 00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:07,323 The American people have voted to make a new beginning. 248 00:15:08,323 --> 00:15:12,163 And perhaps most important of all, to bring our people together 249 00:15:12,163 --> 00:15:14,763 as never before so that our diversity 250 00:15:14,763 --> 00:15:18,723 can be a source of strength in a world that is ever smaller, 251 00:15:18,723 --> 00:15:23,083 where everyone counts and everyone is a part of America's family. 252 00:15:23,083 --> 00:15:24,803 CHEERING 253 00:15:40,323 --> 00:15:44,803 Not only did we have a new president sworn in in the early '90s, 254 00:15:44,803 --> 00:15:48,323 but a whole new sound was coming out of the West Coast. 255 00:15:49,323 --> 00:15:51,563 It would change hip-hop forever. 256 00:15:53,803 --> 00:15:58,323 We have our own way that we sound in the West. 257 00:15:59,723 --> 00:16:02,523 I'm born in Oakland, raised in LA. 258 00:16:05,803 --> 00:16:09,323 We have our own tone of voice. 259 00:16:09,323 --> 00:16:11,283 We have our own energy. 260 00:16:14,323 --> 00:16:16,643 The West Coast is a car culture. 261 00:16:16,643 --> 00:16:19,683 Right? When you think about LA and Oakland. That's significant. 262 00:16:22,563 --> 00:16:26,803 If you're a proper California girl, you are checking out cars 263 00:16:26,803 --> 00:16:28,803 more than the guys sometimes. 264 00:16:29,803 --> 00:16:32,443 I used to see Ice-T... 265 00:16:33,443 --> 00:16:37,723 ..driving around LA, specifically up and down Crenshaw, 266 00:16:37,723 --> 00:16:39,803 in these amazing cars. 267 00:16:41,563 --> 00:16:45,083 See, the difference in LA and East Coast music 268 00:16:45,083 --> 00:16:47,483 is East Coast is the train. 269 00:16:47,483 --> 00:16:49,083 Like, "Arrrgh". 270 00:16:49,083 --> 00:16:51,083 Which is more erratic. 271 00:16:51,083 --> 00:16:54,963 LA is lowriders, so it's smoother. 272 00:16:54,963 --> 00:16:57,563 Hey. Matt. What up, Matt? What up, Matt? 273 00:17:01,083 --> 00:17:05,083 Dr Dre went from his N.W.A. persona, 274 00:17:05,083 --> 00:17:08,723 which was by and large forceful, muscular, aggressive, 275 00:17:08,723 --> 00:17:10,803 angry and in-your-face, 276 00:17:10,803 --> 00:17:13,083 to a much more kind of chill... 277 00:17:13,083 --> 00:17:15,803 Like, he sounded, "Yeah, it's the next episode." 278 00:17:15,803 --> 00:17:18,803 You know, he was...chill. He was relaxed. 279 00:17:18,803 --> 00:17:20,923 Maybe they smoked a lot of chronic. 280 00:17:20,923 --> 00:17:22,563 Name that tune. 281 00:17:23,563 --> 00:17:27,163 Dr Dre just sonically hit hip-hop where it needed to be. 282 00:17:27,163 --> 00:17:29,523 # Look at me now and tell me what you see 283 00:17:29,523 --> 00:17:32,083 # I am what I am, it's only me 284 00:17:32,083 --> 00:17:36,083 # Little ghetto boy 285 00:17:36,083 --> 00:17:39,203 # Playing in the ghetto street... # 286 00:17:39,203 --> 00:17:41,803 Aesthetically and musically, The Chronic... 287 00:17:42,803 --> 00:17:46,083 ..was once again the genius of Dr Dre looking at 288 00:17:46,083 --> 00:17:50,803 the total array of hip-hop and rap music. 289 00:17:50,803 --> 00:17:55,563 Dre slowed hip-hop down. 290 00:17:55,563 --> 00:17:58,563 # 27 years old, up for parole... # 291 00:17:58,563 --> 00:18:02,083 You know? And he happened to find a person that could ride 292 00:18:02,083 --> 00:18:04,203 that slow beat. 293 00:18:04,203 --> 00:18:07,043 Guy by the name of Snoop Doggy Dogg. 294 00:18:07,043 --> 00:18:09,083 # But now they blast, right 295 00:18:09,083 --> 00:18:11,163 # Wake up, jumped out my bed 296 00:18:11,163 --> 00:18:14,563 # I'm in a two-man cell with my homie Lil 1/2 Dead 297 00:18:14,563 --> 00:18:17,083 # Murder was the case that they gave me 298 00:18:17,083 --> 00:18:19,723 # Dear God, I wonder Can you save me? # 299 00:18:19,723 --> 00:18:24,043 The power of The Chronic was not only in the production, 300 00:18:24,043 --> 00:18:26,163 but he just debuted so many people. 301 00:18:26,163 --> 00:18:28,883 It was almost like a compilation album. 302 00:18:29,883 --> 00:18:34,323 He really put a stamp on what West Coast music sounded like. 303 00:18:34,323 --> 00:18:37,803 # Throwing them dogs, getting that rep as a young hog... # 304 00:18:37,803 --> 00:18:41,643 Dre, to me the number one producer in the world. 305 00:18:41,643 --> 00:18:43,803 He's our Quincy Jones. 306 00:18:43,803 --> 00:18:47,563 # Since I did the crime I gots to do my time 307 00:18:47,563 --> 00:18:50,083 # Them say me grow up to be nothing, look at me now 308 00:18:50,083 --> 00:18:53,083 # And tell me what you see I am what I am, it's only me... # 309 00:18:53,083 --> 00:18:56,563 I think the difference between The Chronic and all the rest 310 00:18:56,563 --> 00:18:59,963 of the records that came out was how clean it sounded. 311 00:19:01,003 --> 00:19:05,323 Because you're used to hip-hop being, like, super...dirty. 312 00:19:05,323 --> 00:19:07,243 But it sounded amazing. 313 00:19:07,243 --> 00:19:10,563 He really told other producers to step up your game. 314 00:19:12,803 --> 00:19:14,963 # Now I'm holding a dub... # 315 00:19:14,963 --> 00:19:16,803 He was my step-brother. 316 00:19:16,803 --> 00:19:19,083 We built the chemistry between us. 317 00:19:19,083 --> 00:19:22,163 Me and Snoop and Nate and us was living with Dre. 318 00:19:22,163 --> 00:19:24,163 We had parties everywhere. 319 00:19:24,163 --> 00:19:27,123 We would drink our beer, smoke a joint here and there. 320 00:19:27,123 --> 00:19:29,963 It was just fun, and creating music 321 00:19:29,963 --> 00:19:32,803 and just feel...just feel free. 322 00:19:32,803 --> 00:19:34,803 Whattup?! 323 00:19:34,803 --> 00:19:36,643 Get your ass outta here. 324 00:19:36,643 --> 00:19:41,083 # Playing in the ghetto street 325 00:19:41,083 --> 00:19:43,563 # What you gonna do when you grow up? # 326 00:19:43,563 --> 00:19:45,843 People in Texas, people in the Midwest, 327 00:19:45,843 --> 00:19:48,563 you know, they listen to those Snoop and them Dre records, 328 00:19:48,563 --> 00:19:51,163 it's a little different, you know what I'm saying? 329 00:19:51,163 --> 00:19:54,723 So it's like, that was dope, to hear that new frame of reference, 330 00:19:54,723 --> 00:19:58,563 to hear new people saying new shit, a new way, 331 00:19:58,563 --> 00:20:01,203 you know, with new musical influences. 332 00:20:01,203 --> 00:20:02,803 It was great. Amazing. 333 00:20:02,803 --> 00:20:05,123 # No needing being calm if you pack right 334 00:20:05,123 --> 00:20:08,083 # And learning just enough to keep your sack right 335 00:20:08,083 --> 00:20:10,563 # Late nights, I wonder what they getting for 336 00:20:10,563 --> 00:20:13,323 # Early morning on the corners What they hitting for? # 337 00:20:13,323 --> 00:20:15,563 Lyrically, it's still X-rated raps, 338 00:20:15,563 --> 00:20:20,083 but it's just said over a beat that feels and sounds better. 339 00:20:20,083 --> 00:20:23,563 And that was a watershed moment in the sense that 340 00:20:23,563 --> 00:20:30,083 you could take music that was very abrasive and very confrontational, 341 00:20:30,083 --> 00:20:32,563 change the sound of the music, 342 00:20:32,563 --> 00:20:36,443 and all of a sudden, a lot of people that for years 343 00:20:36,443 --> 00:20:39,043 had been disparaging rap, and now, all of a sudden, 344 00:20:39,043 --> 00:20:41,043 "Oh, this is the greatest thing ever." 345 00:20:41,043 --> 00:20:44,083 # Cos you's a hustlin'-ass youngster Clocking your grip 346 00:20:44,083 --> 00:20:47,043 # Playing in the ghetto street... # 347 00:20:47,043 --> 00:20:50,083 In ten years, rap music has gone from ghetto streets 348 00:20:50,083 --> 00:20:52,083 to main street USA. 349 00:20:52,083 --> 00:20:55,763 Sales last year reached an estimated $5 billion. 