Hip-hop and the White House (now streaming on Hulu) is the first documentary from &360, an anthology series produced by Andscape, the renowned identity of ESPN and Disney’s The Undefeated. Written and directed by Jesse Washington, the documentary traces the history of hip-hop as the art form celebrates its 50th anniversary, and specifically how it has intersected with the White House and political power during that time. Narrated by Atlanta-based rapper Jeezy, Hip-hop and the White House Also includes interviews with KRS-One, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Common, Chika, YG, Roxanne Shante, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, Waka Flocka Flame, journalist and activist Bakari Kitwana, Curren$y, and the journalist Farai Chideya.
HIP-HOP AND THE WHITE HOUSE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: Nixon, Ford, Carter. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush. Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden. Since the birth of hip-hop in the early 1970s, the person sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office has influenced and been affected by its evolution as a source of power. Or, as Bakari Kitwana says, “hip-hop has always been political because of the context in which it was created.” In New York City, the genre first flourished in depressed economic conditions and dilapidated neighborhoods that were a product of public crisis. policy. And in the 1980s, the crack epidemic would be forever connected to Ronald Reagan’s presidency. “Don’t push me because I’m close to the limit,” said Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” in 1982. KRS-One calls Reagan “the father of crack.” cocaine”. And in his telling, Jeezy expands the influence. “Too Short, Ice-T, Toddy Tee, Public Enemy. These are just a few rappers revealing what Reagan’s so-called War on Drugs did to the places where hip-hop lived.”
Thus, Hip-hop and the White House uses the following decades and each successive president as touchstones for his narrative. Contrast an old Jimmy Stewart presenting the New York City Breakers dance team at Reagan’s 1985 inaugural ball and Bill Clinton hired LL Cool J for his own inauguration in 1993. Note that Clinton was the first national politician to see potential in the black vote , but also criticizes his demonization of rapper and activist Sister Souljah. (“Clinton was more than willing to criticize young black people,” says journalist Farai Chideya, “so that people who were already prejudiced against black people would feel safe.”) /11, but it does delve into the presidency of George W. Bush, especially in relation to the federal government’s faltering response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the dissonance between the two biggest fragments of the era. While Bush was heartily praising the FEMA director (“Brownie, you’re doing a great job”), Kanye West took the microphone at a telethon and declared that the president didn’t care about black people. “George Bush needed to hear that,” Common says. “And that’s how powerful hip-hop had become.”
The brevity of Hip-hop and the White House He doesn’t leave much room to develop the points he makes. But he highlights the election of Barack Obama as a defining moment for black voices in America, the promise of change and representation in the literal halls of power, and explores the nature of Obama’s ethnicity as a political tool. (“He needed validation of his Blackness.”) And it highlights another important contrast: going from a DJ playing MOB’s “Ante Up” at a party at the Obama White House to Donald Trump riding down his golden escalator and into the sunrise. of a new, more tense political era. Ye wears a red MAGA hat and hugs Trump in the Oval Office, Trump forgives Lil Wayne: strange, wild times, and a stark reminder of how far hip-hop has come when it comes to the presidency.
What movies will it remind you of? The 50th anniversary of hip-hop has produced a wealth of documentary material on that topic, including mixed tape on Paramount+, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World on PBS and on Netflix, Evolution of hip hop on Netflix and Ladies First: A History of Women in Hip-Hop.
Performance worth seeing: Whatever you think about his politics, Waka Flocka Flame isn’t sugarcoating anything here. Regarding Barack Obama, the rapper takes a position opposite to all those interviewed in Hip-hop and the White House – “I say it with respect, but I never had the feeling that he wouldn’t change anything” – and Waka continues making a crude comparison between Trump and Tupac. “Barack Obama is not from the neighborhood of the United States. People want… a Tupac like a real black man. That’s like a Donald Trump. It’s like he’s a real black, ’cause he ain’t apologizing! I move with the policies. I love that he’s better than the last guy. Why do I like Trump? Because he is better than the last one.”
Memorable dialogue: Rapper YG remembers watching Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign and thinking, “We have to do something,” a sentiment that led him to create “DJT” (aka “Fuck Donald Trump”), his 2016 protest song. recorded with rapper Nipsey Hussle. “You could tell Obama was a good person,” says YG in White House. “How he behaved, how he spoke. And then he moves on to someone like Donald Trump, who is just reckless and speaks with all his might. “More racist than a son of a bitch.”
Sex and skin: None.
Our opinion: Just an hour long, Hip-hop and the White House It feels more like a study of important moments and ideas than an exhaustive history of its subject. So you get a handful of footage and interview segments for each decade since the ’70s, a few minutes devoted to each, and some incisive points about the connections between hip-hop and political power, but not much more layered insight. deep. “Obama did what any smart brother would do,” Jeezy says in his narration. “Hip-hop helped him get elected, so he returned the favor.” But the documentary only highlights the questions people were asking about photos of the Obama-era White House featuring prominent rap talent. “Are we in?” asks rapper Mick Jenkins about those moments. “Or are they just dragging us along?” The limited duration leaves no time to explore these important questions.
By the time you get to Trump, Biden, and the 2024 election, Hip-hop and the White House You have even less time for exploration. While leaving room for Waka Flocka Flame To offer his contrary opinions, he doesn’t put too much pressure on the rapper about how he justifies some of Trump’s most incendiary and offensive statements. It can be seen as a film that offers key points in the broader conversation that hip-hop continues to have with the seat of political power in America. And today, that conversation can happen anywhere people communicate. “I think that’s one of the powerful things about hip-hop,” Bakari Kitwana says. “The United States politicizes black people because of its public policy towards black people. So you don’t have to be a political hip-hop artist to make a political statement.”
Our call: Hip-hop and the White House is a STREAM IT as a kind of highlight reel of the moments over four decades in which rap engaged or confronted the White House and American political power. And while it could have used more space to expand on these ideas, the document lays out an important timeline as we approach another presidential election season.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
