A Shout Out to the First Amendment

The relationship between hip hop and the U.S. government has been, to put it lightly, a rocky one. Innumerable songs have attempted to undermine the authority of law enforcement officials and, by extension, the U.S. government. Songs like NWA’s “Fuck the Police” and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” do so explicitly. So too – albeit less directly – do the countless songs that glorify drug dealing, violence, or simply a general disregard for the law.

And yet, there is one government institution to which hip hop is profoundly indebted: the First Amendment. Without the First Amendment, hip hop would not have developed into the dynamic, enjoyable, and yes, sometimes inflammatory art form that it is today.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Without the First Amendment, would we have ever heard Illmatic, with Nas’s doleful odes to growing up in the projects of Queens? Would we have ever heard The Chronic, with Dr. Dre’s sometimes intoxicating, sometimes shocking accounts of life in South Central L.A.? Would we have ever heard Reasonable Doubt, with Jay-Z’s entrancing tales of hustling in the underworld of Brooklyn? Would we have ever heard a word from Eminem? Tupac? Notorious B.I.G.? Or would all these MCs have been censored, or simply never have tried rapping in the first place?

Hip hop artists are not entirely unjustified in their general disdain for the U.S. government’s authority. Government neglect contributed to the poverty and squalor of the inner cities where hip hop first developed. And yet, when it comes to the First Amendment, hip hop should be profoundly grateful. So on this day, Thanksgiving, OnHipHop would like to express its gratitude towards the U.S. government – and those who fight on its behalf – for the freedoms it seeks to uphold, especially those outlined in the First Amendment.