Awareness of Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Voice of the Hip Hop Community
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August 2006
?The big one in America is race-that?s the San Andreas fault of this country. And to see it so vividly displayed between poverty and middle class and white and black, right out there?and to see that in a way that looks like it?s racial, really rips the scab off of this country?This is the thing we don?t want to face, and now we?re going to have to face it.?
-- Chris Matthew, The Today Show.
Hurricane Katrina is now commonly referred to as the 9-11 of the Black community. More than 12,000 lives were claimed reaching far more than the 5,000 claimed during the World Trade Center Disaster.
New Orleans is the 31st largest city in the US and was occupied by 485,000 residents before Hurricane Katrina. It was a city admired for its reminiscent pink and green houses, jazz funerals, crawfish delicacies all accents of its Creole culture. What was not reminisced was its challenge with racial segregation, slow economy, urban developmental sprawl, and decentralization.
In 2000, the city was recognized as the sixth poorest city in the US with an 18% poverty rate and also notorious for holding one of the lowest median household incomes in the US. Only 26 percent of adults held a college degree and the college attainment rate is 23%.
These were not the quaint musings people recognized when reflecting on New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina. What also was not fully acknowledged was the rich existence of African American culture and its relationship to the socio-economic stratification of the city.
During the Eisenhower era of the 1950?s, racial segregation had begun where the formation of all-white and all-black neighborhoods formed leading into hyper-segregation during the 1960?s and 70?s. The years 2004-2005 prior to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans had grown extremely racially and socio-economically divided which resulted in a socio-economic patchwork of rich, white districts (i.e. Garden District, Lakeview, and Audubon) in which 85 percent of residents were white. This contrasted with the poorer, heavily African American populated districts such as Lower Ninth Ward, B.W. Cooper, and Pontchartrain Park where 99.4 percent of the residents were non-white.
This racial geographic stratification only added to the economic disparity developed in New Orleans prior to Katrina. As seen within the Black communities of New Orleans, two-thirds of African Americans had attained a high school degree, forty-two percent of African American men were not employed, and black college attainment was four times lower than white attainments.
These statistics were not commonly acknowledged but these issues have been vocalized by Hip Hop?s Deep South artists such as Cashmoney, Hotboys, BG, Juvenille, Little Wayne, C-Murder, and master P. These artists from the Deep South were well aware of these conditions and the state of New Orleans even before Katrina hit. The social conditions in these economically disadvantaged communities in New Orleans is discussed by Hot Boys on their album, "Get It How U Live It," their song ?Dirty World? alerts their listeners of the constant chaos that ensued living in New Orleans. In ?Dirty World? the song begins by rhyming:
?No mater what, them people gonna always watch us
And them dirty judges gonna keep on tryin? to knock us
Playa haters everywhere, can?t trust ya own peeps
And the feds got us with this new thing called conspiracy
Them dirty scamps throwin? crosses, real niggas dyin?
They put a limit to our flossin?, don?t wanna see us shine?
But close ya eyes, it ain?t nothin?, look the other way
This for my mother, lost my father just the other day
I?m seein? niggas get shot up, hell I got shot, too
Man, you hate me and I hate you, look what this world do.?
The Hot Boys use their lyrics express the plight and discrimination of the under-privileged, lower middle classes segregated in New Orleans. Mistrust towards police and political figures is also voiced while keeping their audience aware of not being silenced into submission. Within ?Dirty World? the Hot Boys successfully vocalize the unjust poverty, social disorder and white ignorance toward their community.
BG, another Deep South Hip Hop group, express their personal live stories living in New Orleans in their song, ?Move Around?:
?I'm from the ghetto homie
I was raised on bread and bologna
You can't come around here 'cause ya phony?
It ain't no secret, down south is the shit (down south)
Yeah, New Orleans gone, yeah, New Orleans fucked (fucked)
But wherever we go you gotta deal wit us (deal wit it)
All my gangstas, put ya hands up (put 'em up).?