350 00:20:56,763 --> 00:21:01,563 Hip-hop was really becoming an industry. 351 00:21:01,563 --> 00:21:03,803 The whole scene had matured. 352 00:21:06,043 --> 00:21:10,083 The ascendancy of the gangsta rap scene. 353 00:21:10,083 --> 00:21:13,563 You also had a lot of the major labels 354 00:21:13,563 --> 00:21:17,243 really starting to get much more invested. 355 00:21:17,243 --> 00:21:21,243 You had, you know, magazines that were dedicated 356 00:21:21,243 --> 00:21:22,803 to hip-hop. 357 00:21:24,763 --> 00:21:27,443 It meant a lot to me to become editor in chief of Vibe. 358 00:21:27,443 --> 00:21:29,883 Because rap was hot, we didn't have enough pages 359 00:21:29,883 --> 00:21:32,323 to cover all the people that we wanted to cover. 360 00:21:32,323 --> 00:21:35,403 It just felt like hip-hop was taking over. 361 00:21:35,403 --> 00:21:39,803 REPORTER: 72% of the rap records in Los Angeles are sold to white kids. 362 00:21:42,803 --> 00:21:44,563 Here comes hip-hop. 363 00:21:44,563 --> 00:21:47,403 White kids, black kids liking the same music. 364 00:21:47,403 --> 00:21:49,603 White kids love hip-hop. 365 00:21:50,603 --> 00:21:52,803 Just a different lifestyle 366 00:21:52,803 --> 00:21:55,563 and they just tell us how they think. 367 00:21:55,563 --> 00:22:00,003 It's not really so offensive as it is eye opening, you know? 368 00:22:01,003 --> 00:22:04,083 When I was watching as a kid, you'd see MTV Raps 369 00:22:04,083 --> 00:22:07,963 and you'd see somebody in an interview saying that, you know, 370 00:22:07,963 --> 00:22:10,803 we're just basically reporting to you what's happening 371 00:22:10,803 --> 00:22:12,643 on the streets where we live. 372 00:22:12,643 --> 00:22:14,563 You know what I'm saying? 373 00:22:14,563 --> 00:22:18,363 Um, my education is from hip-hop, honestly, 374 00:22:18,363 --> 00:22:22,563 because that's... I look to rappers to know what's going on, 375 00:22:22,563 --> 00:22:24,843 you know what I'm saying? And... 376 00:22:25,843 --> 00:22:30,083 It just felt like rappers, certain rappers, were just talking to me, 377 00:22:30,083 --> 00:22:31,723 you know? 378 00:22:33,323 --> 00:22:36,403 A lot of people, especially young white kids, 379 00:22:36,403 --> 00:22:39,803 very quickly learned that, unfortunately, 380 00:22:39,803 --> 00:22:44,803 a lot of the music was based on what was happening in the United States. 381 00:22:45,803 --> 00:22:48,803 Have you ever been shot at? Yeah. What happened? 382 00:22:48,803 --> 00:22:50,563 Nothin'. I got away. 383 00:22:51,563 --> 00:22:55,803 People wanted to hear these stories because they're authentic. 384 00:23:00,323 --> 00:23:02,563 It's like a tour guide through the streets. 385 00:23:02,563 --> 00:23:06,163 I don't have to ride down Crenshaw to find out what's really going on. 386 00:23:06,163 --> 00:23:08,163 I can buy me a gangsta tape. 387 00:23:10,803 --> 00:23:13,803 But the white establishment didn't like it 388 00:23:13,803 --> 00:23:17,563 cos you had these articulate, angry black men 389 00:23:17,563 --> 00:23:19,923 exposing some of the ugly truths 390 00:23:19,923 --> 00:23:21,563 of the United States. 391 00:23:21,563 --> 00:23:26,083 And that was intimidating, dangerous and frightening to a lot of people, 392 00:23:26,083 --> 00:23:29,843 because now these guys do have a voice. 393 00:23:29,843 --> 00:23:31,723 Now they have the microphone. 394 00:23:32,723 --> 00:23:37,723 In the '90s, you know, a lot of things were escalated, and... 395 00:23:37,723 --> 00:23:43,443 ..things were getting worse because we had more police brutality. 396 00:23:43,443 --> 00:23:48,483 A lot of gang activity at the same time, as far as a lot of drive-bys. 397 00:23:48,483 --> 00:23:50,083 SIREN BLARES 398 00:23:51,803 --> 00:23:53,723 POLICE RADIO CHATTER 399 00:23:55,683 --> 00:24:00,003 One of the things that it's important to understand is... 400 00:24:01,003 --> 00:24:04,083 ..crime as a whole, and particularly violent crime, 401 00:24:04,083 --> 00:24:07,403 had been increasing for 20 years. 402 00:24:07,403 --> 00:24:08,723 SIREN BLARES 403 00:24:08,723 --> 00:24:10,403 He's got his gun out! 404 00:24:10,403 --> 00:24:12,803 REPORTER: Anger and tension exploding here, 405 00:24:12,803 --> 00:24:14,323 as in so many cities. 406 00:24:14,323 --> 00:24:16,923 A feeling that crime is out of control. 407 00:24:17,923 --> 00:24:21,083 Watching brothers get killed, I mean, it can take a toll 408 00:24:21,083 --> 00:24:23,563 on your life, it can take a toll on your mind. 409 00:24:25,803 --> 00:24:29,563 Urban communities, African-American communities, Latino communities, 410 00:24:29,563 --> 00:24:32,363 are under assault. They are under siege. 411 00:24:32,363 --> 00:24:34,563 What this is is this is a search warrant. 412 00:24:34,563 --> 00:24:38,563 They are being ravaged by drugs and by crime 413 00:24:38,563 --> 00:24:40,563 and by poverty and inequality. 414 00:24:42,803 --> 00:24:45,723 We're coming off this erroneous belief 415 00:24:45,723 --> 00:24:48,283 that Democrats are soft on crime. 416 00:24:51,323 --> 00:24:54,523 REPORTER: This is a special report. 417 00:24:54,523 --> 00:24:57,323 President Clinton's State of the Union Address 418 00:24:57,323 --> 00:24:59,083 to a joint session of Congress. 419 00:24:59,083 --> 00:25:00,723 Thank you very much. 420 00:25:02,563 --> 00:25:05,843 Bill Clinton is leaning into... 421 00:25:05,843 --> 00:25:07,963 ..sort of, "We've got to be tough on crime," 422 00:25:07,963 --> 00:25:10,643 because Bill Clinton is trying to save his presidency 423 00:25:10,643 --> 00:25:12,643 after losing the midterm election. 424 00:25:13,803 --> 00:25:16,603 Bill Clinton feels the pressure 425 00:25:16,603 --> 00:25:19,083 to prove that he can be just as harsh 426 00:25:19,083 --> 00:25:22,563 and just as punitive as Republicans 427 00:25:22,563 --> 00:25:25,923 on the issue of law and order and crime. 428 00:25:25,923 --> 00:25:29,723 In our toughest neighbourhoods, on our meanest streets, 429 00:25:29,723 --> 00:25:34,803 we have seen a stunning and simultaneous breakdown 430 00:25:34,803 --> 00:25:39,483 of community, family and work. 431 00:25:39,483 --> 00:25:42,083 This has created a vast vacuum 432 00:25:42,083 --> 00:25:45,083 which has been filled by violence 433 00:25:45,083 --> 00:25:48,363 and drugs and gangs. 434 00:25:51,083 --> 00:25:53,323 The Congressional Black Caucus 435 00:25:53,323 --> 00:25:56,083 approach the President of the United States 436 00:25:56,083 --> 00:25:58,963 and they say, "Look, our constituents are telling us 437 00:25:58,963 --> 00:26:02,803 "we need to do something. We have to fix this." 438 00:26:06,323 --> 00:26:09,163 It's a shame that we can't walk outside today. 439 00:26:09,163 --> 00:26:12,323 I'm scared for my children to come outside because of the gangs. 440 00:26:12,323 --> 00:26:15,403 There are black people who are represented by these people 441 00:26:15,403 --> 00:26:18,803 who live in these neighbourhoods who wanted something to happen. 442 00:26:20,083 --> 00:26:23,323 They wanted people who were repeat offenders 443 00:26:23,323 --> 00:26:25,323 to go to jail for a while. 444 00:26:25,323 --> 00:26:28,603 They wanted to have people stop shooting guns... 445 00:26:28,603 --> 00:26:30,723 ..freely in their neighbourhoods. 