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Thread started 02/06/05 10:12am

RipHer2Shreds

Old School Hip Hop with a Positive Message

A friend of mine is putting together an educational grant proposal, and she's looking for lyrics to old school hip hop songs that have a positive (and educational would be good, too) message. Any suggestions? Not corny, but uplifting and/or positive. I've given her a few titles, but thought I'd post here for more.
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Reply #1 posted 02/06/05 11:03am

UptownDeb

MC Lyte's "Cappucino" is anti-drugs. In the song she's in the wrong place at the wrong time (a drug sale). She gets shot and dies. She then raps about the people she encounters in the after life, people whose lives were destroyed by drugs.
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Reply #2 posted 02/06/05 2:04pm

RipHer2Shreds

Ooh. Good one! Thanks Deb. smile Others...?

edit - you'd think "thanks" were an easy enough word to spell
[Edited 2/6/05 14:47pm]
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Reply #3 posted 02/06/05 2:06pm

minneapolisgen
ius

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Anything by Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One.
[Edited 2/6/05 14:08pm]
"I saw a woman with major Hammer pants on the subway a few weeks ago and totally thought of you." - sextonseven
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Reply #4 posted 02/06/05 2:31pm

CinisterCee

NWA "Fuck The Police" smile
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Reply #5 posted 02/06/05 2:33pm

RipHer2Shreds

CinisterCee said:

NWA "Fuck The Police" smile

Yeah, cuz I can see the foundations giving up the bank for a proposal that extols the virtues of that tune. lol
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Reply #6 posted 02/06/05 2:47pm

CinisterCee

RipHer2Shreds said:

CinisterCee said:

NWA "Fuck The Police" smile

Yeah, cuz I can see the foundations giving up the bank for a proposal that extols the virtues of that tune. lol


giggle

OK,

How about Roxanne Shante "Runaway"
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Reply #7 posted 02/07/05 6:52am

RipHer2Shreds

Come on, y'all. All the hip hop fans here, and this is it? Gimme more, please!
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Reply #8 posted 02/07/05 8:52am

1sexymf

How about lyrics from "Self-Destruction" or maybe "The Message". You might want to check out the Sugar Hill Gang or Grandmaster Flash, too.
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Reply #9 posted 02/07/05 9:00am

CinisterCee

I don't know what the hell rap records to play in front of a financial committee!

Like, I think Public Enemy is hugely positive but they could be really offensive to other people.
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Reply #10 posted 02/07/05 12:04pm

1sexymf

CinisterCee said:

I don't know what the hell rap records to play in front of a financial committee!

Like, I think Public Enemy is hugely positive but they could be really offensive to other people.


I wanted to say Public Enemy, too, but you're right, some people might get offended.
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Reply #11 posted 02/07/05 12:32pm

RipHer2Shreds

Sorry, she's not playing them in front of a committee or anything like that. She's going to be quoting some lyrics in the proposal. If she were playing songs for them, that would be a different story entirely. smile
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Reply #12 posted 02/07/05 12:49pm

Dancelot

avatar

RipHer2Shreds said:

...hip hop songs that have a positive (and educational would be good, too) message...



what about a bit of education on Black history? (I mentioned this song in another thread today, but anyway.. yes I knew all of those by heart.. and still do smile


lyrics taken from http://www2c.airnet.ne.jp...s%20T.html
(careful, you will mainly find just the lyrics to the edited version on the Internet)


THE CROWN - Gary Bird & the GBE Experience (featuring Stevie Wonder) (1983)

People of the world wherever you be
Welcome to Cosmic YOUniversity
Where life is the journey and love is the trip
And the study of them will make you hip

I'm professor of the rap and when I speak
I guarantee that my lines will not be weak
They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste
That's why I'm here and on the case

Rapping up every mind with a special degree
In socio-psycholo G.B.E.
The Gary Byrd Experience is my course
When you take my class you will feel the force

'Cause I know the roots that the rap is from
When I speak to you I am not dumb
Hear my rap and begin to dance
And I promise you this you will advance

You may have seen the Raiders of the Lost Ark
But you still left the theatre in the dark
So clap your hands to the beat as the Wonder sound
And the G.B.E. shine on the Crown

Chorus (Background)

You wear the Crown
I wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, the Crown

I said a once upon a time in Alkebu
Lived the kings and queens who looked like you
It was a land of sun with a golden shine
A place that once was yours and mine

Home of many great dynasties
Who created science and astronomy
Where the Romans came to study math
And the Greeks found out about the path

In case you wonder what else they did
The Alkebu-lans created the pyramids
And before Napoleon could even blink
In Alkebu there stood a giant Sphinx

Some say they came from outer space
But they are a part of the human race
If you know the place where they can be found
You may be the one who can wear the Crown

Chorus (Background)

You wear the Crown
I wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, the Crown

I wear the Crown
You wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, get down

We wear the Crown (Crystal Blake)
We wear the Crown (Stevie Wonder)

Not the greatest dancer with the baddest shoe
Not the slickest rapper that you ever knew
Have worn the Crown though they wanted to
But they'll want to until they die