When they talk about being "raised on bread adn bologna" they share their experience with the extreme poverty and socio-economic unrest they were raised through in New Orleans.
After the Hurricane, thousands of New Orleaneans, who were lucky enough to find friends and relatives to stay with, dispersed and relocated to neighboring cities such as Houston, San Antonio, and Baton Rouge. Ironically, BG's title, ?Move Around,? perhaps could refer to the vast new diaspora of African Americans from New Orleans.
During the crisis, thousands of homes and businesses were demolished and food, water, and power supplies were hard to come buy, and low-income neighborhoods were shut off from important storm watch and evacuation information, transportation, and information on shelter assistance.
In addition, the flood waters rose, underground sewage levels ruptured leaking the entire city?s excrements to the surface, exposing citizens to harmful bio-hazardous material which could infect people with meningitis, gastrointestinal diseases. People were left with no clean water to drink, this brought desperate citizens to violent scenes where it was reported a brother shot and killed his own sister fighting over a bag of ice.
After several weeks, people resorted to dire resourcefulness such as looting, taking any food, dry clothes, or water they could find. It was reported that people used garbage cans to sail away with essential items such as food, TV/radios (to stay informed about help that was not coming), clothes, guns to protect themselves, their meager resources, and their families from other looters. This deprived state of desperation was not understood or perhaps not cared about by the federal and state government. Instead of bringing water, clean clothes and medical supplies in ample time, President Bush announced a ?no tolerance policy against looters.?
In light of the illogical amount of time taken in bringing relief to the hurricane victims, Hop Hop artists decided to take matters into their own hands and held benefit concerts, donated charity money to the Red Cross and Hurricane Katrina Relief Funds. Artists such as P-Diddy (Sean Combs) and Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) joined to donate $1 million to the American Red Cross for disaster relief. Their clothing lines, Rocka Wear and Sean John also donated dry clothing to victims.
Both remarked, ?As African American men, they could not stand by and do nothing as communities they knew waited for help.?
Choppa also known as Young Star from Mtv?s ?Making The Band?, donated $100,000 to the Red Cross relief through a benefit concert, to help the 25,000 victims overflowing the New Orleans Superdome. As a victim himself, he stated to SOHH.com, ?A couple of my homies drowned, two houses underwater, so much I gotta digest, trying to keep on a smiley face.? This was a devastating turn in Choppa?s life because he had just been ?tasting the fruits of his success? and ended up loosing his friends.
Other Hip Hop artists from New Orleans who experienced the disaster were Cash Money?s Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, and No Limit. Lil Wayne?s daughter and mother were caught in the disaster and he had to have them rescued.
In contrast to artists who were devastated and saddened by their experience with the flood, other artists were infuriated. Kanye West, known as a great political voice in the Hip Hop world, in reference to the amount of time taken to bring relief efforts to victims, West stated:
?It?s been five days because most of the people are Black; and even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I tried to turn away from the TV because it?s too hard to watch?The Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realized how a lot of the people who could help are at war right now fighting another war?They?ve given them [The U.S. Army] permission to go down [to new Orleans] and shoot us?George Bush doesn?t care about Black people.?
The anger felt by the African American community and Hip Hop artists and listeners became a canvas for several new albums and songs. Hip Hop artists found a new powerful direction in which to deliver their message about their struggle. Mighty Mos Def responded to the disaster with his song ?Dollar Day for New Orleans (Katrina Clap)? which was a spoof on Crescent City?s Juvenile?s ?Nolia Clap?. Mos Def elicits many valid points in his song regarding the Katrina. He writes:
?Listen homie, It?s dollar day in New Orleans,
It?s where there water everywhere and people dead in the street,
And Mr. President he ?bout that cash,
He got a policy for handlin? the bruthas and trash,
And if you poor you black,
I laugh a laugh, they won?t give when you ask,
You betta off on crack, dead or in jail, or with a gun in Iraq,
And it?s as simple as that,
No opinion my man it?s mathematical fact,
Listen, a million poor since 2004,
And they got illions and killions to waste on the War,
And make you question what the taxes is for,
Or the cost to reinforce the broke levee wall,
Tell the boss he shouldn?t be the boss anymore.?