446 00:26:31,723 --> 00:26:34,203 I encourage all my colleagues to vote for 447 00:26:34,203 --> 00:26:35,923 the bipartisan crime bill. 448 00:26:35,923 --> 00:26:39,963 One step is you must take back the streets, 449 00:26:39,963 --> 00:26:44,563 and you take back the streets by more cops, more prisons, 450 00:26:44,563 --> 00:26:47,563 more physical protection for the people. 451 00:26:47,563 --> 00:26:51,083 It doesn't matter whether or not they're the victims of society. 452 00:26:51,083 --> 00:26:54,403 The end result is they're about to knock my mother on the head 453 00:26:54,403 --> 00:26:59,483 with a lead pipe, shoot my sister, beat up my wife, take on my sons. 454 00:27:00,483 --> 00:27:04,483 So I don't want to ask what made them do this. 455 00:27:04,483 --> 00:27:07,883 They must be taken off the street. 456 00:27:07,883 --> 00:27:09,563 APPLAUSE 457 00:27:09,563 --> 00:27:13,883 When this bill is law, we will have 100,000 police officers 458 00:27:13,883 --> 00:27:16,563 on the street - a 20% increase. 459 00:27:16,563 --> 00:27:20,563 It will be used to build prisons to keep 100,000 violent criminals 460 00:27:20,563 --> 00:27:22,163 off the street. 461 00:27:22,163 --> 00:27:24,563 We will have the means by which we can say 462 00:27:24,563 --> 00:27:26,803 punishment will be more certain. 463 00:27:29,323 --> 00:27:33,563 The weapons of mass distraction have always been in play. 464 00:27:34,563 --> 00:27:38,083 People follow their sports teams more than they follow 465 00:27:38,083 --> 00:27:40,723 the things that's going to affect them every day, 466 00:27:40,723 --> 00:27:44,323 so a lot of times bills are passed and politicians go back and forth 467 00:27:44,323 --> 00:27:47,403 and all of a sudden you turn around and there's a crime bill 468 00:27:47,403 --> 00:27:49,403 that not only affects your present 469 00:27:49,403 --> 00:27:51,803 but really seriously affects your future. 470 00:27:56,083 --> 00:27:58,563 Clinton passed a crime bill... 471 00:27:59,563 --> 00:28:02,563 ..which allowed now 14-year-olds to be tried as adults, 472 00:28:02,563 --> 00:28:04,563 more prisons being built. 473 00:28:06,083 --> 00:28:10,643 The impact of the crime bill is devastating 474 00:28:10,643 --> 00:28:12,883 and felt almost immediately. 475 00:28:15,323 --> 00:28:18,323 For example, the three strikes law. 476 00:28:18,323 --> 00:28:22,323 This idea that if you have three offences, 477 00:28:22,323 --> 00:28:24,803 that you're out of here. 478 00:28:24,803 --> 00:28:29,203 Like, you go away. It increases your sentencing dramatically. 479 00:28:29,203 --> 00:28:32,323 That is embedded into the crime bill. 480 00:28:32,323 --> 00:28:35,083 BILL CLINTON: ..violent crimes should be told, 481 00:28:35,083 --> 00:28:37,563 when you commit a third violent crime, 482 00:28:37,563 --> 00:28:40,563 you will be put away and put away for good. 483 00:28:42,003 --> 00:28:43,723 Let's go! 484 00:28:43,723 --> 00:28:46,563 What were you guys doing? Nothing at all, boss. 485 00:28:46,563 --> 00:28:48,803 Nothing at all. 486 00:28:48,803 --> 00:28:51,723 In fact, we have seen sentencing discrepancies 487 00:28:51,723 --> 00:28:54,203 when it comes to drugs. 488 00:28:54,203 --> 00:28:55,803 Cocaine versus crack. 489 00:28:55,803 --> 00:28:57,843 Crack and cocaine. 490 00:28:57,843 --> 00:29:00,643 Cocaine versus crack cocaine. 491 00:29:00,643 --> 00:29:04,203 The penalty for possession of 5g of crack cocaine, 492 00:29:04,203 --> 00:29:08,723 the drug used and sold by many young blacks, is five years in prison. 493 00:29:11,563 --> 00:29:15,563 The penalty for possession of 5g of powdered cocaine, 494 00:29:15,563 --> 00:29:19,803 the drug favoured by the white middle class, is probation. 495 00:29:19,803 --> 00:29:21,803 Who in here has been in prison before? 496 00:29:21,803 --> 00:29:24,963 And that's why so many people who got caught with very small amounts 497 00:29:24,963 --> 00:29:27,003 ended up doing really major time. 498 00:29:29,883 --> 00:29:32,203 Do you think you'll be coming back here again? 499 00:29:33,563 --> 00:29:35,083 That's hard to say. 500 00:29:39,763 --> 00:29:43,323 As a result of the Clinton administration policies, 501 00:29:43,323 --> 00:29:45,563 you had one in three black males 502 00:29:45,563 --> 00:29:49,923 caught up in the criminal justice system, with the numbers climbing. 503 00:29:55,563 --> 00:29:57,963 These communities were asking for help. 504 00:29:57,963 --> 00:30:00,803 We know that they were like, "We have problems." 505 00:30:03,123 --> 00:30:05,083 But what they were asking for 506 00:30:05,083 --> 00:30:07,803 was to get to the root of the problem. 507 00:30:07,803 --> 00:30:14,443 So that doesn't mean locking up a generation of African-Americans 508 00:30:14,443 --> 00:30:18,163 or labelling every black man who walks out of his house 509 00:30:18,163 --> 00:30:19,843 a gang banger. 510 00:30:22,483 --> 00:30:25,643 We can't really measure the affect and impact 511 00:30:25,643 --> 00:30:28,323 that it has on us as a community 512 00:30:28,323 --> 00:30:31,363 cos it's impossible to reverse the damage. 513 00:30:31,363 --> 00:30:34,883 I've got friends who got sentenced to decades 514 00:30:34,883 --> 00:30:38,083 and because they were in prison, they couldn't provide 515 00:30:38,083 --> 00:30:39,803 for their families. 516 00:30:41,803 --> 00:30:44,723 We don't know if they would have possibly married 517 00:30:44,723 --> 00:30:46,563 and created families of their own. 518 00:30:46,563 --> 00:30:49,283 We don't know who they would have grown up to become. 519 00:30:52,443 --> 00:30:55,563 Oh, man, I've got friends now that if they're caught 520 00:30:55,563 --> 00:30:58,443 with a butter knife, they'll be doing life in jail. 521 00:30:59,563 --> 00:31:01,403 It's incredible. 522 00:31:01,403 --> 00:31:03,563 It really hurt the community. 523 00:31:05,083 --> 00:31:07,323 After a few years, 524 00:31:07,323 --> 00:31:11,323 I didn't know a black family that didn't have a family member that 525 00:31:11,323 --> 00:31:14,963 had been in jail and incarcerated for a long period of time. 526 00:31:16,083 --> 00:31:19,083 A lot of men were being swept away and, you know, 527 00:31:19,083 --> 00:31:24,083 the pipeline to penitentiary was just heavy, put into place and thick 528 00:31:24,083 --> 00:31:26,723 and men were getting swept up off the streets 529 00:31:26,723 --> 00:31:30,083 for low-level marijuana crimes. Let's just start there. 530 00:31:31,083 --> 00:31:33,763 # It ain't easy being me 531 00:31:33,763 --> 00:31:36,803 # Will I see the penitentiary or will I stay free? 532 00:31:36,803 --> 00:31:39,043 # It ain't easy being me 533 00:31:39,043 --> 00:31:42,523 # Will I see the penitentiary or will I stay free? 534 00:31:42,523 --> 00:31:44,163 # It ain't easy... # 535 00:31:44,163 --> 00:31:47,563 And a lot of people who got out of the joint in the '90s 536 00:31:47,563 --> 00:31:49,483 ended up in hip-hop. 537 00:31:49,483 --> 00:31:51,963 # Wake up sweaty and screaming cos I can hear them... # 538 00:31:51,963 --> 00:31:53,723 You know, it's in these records, 539 00:31:53,723 --> 00:31:55,723 talking about guys who hit the bricks. 540 00:31:55,723 --> 00:31:57,963 There's a lot of references to jail culture. 