Not a man of science with a Ph.D.
Not a lady of law Masters' Degree
Will wear the Crown unless they can see
A unique reality

You see when you say you wear the Crown
Make sure you know it is profound
In case it sounds like a mystery
I'm talking about our story

It can make Akhnaton nod to you
It can make Nefertiti beckon you
With the Crown you will begin to glow
When its secret you begin to know

Next time you feel like you're in a rut
Go see the mighty kingdom of King Tut
It will blow your mind no doubt it's true
'Cause guess what King Tut looks just like you

You were Cleopatra Queen of the Nile
The sun would wink when it saw you smile
You were the Hannibal of the history book
And the earth would tremble at your very look

You were the builders of the pyramids
You were the face upon the Sphynx
You rode on the Nile in grace and style
Look at yourself today and think

See the hieroglyphics upon the wall
Like the dancers on the floor they will not fall
If you take one look it will astound
And then you will see who wears the Crown

Chorus (Background)

You wear the Crown
I wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, the Crown

I wear the Crown
You wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, get down

(repeat chorus 2 more times)

Stevie Wonder-
I do recall so very well
When I was just a little boy
I used to hurry home from school
I used to always feel so blue
Because there was no mention in the books we read about my heritage
So therefore any information that I got was education
Bums, hobos at depot stations
I would listen with much patience
Or to relatives who told the tales that they were told to pass ahead
And then one day from someone old
I heard a story never told
Of all the kingdoms of my people
And then how we fought for our freedom
All about the many things we have unto the world contributed
You wear the Crown

We wear the Crown (Crystal Blake)
We wear the Crown (Stevie Wonder)

It's not Star Wars, it's not Superman
It's not the story of the Ku Klux Klan
The Crown will appear in the G.B.E.
But it's never seen on your T.V.

It's in black and white in your gold mine
A picture so old it defies time
Alex Haley drew it in his book
It's what Kunta kept in his other foot

Ghana Songhay and old Mali
They are the roots of your own family tree
Kingdoms so vast and knowledge wise
They removed cataracts from human eyes

And yet today some refuse to see
And live in fear of their discovery
Now in fourteen hundred and ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean...true

But years before in Alkebu
A ship set sail with a chocolate crew
2,000 years before Columbo came
The Olmecs paid tribute to their fame

Stone heads with faces eight feet high
That the Hulk could not lift to his thigh
Though the facts historians avoid
First to arrive was the Africoid

It may shock the House and Shockley, too
And if you're not prepared it may shock you
While some had doubts that the world was round
In America guess who wore the Crown

Chorus (Background)

You wear the Crown
I wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, the Crown

I wear the Crown
You wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, get down

When you wear the Crown you will not need
To smoke, to coke, to dust or speed
With the Crown you can become the high
And you will make it if you try

But don't you ever forget what it will take
To wear the Crown you cannot fake
If you gonna lead you got to be a king
And give the world your everything

Or be a man like Malcolm X
And demand for all the very best
Or conduct a railroad like Harriet
We all owe her a lifetime debt

If you gonna fight don't do it free
Make 'em pay to see just like Ali
Or sing like Ella and make them guess
Is it you or is it Memorex

If you play a sport become number one
Like Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson
Make Doctor "J" your shining star
Shoot like Magic, dunk with Jabbar

Or if you can write then write some books
Like Langston Hughes or Our Miss Brooks
And if you think you're smart
Don't deceive us be an Imhotep, be a genuis

And don't let anybody confuse the fact
You don't wear the crown just because you're black
Everybody in the world has a Crown and place
That becomes their culture and their face

And so it is, we will not deny
Our history or buy the lie
We have no claim to be renowned
When we were first to wear the Crown

Chorus (Background)

You wear the Crown
I wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, the Crown

I wear the Crown
You wear the Crown
So proud to say that we all wear the Crown, get down

(Repeat Chorus)
Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy!
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Reply #13 posted 02/07/05 1:51pm

namepeace

RipHer2Shreds said:

A friend of mine is putting together an educational grant proposal, and she's looking for lyrics to old school hip hop songs that have a positive (and educational would be good, too) message. Any suggestions? Not corny, but uplifting and/or positive. I've given her a few titles, but thought I'd post here for more.


"You Must Learn" -- BDP

"You Don't Know Who You Are" -- The Jungle Brothers

"The Message"

"Fear of a Black Planet" -- Public Enemy
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Reply #14 posted 02/07/05 1:52pm

VoicesCarry

RipHer2Shreds said:

Sorry, she's not playing them in front of a committee or anything like that. She's going to be quoting some lyrics in the proposal. If she were playing songs for them, that would be a different story entirely. smile


In what kind of educational grant proposal do you quote rap lyrics? eek confused

"Dis research on cell cycle regulation is the shiznit, yo! Fo' shizzle. Cough up dat dough, bitches."
[Edited 2/7/05 13:57pm]
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Reply #15 posted 02/07/05 2:11pm

TchoFessio

not perhaps old school but by an old school group

De La Soul's "Trying People" from their "Art Official Intelligence;Bionix" gives me goose bumps every time.
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Reply #16 posted 02/08/05 12:11am