Hip hop artists have always tried to increrase thier listeners' awareness about socioeconomic issuses, which were often overlooked by society and by the government. After Katrina, thier lyrics became rougher and more cynical towards the hurricane relief, the role of the federal government, as well as past socio-economic issues. In "Katrina Clap" Mos Def takes a cynical stance against President Bush's administrative actions toward Katrina's victims. Mos Def also refers to the federal governement's use of tax dollars as well as the warin Iraq. He examines and argues that socio-economic disparity existed even before Hurricane Katrina affected New Orleans. He states, "Listen a million poor since 2004, And they got illions and killions to waste on the War."
Hurricane Katrina became not only a cause in which to bring up current issues but also to bring up problems concerning the Black community even before the disaster. For instance, Juvenile?s music video, ?Get you?re hustle on,? poignantly addressed the Katrina disaster. The video utilizes symbolic references in his video to address the hypocrisy of the national government?s leaders. What effectively delivers Juvenile's lyrical multilayered critique of the national discourse in ?Get Ya Hussle On? is the use of explicit and symbolic images within his video.
The video contains a compelling and forceful opening where respectful reverence is granted to the victims who died in Hurricane Katrina. This is effectively portrayed next to a statue of a praying angel, one symbolic feature of the faith the community holds onto among the debris they are left with. The video then dives into an opening scene of utter destruction which is the wreckage of a New Orleans town left after Hurricane Katrina. Accompanying this image, the song begins with a high screeching violin riffs, inciting feelings of fear, urgency, and anxiety, which bears a resemblance to music heard at climatic points of horror movies. Over this, Juvenile makes a shout and directs his message to the African American community.
The video continues as three boys comb through the wreckage of what used to be their neighborhood, they look through packages for water and food instead finding masks that state ?Help is on the Way? with faces of President Bush, Dick Cheney, and Colim Powell. Quick imagery of a headless statue of the Virgin Mary, suggests that no mercy exists for African American Katrina victims from their government and this was only proved more by the federal government?s neglect to approach the problem of Katrina. The boys still wearing the masks walk through the crumbled neighborhood with authority holding sticks. The masks of Cheney, Bush, and Powell symbolize who are the real original gangstas. In fact it was they who ?got their hustle? by taking advantage of a small town and a community once socio-economically unstable but now destroyed.
Through this imagery, Juvenile presents the argument that the US government is not a friend, it is not here to help the Black community,but to prey on the weak. They are just gangta?s rollin and hustling, just like everyone else trying to ?get theirs?.
Juvenile was interviewed on www.nobodyssmiling.com and this is what he has to say about his personal losses in New Orleans:
"I lost my house, almost everybody with me lost their homes, my family, all my people are in Atlanta, they got split up all over the country, some of my family got sent to canada, its real, its hurting, its going to hurt me for the next 10-15 years, its gonna hurt my people probably longer than that, just knowing we were taken away from our homes and have to change the way we live, new orleans is a home with like one big old person, you dont want to move'em, you dont move old people, you know what happens when you move old people?...they die. And thats whats happening."
Juvenile?s final message for the African American community is that he wants them to know they are once again alone to fend their own battle. There is no help that will come to them from the outside to save them. They are now the ones who must rally up and fend for themselves just like they always have.
Hip Hop artists have collectively presented a voice in the face of devastation, which was delivered in the form of Hurricane Katrina. She was not a natural disaster as much as she was a cultural disaster. Katrina was a signal to the public, to be reminded of the socio-economic stratification and disadvantages still existing in our country and how leading officials in the state and US government can be so far removed from their people?s fundamental needs especially in a time of crisis.
Most importantly she reminded us about issues that happen here to people in our country, which should be our first priority. A last point that must be considered by our government is that before it goes off to help people in other countries, it should be aware of the people who need help most back at home.
[This article was originally published in The Stanford University Black Arts Quarterly Spring/Summer 2006 issue]
