Hip-hop and justice: Culture carries the spirit of protest, 50 years and counting

By AARON MORRISON
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Hip-hop has been an integral part of social and racial justice movements. It’s also been scrutinized by law enforcement and political groups because of their belief that hip-hop and its artists encourage violent criminality. Free speech advocates see the ongoing persecution of rappers as a proxy war primarily waged against Black and Latino people who are the early pioneers of the culture. For hip-hop artists who live under repressive regimes, “dropping bars” to air one’s grievances against the government can mean time behind bars or worse.