Krystal666

avatar

Well it is not really old school but there is this rapper named Aceyalone. His album The Book of Human Language has some really great poetry. You might like the lyrics of his song The Energy.
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Reply #17 posted 02/08/05 3:35am

boriquateddy

avatar

Roxanne Shante- Independent Woman....."about womens liberation"

Salt N'Pepa- Let's Talk About Sex...."About safe sex"

Queen Latifah- The Evil That Men Do...."about the world we live in"

Princess Ivori- The Crack Pipe...."about drug abuse"

Antoinette- I Wanna Be Me...."about inspiration and achieving goals"

M.C.Lyte- Cauppicino....."about drugs"

Monie Love- Swiney Swiney...."about why you shouldn't eat pork"

M.C.Trouble- Gotta Get A Grip...."about black people rising"

Nikki D.- Daddy's Little Girl...."about teen pregnancy"

Harmony- The Art Of War...."about black awarness"

Ms.Melodie- Anti Ho...."about woman self respect"

Ice Cream Tee- Can't Hold Back..."about self impowerment"

Heather B.- Don't Hold Us Back..."about self motivation and impowerment"

Yo-Yo- Sisterland...."about black women uniting"

Precious- Protect Your Jewel...."about not giving it up"

Isis- Rebel Soul (entire album)...."Vanglorious,protected by....."

Queen Mother Rage- Vanglorious Law (entire album)..." with a key you sissies"

Nikke!Nikole?- I Believe...."about achieving goals"
[Edited 2/8/05 3:41am]
I am not African. Africa is in me, but I cannot return.
I am not taína. Taíno is in me, but there is no way back.
I am not european. Europe lives in me, but I have no home there.
I am new. History made me. My first language was spanglish.
And I am
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Reply #18 posted 02/08/05 3:44am

EmeraldCity

avatar

I'd give you suggestions but you listen to Joss Stone and probably wouldn't get it anyway evillol
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Reply #19 posted 02/08/05 4:55am

sermwanderer

avatar

Paid In Full- Erik B & Rakim
“If I can shoot rabbits/then I can shoot fascists”
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Reply #20 posted 02/08/05 6:26am

UptownDeb

How 'bout Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines." biggrin

Kane! Sugar! Kane! Sugar! Kane!

Queen Latifah "Ladies First"
[Edited 2/8/05 6:27am]
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Reply #21 posted 02/08/05 6:41am

agotajonesmart
ha

De La Soul - Baby Phat lol
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Reply #22 posted 02/08/05 7:32am

RipHer2Shreds

EmeraldCity said:

I'd give you suggestions but you listen to Joss Stone and probably wouldn't get it anyway evillol

chair Yeah, well Emerald City is a terrible album by a wannabe. So there.
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Reply #23 posted 02/08/05 7:33am

RipHer2Shreds

BT, that's quite a list. Thank you, and thanks to everyone else! Lots of goodies.
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Reply #24 posted 02/08/05 1:53pm

CinisterCee

KRS-One "Plan Up Your Family"
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Reply #25 posted 02/08/05 1:57pm

MendesCity

avatar

NWA "Express Yourself"
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Reply #26 posted 02/08/05 2:41pm

EmeraldCity

avatar

RipHer2Shreds said:

EmeraldCity said:

I'd give you suggestions but you listen to Joss Stone and probably wouldn't get it anyway evillol

chair Yeah, well Emerald City is a terrible album by a wannabe. So there.




omg shocked

Oh hell no you didn't!brick
If I took your quote and started a thread there would be a riot and I'd have to you down to indivually pluck out your pubic hairs so HUSH! rolleyes

talk to the hand

talk to the hand

talk to the hand
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Reply #27 posted 02/08/05 4:12pm

RipHer2Shreds

EmeraldCity said:

RipHer2Shreds said:


chair Yeah, well Emerald City is a terrible album by a wannabe. So there.




omg shocked

Oh hell no you didn't!brick
If I took your quote and started a thread there would be a riot and I'd have to you down to indivually pluck out your pubic hairs so HUSH! rolleyes

talk to the hand

talk to the hand

talk to the hand

I ain't scared of you. I'll say it again - it's a tuhrrrible album. talk to the hand
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Reply #28 posted 02/08/05 4:14pm

Dewrede

avatar

Even though i don't agree with the message
De La Soul - Say No Go
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Reply #29 posted 02/08/05 4:51pm

EmeraldCity

avatar

RipHer2Shreds said:

EmeraldCity said:





omg shocked

Oh hell no you didn't!brick
If I took your quote and started a thread there would be a riot and I'd have to you down to indivually pluck out your pubic hairs so HUSH! rolleyes

talk to the hand

talk to the hand

talk to the hand

I ain't scared of you. I'll say it again - it's a tuhrrrible album. talk to the hand


Sunny Skies. Love Me Down Easy. Lips to Find You. You So Heavy.

My bad you must be right. Teena Marie is a wannabe and Emerald City is terrible. And Joss Stone is a classic. wacky
feeling ill
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