Police, Gender, African Americans & Hip-Hop?
“Woop-woop! That’s the sound of da police! That’s the sound of the beast”. Every time an avid fan of Hip-Hop hears the legendary rap artist KRS-One scream “Woop-woop”, you know it’s lit! KRS-One, a famous Hip-Hop rap artist from The Bronx, New York, expresses the infamous relationship between American Law Enforcement and the African American community. Every time I hear his timeless song “Sound of da Police” I am reminded of the seemingly endless war between cops and African American men and women. In this blog I will review and dissect how KRS-One poetically explains the history of this grueling relationship.
Lawrence “Kris” Parker, rather known by his stage name KRS-One, is an African American male who utilizes his music in the expressive art form of rap. Within the lines of his famous song “Sound of da Police” we can interpret the importance of identity in America. KRS-One, being both a male and African American, gives a genuine perspective of how he himself and many African American males feel towards law enforcement. KRS-One begins the song by expressing his personal feelings of animosity towards police officers. Explaining the “everyday struggles of black men” KRS-One expresses: Police officers claim black men sell crack, police officers target successful black males, and police officer’s attitudes towards black men are hostile. I personally have had unfortunate experiences with law enforcement stopping me, which directly makes me relate to these unsettled feelings towards police officers that KRS-One expresses.
Another major aspect I love that KRS-One addresses in this song is the evolution of “overseer” to the modern day police officer. The position of an “overseer” stems back to Fugitive Slave Laws, in which helped enforce the necessity for slave patrols to capture fugitive slaves and return them to their slave masters. Overseers also had the job to oversee plantations, maintaining “order” and dominance. KRS-One draws out the almost terrifying comparison between overseers and police officers when he states, “The overseer rode around the plantation. The officer is off patrolling all the nation. The overseer could stop you what you’re doing. The officer will pull you over just when he’s pursuing. The overseer had the right to get ill And if you fought back, the overseer had the right to kill. The officer has the right to arrest and if you fight back they put a hole in your chest!”. These surreal comparison KRS-One presents sends chills down my spine every time! This is easily the most important takeaway from this song in my opinion. KRS-One exposes the ill-natured origin of police officers in regards to their relationships with African Americans in historic and modern times.
Without understanding and learning the history of police institutions in America, we fail to comprehend our current day struggle between African Americans and Law Enforcement. Being an African American male, growing up I was taught that when dealing with police officers you either cooperate or risk losing your life. This may sound like over exaggerated instructions to some but to the many fearful African American males, this is a reality. KRS-One is one of the many Hip-Hop artist who have utilized rap music as a tool to teach pivotal lessons through their music. By highlighting the struggles of intersecting identities, KRS-One expresses how the relationship between Law Enforcement and African Americans is still till this day a work in progress.
