Hip Hop as a Social Movement: The f*** you mean 1995?

Back in August, there was an article that came out on the "evolution of hip hop", stating that it went from "party music to political platform".

The paper was to be presented at the American Sociological Association. I tried to get a copy but I never heard back from the researcher despite the ASA telling him of my request. 

Having not heard from the researcher, I'm just going to go off on what the article states. So, the researcher states:
“It [Hip Hop] started in the mid-1970s and the performers were primarily interested in entertaining and expressing themselves. By the early to mid-1990s performers began more consistently looking at hip-hop as a political opportunity with social movement implications.”

He states that it didn't become political until "1995":

"Callais uses 1995 as the turning point for this shift when hip-hop truly evolved into a platform for social movement. For his research, he interviewed 25 people involved with hip-hop before 1995 and 25 who joined the industry after. These included performers, writers, producers, and critics."

Personally, I find this dubious and would disagree whole-heartedly. I would argue that the birth of hip-hop was the birth of a political platform and social movement. That its origins were indeed political and socially oriented. The entertainment and joy was certainly there, but I would disagree that it became a political platform in '95.

Early on, hip-hop was a positive movement for the youth. Breakdancing and battling was the alternative to gang violence. Similarly the MC - born out of permission from the DJ - also took on this alternative to gang violence in the form of the cypher. Graffiti was an avenue to write. The DJ created the backbone for all this to happen by bringing people together. The acts themselves are already a social movement and a political platform. Bambaata argued for the four principles of hip-hop: Peace, Love, Unity and Having Fun. (it's evolved since then of course). In addition, hip-hop also spearheaded the 'Crack is Wack' movement. This is not just a coincidence and there is a good reason why hip-hop was such a part of it. The political platform began way before 1995. Hip-hop grew out of the extension from the marginalized and the influence of the Black Panters, Malcom X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Garvey, and the Harlem Renaissance. Oddly, the researcher points to Grandmaster Flash's song 'The Message' but doesn't go further to consider that the hip-hop movement was already political by making social commentary.
 
The researcher agrees that: “musical participation in itself can be a social movement" but doesn't seem to consider this as a "political platform". Instead he wants to say that 1995 was the year. It seems the researcher's argument is born out of the mainstream exposure and the prevalence of 'gangster rap' at the time. I think this is misleading and outright incorrect to suggest that this was when it became a political platform for those who are taking and leading the movement today. IF his point of entry into this suggestion is 2Pac, I would argue that 2Pac was political way before 1995. 2Pac in his early years with the Digital Underground and his solo albums were very political in its social awareness and commentary to the people. While he was primarily addressing the African-American community, it was also a way of getting and talking to White America through music an rap. Its efficacy may be challenged because there are so many who block out what is being said when dialogue is mixed with cuss words. But nevertheless, 2Pac's early work is strong and revealing stuff. If you read his philosophy and book of poetry, 2Pac develops a philosophy that can be captured around the metaphor: "The rose that grew out of concrete". While I am no expert on Pac but simply a fan from early on, I would refer those interested to Michael Eric Dyson as he's researched and has written extensively on this. Furthermore, talking about 1995 dismisses KRS-One, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Eric B. and Rakim, and many many others prior to the mid-90s.

To give credit and reservation, I do not know the researcher's definition of a "political platform" so I can't comment. But I think this research is extremely misleading to suggest that '95 was a turning point for "political opportunities" and a "social movement". I'd say these things were already happening. And for the researcher to make this argument and suggestion I think is revealing about how little he knows about the history and political context from which hip-hop was born. Mainstream rap is not a good index for the movement of hip-hop.