541 00:31:57,963 --> 00:32:00,483 # Lookin' out for these killer kids cos they wild 542 00:32:00,483 --> 00:32:03,083 # Bill Clinton can you recognise a nigga representin' 543 00:32:03,083 --> 00:32:05,083 # Doin' 20 to life in San Quentin 544 00:32:05,083 --> 00:32:07,163 # Gettin' calls from my nigga Mike Tyson 545 00:32:07,163 --> 00:32:10,403 # Ain't nothing nice - "Yo 'Pac, do somethin' righteous wit' ya life" 546 00:32:10,403 --> 00:32:12,803 # And even though you innocent, you still a nigga 547 00:32:12,803 --> 00:32:14,483 # So they figure... # 548 00:32:14,483 --> 00:32:17,483 Tupac Shakur wrote It Ain't Easy in the mid 1990s 549 00:32:17,483 --> 00:32:20,083 when he was facing jail time of his own. 550 00:32:20,083 --> 00:32:22,083 # No, it ain't easy... # 551 00:32:22,083 --> 00:32:24,563 He was speaking directly to the hearts and issues 552 00:32:24,563 --> 00:32:26,723 of young black men at the time. 553 00:32:26,723 --> 00:32:28,083 # It ain't easy... # 554 00:32:28,083 --> 00:32:31,083 'Pac was able to, like, take the everyday life 555 00:32:31,083 --> 00:32:33,083 that he was even in the middle of 556 00:32:33,083 --> 00:32:35,163 and be able to come up with a great song. 557 00:32:35,163 --> 00:32:37,483 # Keep an eye on the cops while D-Boys slang rocks 558 00:32:37,483 --> 00:32:39,803 # It's the project kid without a conscience... # 559 00:32:39,803 --> 00:32:42,083 Tupac was a social commentator, 560 00:32:42,083 --> 00:32:46,803 but he was also a skilled rapper, MC, 561 00:32:46,803 --> 00:32:49,483 and had that revolutionary spirit. 562 00:32:50,483 --> 00:32:55,083 Are you rolling, Eddie? OK. My name is Tupac Shakur. 563 00:32:55,083 --> 00:32:58,563 I think I'm growing up good, in all sense of the word. 564 00:32:58,563 --> 00:33:00,803 I think I'm growing up and learning about 565 00:33:00,803 --> 00:33:02,683 responsibilities and everything. 566 00:33:02,683 --> 00:33:05,803 My mother was a Black Panther and she was really involved 567 00:33:05,803 --> 00:33:07,723 in the movement, you know, 568 00:33:07,723 --> 00:33:11,443 just black people bettering themselves and things like that. 569 00:33:26,323 --> 00:33:29,323 She could have chose to go to college 570 00:33:29,323 --> 00:33:32,563 and got a degree in something and right now been well off, 571 00:33:32,563 --> 00:33:36,163 but she chose to analyse society 572 00:33:36,163 --> 00:33:39,403 and fight and do things better. 573 00:33:39,403 --> 00:33:42,963 When we think about Tupac, you can't... 574 00:33:42,963 --> 00:33:46,723 ..understand Tupac as an artist, as a person, 575 00:33:46,723 --> 00:33:50,403 without understanding, sort of, where he comes from. 576 00:33:50,403 --> 00:33:52,763 This is a child of East Coast Panthers. 577 00:33:52,763 --> 00:33:55,083 ALL: Power to the people! 578 00:33:56,083 --> 00:33:57,803 We're going to... 579 00:33:57,803 --> 00:34:03,083 They embraced a revolutionary critique of American society. 580 00:34:06,083 --> 00:34:09,083 Tupac coming out of that tradition, 581 00:34:09,083 --> 00:34:13,563 we see the critique of capitalism and the structures around us. 582 00:34:15,563 --> 00:34:18,483 We have to be supportive, we have to be together 583 00:34:18,483 --> 00:34:20,723 as we move forward in this world. 584 00:34:22,803 --> 00:34:28,083 Tupac was a person that fearlessly said, 585 00:34:28,083 --> 00:34:31,563 you know, I'm going to take all of my attributes 586 00:34:31,563 --> 00:34:34,803 and all of my skill-sets that I've learned 587 00:34:34,803 --> 00:34:37,883 and see if I can incorporate this into... 588 00:34:38,883 --> 00:34:44,603 ..my arts as an artist and an activist and make it all work. 589 00:34:45,603 --> 00:34:47,403 And, um... 590 00:34:47,403 --> 00:34:49,483 ..that he did. 591 00:34:49,483 --> 00:34:51,083 He's going to be so diverse, 592 00:34:51,083 --> 00:34:53,963 he's going to talk about single mothers in Brenda's Got A Baby. 593 00:34:53,963 --> 00:34:57,483 He's got a touch in there that's like, whoa! 594 00:34:59,083 --> 00:35:02,563 Brenda's Got A Baby, which I think is one of the more political songs 595 00:35:02,563 --> 00:35:06,763 in the history of rap, especially with regard to black women. 596 00:35:06,763 --> 00:35:10,083 And it's wild that it's coming from a black man, but it did. 597 00:35:10,083 --> 00:35:13,483 It didn't matter. The politics were always there. 598 00:35:15,523 --> 00:35:19,803 He rapped about how Brenda's got a baby and threw her in the trash 599 00:35:19,803 --> 00:35:22,203 and what a horrible situation this is. 600 00:35:22,203 --> 00:35:26,083 He only did that because he knew of these stories 601 00:35:26,083 --> 00:35:29,163 and he knew of these realities and he wanted to change that. 602 00:35:33,563 --> 00:35:36,803 Tupac made the hardest records ever to do, 603 00:35:36,803 --> 00:35:39,723 that people were afraid to touch. 604 00:35:39,723 --> 00:35:42,323 You know, Keep Ya Head Up. 605 00:35:44,083 --> 00:35:45,803 And Dear Mama. 606 00:35:45,803 --> 00:35:50,163 Come on, man. Greatest rap, hip-hop songs of all time. 607 00:35:51,163 --> 00:35:53,883 Tupac represented a lot of things to a lot of people. 608 00:35:53,883 --> 00:35:56,803 On the one hand, he was very thoughtful 609 00:35:56,803 --> 00:35:58,803 and supportive of women. 610 00:35:58,803 --> 00:36:01,683 On the other hand, he had a lot of songs disparaging women. 611 00:36:02,683 --> 00:36:04,803 # Take money West side... # 612 00:36:04,803 --> 00:36:07,723 On the other hand, he had a lot of political songs 613 00:36:07,723 --> 00:36:11,083 and he had a lot of songs about how he wanted to shoot and kill people 614 00:36:11,083 --> 00:36:12,563 in the streets. 615 00:36:12,563 --> 00:36:15,803 People don't want to hear your righteous side any more or as much 616 00:36:15,803 --> 00:36:18,083 because they're not looking at you like that. 617 00:36:18,083 --> 00:36:20,563 They're like, "Nah, he's raw, he's from the streets, 618 00:36:20,563 --> 00:36:22,323 "he's hardcore, he's a gangster." 619 00:36:22,323 --> 00:36:24,723 # Plus Puffy tryin' to see me weak, hearts I rip... # 620 00:36:24,723 --> 00:36:28,163 So, when people think about 1994, people tend to think about the fact 621 00:36:28,163 --> 00:36:30,803 that that was the year that Tupac was shot five times. 622 00:36:30,803 --> 00:36:33,083 # You know the rules, Lil' Caesar... # 623 00:36:33,083 --> 00:36:35,443 That was the year that he was found guilty 624 00:36:35,443 --> 00:36:39,003 of sexual abuse and sent to jail. Like, that was a huge year. 625 00:36:39,003 --> 00:36:42,163 Mr Shakur, can we get a comment from you at all? Hell, no. Thug life. 626 00:36:42,163 --> 00:36:44,963 Pardon me? Thug life. Thug life. That's my comment. 627 00:36:44,963 --> 00:36:47,083 What does that mean? I don't understand. 628 00:36:47,083 --> 00:36:48,883 Tupac's persona blew up. 629 00:36:48,883 --> 00:36:50,723 Yes, I am going to say that I'm a thug. 630 00:36:50,723 --> 00:36:53,403 That's because I came from the gutter and I'm still here. 631 00:36:53,403 --> 00:36:55,723 I'm not saying I'm a thug because I want to rob you 632 00:36:55,723 --> 00:36:57,203 or rape people and things. 633 00:36:57,203 --> 00:37:00,283 Was that everything that he was? No, it was a slice of what he was. 634 00:37:00,283 --> 00:37:02,803 As you came at him, he came at you the same way. 635 00:37:02,803 --> 00:37:04,763 # The clique you claim, Westside... # 636 00:37:04,763 --> 00:37:07,163 You come with the attitude of, "Yeah, fuck you", 637 00:37:07,163 --> 00:37:08,963 he's on, "Fuck you, too." 638 00:37:08,963 --> 00:37:10,563 HE LAUGHS 639 00:37:11,563 --> 00:37:16,083 I think the general public lost touch with Tupac. 