Tupac Was an Imperfect Prophet

A Contested Figure, the Rapper Championed a ‘Thug Life’ Meant to Liberate Black Americans

Hailed as a truth-teller and a champion of Black empowerment, disparaged as a hoodlum with a hot temper whose lyrics glorify violent behavior, the late rapper and actor Tupac Shakur continues to be remembered in contested ways, more than 25 years after his murder in a drive-by shooting. In 2023 alone, FX aired a five-part docuseries on him, at least three different writers authored books about him, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a long-overdue arrest and indictment has finally been made …

by Santi Elijah Holley | December 11, 2023

Environmental Activist and Hip-Hop Artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (Xochimilco)

Kendrick Lamar Would Appreciate My Grandmother’s Chilaquiles

November 3, 2023

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (Xochimilco), or X, is an advocate, activist, and hip-hop artist. Recently named one of Time magazine’s Next 100, X been an activist since the age of 6. Before …

| Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Hot Girl Summer Is a Utopian Notion

We’ll Never Reach Its Coconut-Scented Siren Call, But That Shouldn’t Stop Us From Trying

by Jackie Mansky | September 9, 2022

Here in Southern California, the Santa Ana winds are blowing, summoning us back to school, back to our routines, back to our lives.

The potential that once hung so heady in …

The 1992 Hip-Hop Song That Sounded Like a Revolution to Black Women

Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Mega Hit ‘Baby Got Back’ Featured Powerful Women Dancers Who Changed America’s Beauty Norms

by Christopher J. Smith | December 12, 2019

Throughout 400 years of the nation’s history, street dance has always been a tool for Americans who lack the social power to resist and seize control of public spaces. In …

Why Small, Beleaguered Vallejo Is Huge in California Hip Hop

A Bankrupt Neighborhood’s Gift of Gab Created Music Rooted in a ‘Sweet, Idiosyncratic, Hustler Culture’

by Joe Mathews | October 8, 2019

Conventional wisdom is that California’s greatest art is produced by collisions between the different peoples and cultures in the centers of our biggest cities.

But if that’s true, how …

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