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.

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.

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

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

Anything by Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One.
[Edited 2/6/05 14:08pm]

NWA "Fuck The Police"

CinisterCee said:

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

RipHer2Shreds said:

OK,

How about Roxanne Shante "Runaway"

Come on, y'all. All the hip hop fans here, and this is it? Gimme more, please!

How about lyrics from "Self-Destruction" or maybe "The Message". You might want to check out the Sugar Hill Gang or Grandmaster Flash, too.

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.

CinisterCee said:

I wanted to say Public Enemy, too, but you're right, some people might get offended.

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.

RipHer2Shreds said:

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


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)

RipHer2Shreds said:

"You Must Learn" -- BDP

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

"The Message"

"Fear of a Black Planet" -- Public Enemy

RipHer2Shreds said:

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

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

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.

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.

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

Paid In Full- Erik B & Rakim

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

Kane! Sugar! Kane! Sugar! Kane!

Queen Latifah "Ladies First"
[Edited 2/8/05 6:27am]

De La Soul - Baby Phat

EmeraldCity said:

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

BT, that's quite a list. Thank you, and thanks to everyone else! Lots of goodies.

KRS-One "Plan Up Your Family"

NWA "Express Yourself"

RipHer2Shreds said:

Oh hell no you didn't!
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!

EmeraldCity said:

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

Even though i don't agree with the message
De La Soul - Say No Go

RipHer2Shreds said:

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.