640 00:37:16,083 --> 00:37:17,883 # You keep on coming... # 641 00:37:17,883 --> 00:37:21,563 They wanted to gravitate to Hit 'Em Up and to the violence 642 00:37:21,563 --> 00:37:23,723 and to the rivalries. 643 00:37:23,723 --> 00:37:26,163 # Cut your young ass up, leave you in pieces... # 644 00:37:26,163 --> 00:37:29,563 The fact that he had all these other layers to him 645 00:37:29,563 --> 00:37:33,323 and some of the political stuff just gets thrown by the wayside, 646 00:37:33,323 --> 00:37:36,803 unfortunately, because, one, his life was so short, 647 00:37:36,803 --> 00:37:39,323 but then, two, toward the end of his life, 648 00:37:39,323 --> 00:37:41,923 it was consumed by chaos and tumult. 649 00:37:41,923 --> 00:37:44,563 # See? Grab ya...when you see Tupac 650 00:37:44,563 --> 00:37:46,603 # Call the cops when you see Tupac 651 00:37:46,603 --> 00:37:49,163 # Who shot me, but you punks didn't finish 652 00:37:49,163 --> 00:37:51,523 # Now you 'bout to feel the wrath of a menace... # 653 00:37:51,523 --> 00:37:54,323 It started to feel like hip-hop was losing its way. 654 00:37:54,323 --> 00:37:57,803 You know, the music was changing, 655 00:37:57,803 --> 00:38:00,403 the morals were changing. 656 00:38:00,403 --> 00:38:03,963 You know, the streets were becoming very dominant. 657 00:38:03,963 --> 00:38:06,803 It was the "keep it real" era, 658 00:38:06,803 --> 00:38:10,803 and keeping it real was going very wrong in a lot of ways, 659 00:38:10,803 --> 00:38:14,083 especially when you talk about losing two of the biggest artists 660 00:38:14,083 --> 00:38:15,763 in the genre at the time. 661 00:38:15,763 --> 00:38:17,803 # When I'm serving ya... # 662 00:38:17,803 --> 00:38:19,563 We lost Biggie and 'Pac... 663 00:38:19,563 --> 00:38:21,803 # Guard your rank cos I'mma Take money... # 664 00:38:21,803 --> 00:38:23,563 ..'96, '97, 665 00:38:23,563 --> 00:38:28,683 and I feel like the genre in itself was at a huge turning point. 666 00:38:28,683 --> 00:38:31,963 # First off... and the clique you claim 667 00:38:31,963 --> 00:38:34,563 # Westside when we ride come equipped with game 668 00:38:34,563 --> 00:38:37,083 # You claim to be a player but I...your wife 669 00:38:37,083 --> 00:38:39,403 # We bust on Bad Boy... for life 670 00:38:39,403 --> 00:38:41,563 # Plus Puffy tryin' to see me weak... # 671 00:38:41,563 --> 00:38:45,083 Sure, 'Pac aggravated some people, no doubt about that. 672 00:38:45,083 --> 00:38:48,563 Tupac and other artists like Snoop and Dre became targets 673 00:38:48,563 --> 00:38:51,083 in the debate over censoring hip-hop, 674 00:38:51,083 --> 00:38:53,083 so it pissed a lot of people off, 675 00:38:53,083 --> 00:38:55,883 the way that they delivered their rap content. 676 00:38:55,883 --> 00:38:58,963 They just looked at rap music as, like, yo, you guys are talking 677 00:38:58,963 --> 00:39:02,843 murder, mayhem, gangs, sex, drugs, rock and roll, that type of thing. 678 00:39:02,843 --> 00:39:07,083 This was seriously a black urban angst 679 00:39:07,083 --> 00:39:10,203 that was delivering a hell of a lot of words. 680 00:39:10,203 --> 00:39:12,403 # Fuck wit' me and get your caps peeled 681 00:39:12,403 --> 00:39:13,803 # You know, see 682 00:39:13,803 --> 00:39:16,083 # Grab ya Glocks when you see Tupac... # 683 00:39:16,083 --> 00:39:21,363 And some of the words were, like, naughty in the English language. 684 00:39:21,363 --> 00:39:23,723 # Fuck you, too All you motherfuckers 685 00:39:23,723 --> 00:39:25,683 # Fuck you, too Take money... # 686 00:39:26,683 --> 00:39:29,323 We will begin the press conference. Marilyn. 687 00:39:31,043 --> 00:39:34,323 Our crusade is against gangster rap - 688 00:39:34,323 --> 00:39:38,563 rap that glorifies and promotes violence with guns, 689 00:39:38,563 --> 00:39:40,803 knives or drugs. 690 00:39:47,403 --> 00:39:50,803 Dr C Delores Tucker was a powerful voice 691 00:39:50,803 --> 00:39:53,803 standing against the hip-hop movement. 692 00:39:53,803 --> 00:39:56,803 She is someone who had been involved in politics. 693 00:39:56,803 --> 00:40:00,083 She had participated in the Selma to Montgomery march. 694 00:40:01,083 --> 00:40:05,483 She took a stand against misogyny in hip-hop 695 00:40:05,483 --> 00:40:09,363 and that was a huge statement. 696 00:40:09,363 --> 00:40:14,083 Gangster rap is not gangster rap. 697 00:40:14,083 --> 00:40:18,723 Much of it is just plain old pornography, period. 698 00:40:19,723 --> 00:40:23,563 It is unfortunate that these negative gangster rappers 699 00:40:23,563 --> 00:40:27,083 have learned to have such low respect for women, 700 00:40:27,083 --> 00:40:29,963 especially African-American women. 701 00:40:29,963 --> 00:40:32,563 If you go back now and you listen to the lyrics 702 00:40:32,563 --> 00:40:35,923 and then you look at her stance, she was right. 703 00:40:35,923 --> 00:40:38,563 The music was misogynistic. 704 00:40:38,563 --> 00:40:43,083 It did misalign and misappropriate the ways in which women 705 00:40:43,083 --> 00:40:45,083 show up in the space. 706 00:40:46,083 --> 00:40:50,483 The music was very, very dangerous in the ways in which people respond 707 00:40:50,483 --> 00:40:52,083 to black women. 708 00:40:53,963 --> 00:40:56,123 And for some reason it was OK? 709 00:40:56,123 --> 00:40:59,163 She was one of the few voices that said it was not OK. 710 00:41:00,163 --> 00:41:03,563 The corporate gangsters in their entertainment suites, 711 00:41:03,563 --> 00:41:06,723 the true cause and propagators of this filth, 712 00:41:06,723 --> 00:41:10,323 not the young gangsters in the streets who are exploited, 713 00:41:10,323 --> 00:41:14,963 are merely the victims of the converging, malevolent forces. 714 00:41:14,963 --> 00:41:19,083 She said, listen, this ain't playing out well. 715 00:41:19,083 --> 00:41:22,563 What I see is the corporations that are pimping these kids 716 00:41:22,563 --> 00:41:25,043 and they...and they dangling them. 717 00:41:25,043 --> 00:41:28,803 Nobody out here wants to look at the conditions 718 00:41:28,803 --> 00:41:30,403 and try to change them. 719 00:41:30,403 --> 00:41:33,803 Change the conditions and then perhaps our music will change. 720 00:41:33,803 --> 00:41:36,923 There's a rift that develops between the younger 721 00:41:36,923 --> 00:41:39,323 and older generation in black communities. 722 00:41:39,323 --> 00:41:40,883 It's so wrong. 723 00:41:40,883 --> 00:41:45,003 As a black woman, I am not a dog and I refuse to be called a dog. 724 00:41:45,003 --> 00:41:48,083 A rapper who changes from positive to negative 725 00:41:48,083 --> 00:41:50,803 just to get a record deal is just like a black man 726 00:41:50,803 --> 00:41:54,243 who will pimp his sisters on the street just to make money. 727 00:41:55,803 --> 00:41:59,723 There are young folks who are making these records. 728 00:41:59,723 --> 00:42:02,283 They're selling them out of the trunk of their cars. 729 00:42:03,283 --> 00:42:05,403 And then you have the older generation, 730 00:42:05,403 --> 00:42:07,163 somewhat more conservative. 731 00:42:07,163 --> 00:42:10,043 Religious figures like Calvin Butts. 732 00:42:10,043 --> 00:42:12,403 Recognise that this poison kills. 733 00:42:12,403 --> 00:42:16,563 It kills young men and women. It kills old men and women. 734 00:42:16,563 --> 00:42:20,323 It promotes violence and sexism in our communities. 735 00:42:20,323 --> 00:42:22,803 It's dangerous to our police officers. 736 00:42:22,803 --> 00:42:24,883 It is just wrong. 737 00:42:28,323 --> 00:42:31,083 It didn't have to be the Reverend Calvin Butts 738 00:42:31,083 --> 00:42:33,883 running over CDs in Times Square. 