About

Following the class unit regarding the birth of Hip Hop and rap, our group was interested in the politics behind the genre and Reagan's role as a catalyst. To assess the validity of our potential question, we researched Reagan’s administration, the popular rap groups of that time, and the lyrical content of the rap group. We ultimately found that there was validity behind our claim and analyzed the lyrical messaging of two of the most prominent rap groups - N.W.A and Public Enemy. Following a comprehensive assessment of both groups’ music references to the Reagan administration, we chose songs that best exemplified the artists’ attitudes toward Reagan and the government at the time. We found that there were particularly strong ties between rap music and Reagan’s War on Drugs. Much of the music we listened to tackled both the ramifications of the crack cocaine epidemic while also critiquing the government's role/response in the epidemic. To fully investigate our thesis we research Reagan’s War on Drugs, the impact the war had on the Black community, the role Reagan played in the proliferation of the rap genre, and the rap genre’s attitudes towards Reagan’s administration. We then chose to present out information on an interactive websites with sections to organize information on Reagan’s history, N.W.A, and Public Enemy. We also used timelines and graphs to display the information in an easily understable, visual way.