Facing the Music: The Politics of Rap on Radio and in Courtrooms
By Kenyamarie Mahone (PO ’23) Rap has always been protest music. Sprouted in the soil of the civil rights movement and War on Drugs, rap functions as a platform for African Americans to express frustration with institutional and interpersonal oppression. The caricature-like portrayal of black men in the music industry relies heavily on stereotypes of…