Mortal Man: 7 Of Hip Hop’s Strongest Records To Police In Lieu Of Walter Scott’s Shooting

A South Carolina police officer by the name of Michael T. Slager gunned down Walter Scott in what seemed like cold blood Saturday April 4 in North Charleston. The man was pulled over for having a broken tail light. No one knows what happened between the time he was pulled over and the time of the video, but the result was what sounded like eight shots in the back of Scott as he ran away from the officer. Why he ran is anyone’s guess. Though, if the officer was being forceful with him, and with the string of unmitigated attacks on civilians by police (that most notably led to the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown) you couldn’t blame him for turning tale and running for his life.

The video opens with Scott running away, and simply gunned down. The officer then calmly walked over to him while radioing in, “shots fired.” It was the type of scene you normally see in the movies, it seemed so egregious, so unbelievably cruel. As other officers rushed to the scene it became even more apparent that the officer had the intention of protecting his ass by setting up the victim. He dropped his taser to the ground haphazardly, as if to suggest a struggle.

In the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, D’angelo’s Black Messiah, J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and others, it seems music is once again starting to address issues related to being black in America. Rihanna’s new “American Oxygen” speaks to that as well, as well as the numerous records venting laments following the Darren Wilson verdict. But it wouldn’t be the first time Hip Hop stepped up to show what was happening in their neighborhoods regarding police brutality. Here, we give you just a few of the tracks that help us channel the outrage at what we just witnessed, and we wait for more to come as this story develops.

KRS-One – “Sound Of Da Police”  

KRS-One hits you with the swooping police siren as soon as this Sly & The Family Stone sample hits first gear. And the main artery of this famous lament against the infamous NYPD has continued to resonate during its history. Originally billed as the second single off his ‘93 solo debut Return Of Boom Bap, the song also appeared in 2010’s Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan snooze fest Cop Out. Given the fact that the NYPD has been caught changing Wiki entries recently as well as walking out on the job and turning their back to their Mayor, we’d say the tension between the police and citizens in New York is as real as ever.

J. Dilla –  Fuck The Police

It’s actually pretty funny hearing Dilla give a disclaimer discouraging violence against law enforcement before going in on everything wrong with rogue officers. The key word is rouge, though. Dilla wasn’t spraying his venom willy-nilly, but over that famous Rene Costy & His Orchestra sample coupled with Tribe’s “Oh My God,” Dilla let his feelings on Detroit’s police be known. In an interview with Groove Attack just after it’s making he had this to say, “That’s a song I been wanting to do for a long-ass time. I need to do a Part 2 actually. It’s getting so crazy in Detroit now with the police, man. I just felt like I wanted to speak on it.” It still is. An officer was recently acquitted for gunning down a little girl in a botched house raid in the city.

Common – “A Song For Assata”

When Common released this song on his classic album Like Water for Chocolate, mainstream didn’t pay much attention to the track which supported Assata Shakur. For those who don’t know, Assata is currently spending her time under political asylum in Cuba for the alleged 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. Now that the Chicago emcee has become a prominent figure in mainstream pop culture, he’s caught a lot of flack for the track that narrated the story of one women who dared to stand up against authorities.

Tupac – “White Man’z World”

Considering Tupac’s upbringing, his disdain for law enforcement makes total sense as his general caretakers were mainly former practicing members of controversial group The Black Panthers. A nice majority of his music focused on various social issues alongside his almost nihilistic view on society. Racial themes aside, the ending section features a shout out to revolutionaries who were targeted by police including Mumia Abu Jamal, Mutulu Shakur(Tupac’s stepfather), Sekou Odinga and Geronimo Pratt. This is the same guy whose last words to a police officer weren’t too kind.

N.W.A. – “Fuck Tha Police”

Released in 1988, Rolling Stone’s #417 greatest song of all time became groundbreaking for two specific reasons. First, the track became synonymous with everything great about N.W.A. and their Compton brand of in-your-face attitude that helped propagate gangster rap. Second, “Fuck Tha Police” became the shit-starter that Hip Hop needed in the face of social injustice regarding law enforcement. This is coming from a time in the area where blacks were targeted by authorities. So much to where the Los Angeles Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation did everything they could constitutionally do to stop them. Too bad, all the track did was influence generations of rap artist to come.

Pharoahe Monch – “Clap (One Day)”

Alongside the video, the best frame of reference Pharoahe Monch provided in “Clap (One Day)” revolves around the death of Ayana Stanley Jones. Those out of the loop could look toward Jones’ May 2010 death at the hands of a surprise raid in Detroit by law enforcement searching for the boyfriend of her aunt. Monch narrates a time where if things don’t change, citizens may in fact clap back.

Public Enemy – “911 Is A Joke”

The great thing about “911 Is A Joke” is that it serves more to talk about the absence of quality emergency services within the hood. Yes, there are some areas where ambulances late enough to become damn near useless. However, some have used the classic Public Enemy track to describe how inefficient law authorities are as well. Matter of fact, in a pre-Rap Genius world, many thought the track was about the police. Maybe that’s the great thing about good songwriting, double meanings are more compelling when the definition is equally significant.

Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.

Ural Garrett is an Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.