Materialism and humanitarianism are often at odds in hip hop. Actavis and activism do not always go hand-in-hand. But hip hop is a world unto itself, and countless rappers have used their platform to fight for the underprivileged.
This article interprets "social activism" broadly -- it includes artists who have uplifted marginalized groups, generally affect positive change in the world, and attack social injustice. Unfortunately, it is not always so easy to attack social injustice at its root. But we salute these 10 rappers who have served their community and inspired a new generation of do-gooders.
The Game
The Game
In light of the recent police killings, The Game & Snoop Dogg organized a peaceful protest last Friday in LA called Operation H.U.N.T., which stands for "Hate Us Not Today." The two verteran rappers led a group of men to LAPD headquarters, where they talked to cops about police-community relations and met wit hthe mayor and police chief.
The Game is very proud of his humanitarian efforts. At the peak of the Flint Water Crisis, he donated a cool $1 million to the cause and called out Jimmy Fallon and Madonna's comparatively wimpy $10K donations "a joke" in the process.
The Game sees himself as a leader in the community. He helped lead the 20th anniversary Million Man March last year and spent the weeks leading up to The Documentary 2 giving out $1,000 in cash per day to a local person in need.
The Game & Snoop Dogg lead a peaceful march near LAPD headquarters today pic.twitter.com/YGdl0loNCZ
Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper has been extremely active with charity work in his native Chicago, particularly with children. Last year, he took elementary school kids on a surprise field trip and organizing a free festival for Chicago teens. He organized an initiative called "Warmer Winter" that raised $60 thousand in 10 days to buy EMPWR coats -- built to handle Chicago's brutal winters -- for the local homeless population. Chance's efforts earned him the honor of being named Chicago’s 2014 Outstanding Youth of the Year and Chicago Mag's 2015 “Chicagoan of the Year."
Kendrick Lamar
in addition to empowering young black folks through his music (and his performances -- that Grammy performance -- my god), Kendrick has quietly donated hundreds of thousands to the Compton school district for music, sports, and other after-school programs. He's even used his endorsement deal with Reebok to bring about a detente between Bloods & Crips. For his efforts, Kendrick was bestowed Compton's key to the city in February.
Vince Staples
Vince Staples mentioned Long Beach's Ramona Park approximately 80 times on his debut album Summertime '06 and even allotted the park two of its own tracks: "Ramona Park Legend Pt. 1" and "Ramona Park Legend Pt. 2." "The sun come down and guns come out, you know Ramona Park."
Staples spoke at a press conference at Ramona Park last month to announce a new youth YMCA program called the Youth Institute, an initiative that combines the efforts of local officials and Staples' financial support (he contributed an undisclosed amount) to help 20 eighth and ninth graders learn filmmaking, graphic design, music production, 3D printing, and product design.
“I want to be able to be one of the people that reinforces the fact that we matter just as much as the next person,” Staples said. “That’s actually the biggest thing I can do for this community. I think the most important thing is opportunities. What I can say is, living over here my entire life, I’ve never had an opportunity given to me from the area, only examples of how to mess up, and what I didn’t want to do.”
In this slot we could ave chosen Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's $70 million donation to open a new music academy at USC but opted to go with Staples. More personal.
Lupe Fiasco
T.I.
T.I. marched with thousands of demonstrators in Atlanta protesting police violence over the weekend. Over the course of the career, he has given out hundreds of bicycles and scholarships in partnerships with the Boys & Girls Club. He tends to concentrate his food drives and other charitable efforts around the holidays
In 2012, he launched his “Give Like A King" campaign to raise money on behalf homeless vets.
Big Sean's Sean Anderson Foundation is best known for its annual Thanksgiving turkey drive. The foundation has also partnered with dozens of other charitable organizations to help young and underprivileged people around the globe.
In 2015, Sean funded "The Sean Anderson Studio of Infinite Possibilities" at his alma mater, Detroit's Cass Technical High School. "Being a mentor, I see the importance of showing people their inner potential," he said.
Vic Mensa
Once a happy-go-lucky rapper content to chase girls and smoke trees, Mensa has emerged as one of the most passionately political voices in hip hop. He marched on behalf of Laquan McDonald in Chicago last Fall and penned "16 Shots" about McDonald's killing at Chicago PD's hands. He debuted the song at a #JusticeForFlint event, where he assisted with the efforts to get Flint residents temporary access to clean water.
While dozens of rappers have been active after the most recent wave of police shootings, Mensa was one of the few to release a pro-LGBTQ anthem ("Free Love") in the wake of the Orlando gay nightclub massacre last month.
Snoop Dogg
While Snoop has donated to dozens of charities, his primary method of affecting positive change is sports. He is the king of the charity sporting event -- most recently he headed to Flint to participate in Morris Peterson's "Hoop 4 Water" basketball fundraiser. His non-profit Snoop Youth Football League seeks to empower youths and build character through athletics.
Killer Mike's stumping on behalf of Bernie Sanders forms only one small slice of his political activism pie. Since attaining a new level of success with Run The Jewels, he has only doubled down on his fight for social justice, delivering lectures at top flight universities, penning op-eds and opining in interviews in major publications, attending rallies, and debating "pundits" on cable news networks.
In 2015, he announced his write-in candidacy for the Georgia state congress and encouraged his followers to vote for him, although he did not conduct a full-fleged campaign.
I feel I have to be politically active and I have to be a credit to my race," he told Alternet in 2012.