739 00:42:33,883 --> 00:42:37,483 It didn't have to be Delores Tucker or any of these people 740 00:42:37,483 --> 00:42:40,083 that were just against rap, against rap. 741 00:42:40,083 --> 00:42:42,883 It was a constant battle and a constant fight. 742 00:42:44,803 --> 00:42:49,083 You have the misunderstanding trying to govern misunderstood, 743 00:42:49,083 --> 00:42:54,963 and so it was, like, eff all rap music, you know? 744 00:42:54,963 --> 00:42:57,243 There was a cultural division. 745 00:42:58,243 --> 00:43:00,803 We hope to create a climate in our community 746 00:43:00,803 --> 00:43:04,083 that we believe once existed, where this kind of thing 747 00:43:04,083 --> 00:43:08,323 is so intolerable that people would dare not suggest 748 00:43:08,323 --> 00:43:12,723 that a black woman is a bitch or any woman is a female dog. 749 00:43:12,723 --> 00:43:15,323 MUSIC: Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg 750 00:43:17,323 --> 00:43:19,083 # With so much drama... # 751 00:43:19,083 --> 00:43:23,323 In to C Delores' office comes Dionne Warwick 752 00:43:23,323 --> 00:43:25,923 holding Snoop Dogg's new album 753 00:43:25,923 --> 00:43:27,323 Doggystyle. 754 00:43:27,323 --> 00:43:29,083 # Every single day... # 755 00:43:29,083 --> 00:43:34,563 They feel that this represents a nadir in hip-hop of misogyny, 756 00:43:34,563 --> 00:43:38,803 and as black women, they vow to do something about it. 757 00:43:38,803 --> 00:43:40,803 # In the livin' room gettin' it on 758 00:43:40,803 --> 00:43:43,723 # And they ain't leavin' till six in the mornin' 759 00:43:43,723 --> 00:43:45,323 # So what you wanna do? 760 00:43:45,323 --> 00:43:49,083 # Shit, I got a pocket full of rubbers and my homeboys do, too... # 761 00:43:49,083 --> 00:43:51,203 This is our responsibility. 762 00:43:51,203 --> 00:43:56,083 It's not my responsibility, it's not her responsibility, 763 00:43:56,083 --> 00:44:00,323 it's not her responsibility, it's our... Our! ..responsibility. 764 00:44:00,323 --> 00:44:02,403 APPLAUSE 765 00:44:02,403 --> 00:44:05,523 # Sippin' on gin and juice Laid back 766 00:44:05,523 --> 00:44:08,243 # With my mind on my money and my money on my mind 767 00:44:08,243 --> 00:44:12,323 # Rollin' down the street, smokin' indo 768 00:44:12,323 --> 00:44:15,803 # Sippin' on gin and juice Laid back 769 00:44:15,803 --> 00:44:19,083 # With my mind on my money and my money on my mind... # 770 00:44:19,083 --> 00:44:23,563 Gangster rappers don't seem to care if radios ban their music. 771 00:44:23,563 --> 00:44:27,083 Snoop Doggy Dogg's album is already number one. 772 00:44:27,083 --> 00:44:30,083 Look at the people before me that was black 773 00:44:30,083 --> 00:44:33,083 and successful and powerful with words. 774 00:44:33,083 --> 00:44:36,243 Where they at now? Where's Martin Luther King? Where's Malcolm X? 775 00:44:37,243 --> 00:44:40,963 I know rappers will always get attacked by politicians though. 776 00:44:40,963 --> 00:44:43,723 A lot of it was just to push buttons regardless. 777 00:44:43,723 --> 00:44:47,323 And for you to take a lot of these lyrics seriously is like, 778 00:44:47,323 --> 00:44:49,123 you're a fucking idiot. 779 00:44:51,523 --> 00:44:54,363 C Delores Tucker seizes on this moment. 780 00:44:55,803 --> 00:45:00,923 She gets Congress to hold the first hearings ever on rap lyrics. 781 00:45:02,923 --> 00:45:05,603 Our first panel today... 782 00:45:05,603 --> 00:45:09,123 ..will be Dr C Delores Tucker. 783 00:45:09,123 --> 00:45:13,403 As I see it simply, there are three things that prevent gangster rap 784 00:45:13,403 --> 00:45:16,083 from being a freedom-of-speech issue. 785 00:45:16,083 --> 00:45:19,323 Number one, it is obscene. Number two, it is obscene. 786 00:45:19,323 --> 00:45:21,723 And number three, it is obscene. 787 00:45:21,723 --> 00:45:23,963 Thank you very much. 788 00:45:23,963 --> 00:45:28,563 Whether it was misogynistic lyrical content 789 00:45:28,563 --> 00:45:30,643 or gangster, you know, 790 00:45:30,643 --> 00:45:33,323 it would have been unrealistic to think that 791 00:45:33,323 --> 00:45:35,363 there wasn't going to be pushback. 792 00:45:35,363 --> 00:45:40,083 But there was a feeling that we didn't want to be policed. 793 00:45:42,163 --> 00:45:45,563 The issue here for hip-hop is that... 794 00:45:45,563 --> 00:45:48,763 ..this fight is coming from folks outside of hip-hop 795 00:45:48,763 --> 00:45:51,563 who don't appreciate any part of the culture, 796 00:45:51,563 --> 00:45:56,883 and then there are folks who defend hip-hop against this attack... 797 00:45:57,883 --> 00:46:00,723 ..and so they are literally fighting a culture war. 798 00:46:00,723 --> 00:46:03,563 Mr Nelson George, who's a journalist. 799 00:46:03,563 --> 00:46:07,323 A lot of people didn't like this music and felt offended by it 800 00:46:07,323 --> 00:46:10,523 and thought it was, you know, bringing black people down. 801 00:46:10,523 --> 00:46:14,883 But there were many conflicting agendas that were at play. 802 00:46:14,883 --> 00:46:17,723 For me, the question of gangster rap's role in America 803 00:46:17,723 --> 00:46:19,963 is not a question of the chicken or the egg. 804 00:46:19,963 --> 00:46:22,803 The egg in this case is the economic and social breakdowns 805 00:46:22,803 --> 00:46:26,323 that have taunted our cities since at least the riots of the 1960s 806 00:46:26,323 --> 00:46:29,403 and that shows few signs of really being addressed. 807 00:46:29,403 --> 00:46:32,323 The chicken is the culture of cynicism of our government 808 00:46:32,323 --> 00:46:35,083 and verbal rebellion that rap represents. 809 00:46:35,083 --> 00:46:38,083 If tomorrow every offensive gangster rap record was removed 810 00:46:38,083 --> 00:46:40,803 from our stores, our airwaves and our video shows, 811 00:46:40,803 --> 00:46:44,483 there would still be random violence, teenage unemployment, 812 00:46:44,483 --> 00:46:46,883 teen pregnancy and drug trafficking. 813 00:46:46,883 --> 00:46:49,803 The only difference is that the musical backing for our youth 814 00:46:49,803 --> 00:46:52,723 would change, but the conditions that frighten our nation 815 00:46:52,723 --> 00:46:55,403 and the Congressional hearings on rap would continue. 816 00:46:58,083 --> 00:47:01,083 The hearings didn't amount to much. 817 00:47:01,083 --> 00:47:03,803 Hip-hop wasn't stripped of its voice. 818 00:47:06,123 --> 00:47:11,083 This macho thing that black men primarily brought out 819 00:47:11,083 --> 00:47:14,323 in hip-hop and rap that, "Well, I'm being obscured, 820 00:47:14,323 --> 00:47:17,363 "so I'm coming out and not only that, I'm going to be loud, 821 00:47:17,363 --> 00:47:19,083 "I'm going to be me, 822 00:47:19,083 --> 00:47:22,443 "and I'm going to be super black male from my point of view. 823 00:47:22,443 --> 00:47:25,963 "And whether you all like it or not, go eff yourself." 824 00:47:28,563 --> 00:47:30,723 The culture just was very masculine. 825 00:47:30,723 --> 00:47:34,283 It was almost like there wasn't room for any level of femininity. 826 00:47:34,283 --> 00:47:37,803 It was difficult for women to find their place and their footing, 827 00:47:37,803 --> 00:47:41,603 especially when the guys that were out were so strong and loud. 828 00:47:41,603 --> 00:47:45,723 Even some women, you know, dived in... 829 00:47:45,723 --> 00:47:48,803 ..with a...a masculine manner. 830 00:47:48,803 --> 00:47:53,843 The good news is there were people such as Roxanne Shante. 