Shea Serrano is a staff writer for Grantland. He recently published The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated and Deconstructed, which became a New York Times best-seller this week.
Harvard Political Review: In 1992 VP candidate Dan Quayle said that “2Pacalypse Now” “has no place in our society,” and a current candidate, Marco Rubio, a self-proclaimed 2Pac fan, said that “in some ways, rappers are like reporters.” Do you think larger conversation about rap changed over recent decades or over generations?
Shea Serrano: Yeah, a hundred percent it has changed. Back then when it was on news stuff, it was easy to say, “This is horrible and terrible,” because the most prevalent version of it was like an N.W.A. or something like that. But now, [rappers] are important figures in all of culture, so you have to change your tone there.
What do you make of critiques that portray rap culture as unsavory and perpetuate negative stereotypes about African-Americans?
I think it’s just incorrect. I gave this talk at a law school a couple of weeks ago. One of the professors there was sort of saying that same thing, and I was trying to explain to him that it’s too reductive to just say that this is what all rap is about because it’s not. It’s big and flowered outward and it’s covered a whole bunch of stuff that doesn’t include any of the terrible things that people like to say that it includes.
In your book, you have Macklemore’s “Same Love” as the most important song of 2012. Do you think that song had a tangible impact on the marriage equality debate or on changing people’s opinions?
I don’t think it changed anybody’s opinion, but I think it made it a conversation that was easier to have. I don’t think I’ve heard of anybody who was opposed to gay marriage and then heard that song and was like, “You know what? Macklemore changed my mind.” Like that’s usually not how it works, but it just makes those conversations easier.
Have any other songs or artists—one song that comes to mind is 2Pac’s “Changes”—caused any debate or brought any issues to light?
I would say that you could probably look to the stuff that Public Enemy was doing in the late ’80s and early ’90s. That was their whole thing—bringing stuff to the forefront. So I would go with somebody like that more than I would say a 2Pac’s “Changes.” 2Pac’s “Changes” song is like a good song to just listen to, but “Fight the Power” was a song that was actively trying to change things.
What role do you think rap music has had on conveying issues plaguing the black community? Are there any artists who have tried to connect with the Black Lives Matter movement?
Yes, several artists have tried to connect with the Black Lives Matter movement, like Killer Mike or J. Cole or Kendrick Lamar. And these are guys who are putting that out there. And those are the same guys who are reporting that. And more on Kendrick and Killer Mike, they’re much better at it. It feels more authentic when they do it. It’s a part of it; it’s a part of the conversation.
What problems do you think rappers have when they try to tie their music into social problems, both commercially and in terms of people actually listening to what they’re saying?
Well, commercially it’s tricky because a lot of rap, especially rap on the radio, is designed to be listened to without really being listened to. It’s like, you know, just turn-up music. You’ve got Kendrick Lamar who makes a song like “Alright,” which is about all the stuff that’s happening in black America and how they’re going to be okay, that they’re unbreakable. It’s a fun song to listen to and then you actually listen to it, and oh my god, it’s just really crazy. But a song like that isn’t one that gets the most amount of airplay, even though it probably should. That same dynamic has always been there though, as far as what’s important versus what’s getting played.
If you had to give any of the 2016 candidates a theme song what would you give them?
Let’s give Bernie Sanders “Hotline Bling,” let’s give Hillary “I Serve the Base” by Future, let’s give Trump … is there a rap song that’s just one long fart noise? Let’s give him that one. Jeb Bush, let’s give him “Let Me See It” by UGK.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Image credit: Larami Serrano