831 00:47:53,843 --> 00:47:56,483 CHEERING 832 00:47:56,483 --> 00:48:00,163 We came here tonight to get started, 833 00:48:00,163 --> 00:48:03,683 to go at them or get retarded. 834 00:48:07,283 --> 00:48:12,243 I was participating in a all-out Battle For World Supremacy. 835 00:48:14,523 --> 00:48:18,323 You would get this big belt that says you are the best in the world. 836 00:48:19,923 --> 00:48:24,163 And I'm the only female, the only girl, and these are all... 837 00:48:24,163 --> 00:48:27,123 ..MCs and men. 838 00:48:27,123 --> 00:48:29,643 I must have rhymed all day long, 839 00:48:29,643 --> 00:48:32,203 until we got down to the last two people. 840 00:48:33,323 --> 00:48:35,323 And it was myself and... 841 00:48:35,323 --> 00:48:37,443 ..it was Busy Bee, another MC. 842 00:48:38,883 --> 00:48:41,603 I'm seeing, like, "Wow, I'm getting ready to be the best 843 00:48:41,603 --> 00:48:44,563 "in the world and the world is going to know I'm the best." 844 00:48:48,523 --> 00:48:51,803 And we got to the last battle, 845 00:48:51,803 --> 00:48:53,443 everybody takes their numbers 846 00:48:53,443 --> 00:48:56,003 and turns them up... Nine, ten... 847 00:48:56,003 --> 00:48:57,323 Ten... 848 00:48:57,323 --> 00:48:58,563 Nine... 849 00:48:58,563 --> 00:49:00,483 Ten... 850 00:49:00,483 --> 00:49:01,683 Four... 851 00:49:04,643 --> 00:49:06,243 Four? 852 00:49:06,243 --> 00:49:08,963 And the crowd went crazy. 853 00:49:10,083 --> 00:49:11,243 Like... 854 00:49:11,243 --> 00:49:14,563 It was just, like, pandemonium, people wanted to fight, 855 00:49:14,563 --> 00:49:16,243 I wanted to fight... 856 00:49:19,923 --> 00:49:23,563 I just walked out, and I never looked at hip-hop the same, 857 00:49:23,563 --> 00:49:25,163 ever again. 858 00:49:26,603 --> 00:49:30,563 She won that battle, 859 00:49:30,563 --> 00:49:36,883 and she was deprived of the World Supremacy title. 860 00:49:38,043 --> 00:49:40,963 Years later, I remember, one of the judges, 861 00:49:40,963 --> 00:49:43,203 and he said, 862 00:49:43,203 --> 00:49:47,523 "The reason why I gave you four is because we... 863 00:49:47,523 --> 00:49:50,043 "..were just starting to be respected as a genre of music. 864 00:49:50,043 --> 00:49:53,163 "If they thought the best in the world of this new genre 865 00:49:53,163 --> 00:49:56,483 "of music, the one that no-one can beat, 866 00:49:56,483 --> 00:50:00,043 "is a black, 14-year-old girl... 867 00:50:01,123 --> 00:50:03,683 "..there's just no way they would have accepted it." 868 00:50:03,683 --> 00:50:07,643 He said, "So, I had to let you lose in order for hip-hop to win." 869 00:50:09,123 --> 00:50:12,163 This is why I respect people like Roxanne Shante so much 870 00:50:12,163 --> 00:50:15,003 and some of the other girls, and it's because 871 00:50:15,003 --> 00:50:18,003 regardless to how many setbacks they were faced with, 872 00:50:18,003 --> 00:50:20,443 they still continued and I'm glad they did, 873 00:50:20,443 --> 00:50:24,003 because that knocked down doors and that made room for the next set 874 00:50:24,003 --> 00:50:26,563 of women to come after them. 875 00:50:26,563 --> 00:50:30,003 What video do you want to see right now, Freddy, on Video Music Box? 876 00:50:30,003 --> 00:50:33,883 Well, it would have to be the latest video that I directed, 877 00:50:33,883 --> 00:50:38,523 which is Ladies First by Queen Latifah, featuring Monie Love. 878 00:50:38,523 --> 00:50:42,483 # Ooh, ladies first, ladies first 879 00:50:44,083 --> 00:50:47,683 # Ooh, ladies first, ladies first... # 880 00:50:47,683 --> 00:50:51,603 Latifah, she was really a pioneer, very early on. 881 00:50:51,603 --> 00:50:54,963 Ladies First had an enormous impact. 882 00:50:56,403 --> 00:51:00,363 It was a record that influenced multiple generations of women. 883 00:51:01,763 --> 00:51:04,163 You know, it's funny, when you're doing it, 884 00:51:04,163 --> 00:51:06,283 you don't necessarily think about, 885 00:51:06,283 --> 00:51:09,963 "Well, this is going to be a feminist statement for all time!" 886 00:51:09,963 --> 00:51:13,283 # Who said the ladies couldn't make it, you must be blind 887 00:51:13,283 --> 00:51:15,683 # If you don't believe, well, here, listen to this rhyme 888 00:51:15,683 --> 00:51:17,483 # Ladies first, there's no time to rehearse 889 00:51:17,483 --> 00:51:19,963 # I'm divine and my mind expands throughout the universe 890 00:51:19,963 --> 00:51:22,843 # A female rapper with a message to send... # 891 00:51:22,843 --> 00:51:27,683 That video was a huge part of making that statement. 892 00:51:27,683 --> 00:51:28,923 # Throwing down the sound 893 00:51:28,923 --> 00:51:30,643 # Totally a yes let me state the position 894 00:51:30,643 --> 00:51:32,483 # Ladies first, yes? # Yes. 895 00:51:34,283 --> 00:51:37,443 Monie at her side and it was a great video, 896 00:51:37,443 --> 00:51:42,163 it had all of the fantastic images of powerful black women. 897 00:51:42,163 --> 00:51:44,083 # Some think that we can't flow Can't flow 898 00:51:44,083 --> 00:51:45,923 # Stereotypes, they got to go Got to go 899 00:51:45,923 --> 00:51:46,963 # I'mma mess around 900 00:51:46,963 --> 00:51:48,923 # And flip the scene into reverse With what? 901 00:51:48,923 --> 00:51:50,883 # With a little touch of Ladies First... # 902 00:51:54,243 --> 00:51:57,683 I thought she was very important, as a powerful black woman, 903 00:51:57,683 --> 00:52:02,603 who stood with a straight spine, as she wore that African garb, 904 00:52:02,603 --> 00:52:06,483 and celebrated her history and where she came from. 905 00:52:06,483 --> 00:52:09,763 We needed that kind of messaging as kids, and I think especially 906 00:52:09,763 --> 00:52:13,043 black women, young girls, needed to see the Queen Latifahs. 907 00:52:14,083 --> 00:52:17,643 People like Queen Latifah was able to cut through the noise, 908 00:52:17,643 --> 00:52:21,603 to kind of demand that women have a space at the table 909 00:52:21,603 --> 00:52:23,963 in ways that they hadn't before. 910 00:52:23,963 --> 00:52:28,163 "We belong here, we take the stage, we're speaking back, 911 00:52:28,163 --> 00:52:29,603 "we're not going to be sidelined, 912 00:52:29,603 --> 00:52:32,203 "we're not going to be disrespected." 913 00:52:32,203 --> 00:52:37,203 She was doing a direct talkback to some of the lyrics 914 00:52:37,203 --> 00:52:38,683 that were coming up at that time. 915 00:52:38,683 --> 00:52:40,923 And, "Who are you calling the B-I-T-C-H?" 916 00:52:40,923 --> 00:52:42,923 And, "Are you respecting me?" 917 00:52:42,923 --> 00:52:45,923 Queen Latifah changed the game. 918 00:52:45,923 --> 00:52:47,643 # Who you callin' a bitch? 919 00:52:47,643 --> 00:52:50,083 # U-N-I-T-Y You gotta let him know 920 00:52:50,083 --> 00:52:53,283 # U-N-I-T-Y Come on, here we go, uh 921 00:52:53,283 --> 00:52:55,003 # U-N-I-T-Y You gotta let him know 922 00:52:55,003 --> 00:52:56,563 # Love a black woman from... 923 00:52:56,563 --> 00:52:58,643 # You ain't a bitch or a ho, here we go, U-N-I-T-Y 924 00:52:58,643 --> 00:53:00,043 # You gotta let him know 925 00:53:00,043 --> 00:53:01,923 # U-N-I-T-Y, come on, come on... # 926 00:53:01,923 --> 00:53:04,843 She told a story about a girl 927 00:53:04,843 --> 00:53:07,243 who's walking down the street, guy hollers at her, 928 00:53:07,243 --> 00:53:09,923 she doesn't want to speak, and because she doesn't want to speak, 929 00:53:09,923 --> 00:53:12,963 she's automatically then deemed a bitch. 930 00:53:12,963 --> 00:53:15,323 It's not cool to do that. 931 00:53:15,323 --> 00:53:16,603 # You know all of that gots to go 932 00:53:16,603 --> 00:53:19,283 # Now everybody knows there's exceptions to this rule... # 933 00:53:19,283 --> 00:53:21,363 I really think it had an impact. 934 00:53:21,363 --> 00:53:27,203 Because I felt like I got a lot less male ego that gets turned down, 935 00:53:27,203 --> 00:53:30,643 calling me a B-word...after that song, 936 00:53:30,643 --> 00:53:32,723 I think because they felt stupid, perhaps, 937 00:53:32,723 --> 00:53:35,723 because Latifah called them out on record. 938 00:53:35,723 --> 00:53:38,123 # One of 'em felt my booty, he was nasty 939 00:53:38,123 --> 00:53:40,483 # I turned around red, somebody was catchin' the wrath 940 00:53:40,483 --> 00:53:43,323 # Then the little one said... # "Ha-ha! Yeah, me, bitch" # And laughed! 941 00:53:43,323 --> 00:53:45,803 # Since he was with his boys, he tried to break fly, huh 942 00:53:45,803 --> 00:53:47,163 # I punched him dead in his eye 943 00:53:47,163 --> 00:53:49,403 # And said, "Who you callin' a bitch?" # 944 00:53:49,403 --> 00:53:53,123 The nominees were announced today for the 37th annual Grammy awards. 945 00:53:53,123 --> 00:53:56,403 The Grammys will be held in Los Angeles on March 1st. 946 00:53:57,843 --> 00:53:59,603 Queen Latifah... 947 00:53:59,603 --> 00:54:01,363 She was up against all men. 948 00:54:03,483 --> 00:54:05,363 Coolio... 949 00:54:05,363 --> 00:54:06,603 Snoop... 950 00:54:06,603 --> 00:54:07,923 Warren G... 951 00:54:07,923 --> 00:54:10,243 Craig Mack... # The silent type, yeah 952 00:54:10,243 --> 00:54:12,563 # Ain't none of this worth gettin' your face sliced 953 00:54:12,563 --> 00:54:14,723 # Cos that's what happened to your homegirl, right? 954 00:54:14,723 --> 00:54:17,243 # Barking with no bite! She got to wear that for life... # 955 00:54:17,243 --> 00:54:20,283 Queen Latifah won Best Rap Solo performance. 956 00:54:20,283 --> 00:54:22,683 # U-N-I-T-Y Come on, here we go 957 00:54:22,683 --> 00:54:24,003 # U-N-I-T-Y... # 958 00:54:24,003 --> 00:54:26,483 She became the first woman to win this category. 959 00:54:27,683 --> 00:54:30,963 I think, when she won that Grammy, 960 00:54:30,963 --> 00:54:32,923 a lot of people were in shock. 961 00:54:34,243 --> 00:54:37,683 They just said, you know, "That's overdue, and that's Latifah." 962 00:54:40,523 --> 00:54:42,403 When Latifah won at the Grammys, 963 00:54:42,403 --> 00:54:46,443 hip-hop still wasn't a respected genre within the Grammy association, 964 00:54:46,443 --> 00:54:49,963 at that time, and she received her accolade, 965 00:54:49,963 --> 00:54:54,003 or what have you, during an untelevised portion of the Grammys. 966 00:54:56,523 --> 00:55:00,203 Hip-hop still wasn't at the level of respect that it should have been. 967 00:55:00,203 --> 00:55:02,323 And then, on top of that, she's a woman. 968 00:55:07,643 --> 00:55:09,203 Even to this day, 969 00:55:09,203 --> 00:55:11,883 I'll meet women who were growing up 970 00:55:11,883 --> 00:55:16,803 and they'll say, "Oh, man, that first Queen Latifah album... 971 00:55:16,803 --> 00:55:19,563 "That really...inspired me." 972 00:55:20,643 --> 00:55:26,643 Now, there's a lot of female players in the hip-hop game, 973 00:55:26,643 --> 00:55:30,163 Lauryn Hill, a brilliant MC... 974 00:55:30,163 --> 00:55:34,403 Missy Elliott broke through in such a huge way. 975 00:55:34,403 --> 00:55:36,203 Megan... 976 00:55:36,203 --> 00:55:37,883 The success of Cardi... 977 00:55:39,283 --> 00:55:40,603 Doja Cat... 978 00:55:41,643 --> 00:55:43,003 City Girls... 979 00:55:44,843 --> 00:55:49,203 To a lot of female artists, she really had a tremendous influence. 980 00:55:53,563 --> 00:55:57,563 Queen Bee is Queen Latifah, she's always been the Queen Boss. 981 00:55:57,563 --> 00:55:59,763 SHE WHISTLES 982 00:55:59,763 --> 00:56:02,883 She is one of those people that... 983 00:56:02,883 --> 00:56:09,043 ..people never really looked at as, like, just a female rapper. 984 00:56:09,043 --> 00:56:12,323 As powerful as any male there ever was in hip-hop. 985 00:56:12,323 --> 00:56:13,883 Even more so. 986 00:56:13,883 --> 00:56:16,883 SHE HUMS 987 00:56:23,363 --> 00:56:28,363 A lot of rappers who had that conundrum... 988 00:56:28,363 --> 00:56:31,523 "I got one foot in the hood and one in the boardroom. 989 00:56:31,523 --> 00:56:34,323 "Where should I be? I'm straddling both." 990 00:56:34,323 --> 00:56:36,643 When you got power, then comes responsibility. 991 00:56:36,643 --> 00:56:38,043 What are you going to do with it? 992 00:56:38,043 --> 00:56:41,043 It's gon' take a black president to stand up, that has gone through 993 00:56:41,043 --> 00:56:44,403 all of that pain and heartache and turmoil 994 00:56:44,403 --> 00:56:46,283 in their lives, and struggle, 995 00:56:46,283 --> 00:56:49,083 to be able to set things right and balance the world out. 996 00:56:50,843 --> 00:56:54,323 Obama is the first hip-hop president. 997 00:56:54,323 --> 00:56:56,123 What does it mean to have a black president 998 00:56:56,123 --> 00:56:59,963 if the streets are on fire? Our folk are dying! Wake up! 999 00:56:59,963 --> 00:57:03,043 Black Lives Matter got pushed off the front page 1000 00:57:03,043 --> 00:57:04,763 with the presidency of Donald Trump. 1001 00:57:10,243 --> 00:57:12,883 The way that he had divided the country, 1002 00:57:12,883 --> 00:57:15,083 some of the things that were coming out of his mouth... 1003 00:57:16,123 --> 00:57:17,643 I don't know. 1004 00:57:17,643 --> 00:57:19,843 The headlines this morning belong to Eminem 1005 00:57:19,843 --> 00:57:22,883 who released a scathing cipher directly at Donald Trump. 1006 00:57:24,563 --> 00:57:27,403 Sometimes you might need to take a stand and say certain things... 1007 00:57:28,643 --> 00:57:31,523 Why are African-Americans still dying at the hands of 1008 00:57:31,523 --> 00:57:34,443 law enforcement in this country? And so are white people. 1009 00:57:34,443 --> 00:57:36,083 So are white people! 1010 00:57:36,083 --> 00:57:39,123 More white people, by the way, MORE white people. 1011 00:57:41,763 --> 00:57:44,763 You see something that's an atrocity... 1012 00:57:44,763 --> 00:57:47,043 It's going to get a hip-hop response. 1013 00:57:47,043 --> 00:57:48,283 ALL CHANT: George Floyd! 1014 00:57:48,283 --> 00:57:50,403 All we gotta do is congregate. 1015 00:57:50,403 --> 00:57:53,523 We're going to posse up, we're going to build up to it. 1016 00:57:54,523 --> 00:57:58,163 That's what surprised the hell out of many. 1017 00:57:58,163 --> 00:58:00,403 They didn't think that the world would posse up. 1018 00:58:00,403 --> 00:58:03,363 # 19... 89, the number, another summer 1019 00:58:03,363 --> 00:58:04,563 # Get down 1020 00:58:04,563 --> 00:58:06,083 # Sound of the funky drummer 1021 00:58:06,083 --> 00:58:08,443 # Music hittin' your heart cos I know you got soul! 1022 00:58:08,443 --> 00:58:10,563 # Brothers and sisters! Hey, hey! 1023 00:58:10,563 --> 00:58:12,283 # Listen if you're missin', y'all 1024 00:58:12,283 --> 00:58:14,123 # Swingin' while I'm singin' Hey! 1025 00:58:14,123 --> 00:58:16,083 # Givin' whatcha gettin', knowin' what I know 1026 00:58:16,083 --> 00:58:18,043 # And while the Black band's sweatin' 1027 00:58:18,043 --> 00:58:19,843 # And the rhythm-rhyme Rollin'! 1028 00:58:19,843 --> 00:58:21,643 # Got to give us what we want Uh! 1029 00:58:21,643 --> 00:58:24,083 # Got to give us what we need! Hey! 1030 00:58:24,083 --> 00:58:26,523 # Our freedom of speech is freedom of death 1031 00:58:26,523 --> 00:58:28,523 # We've gotta fight the powers that be. #