Outspoken Princeton professor, decorated scholar, and bestselling author Cornel West recently released a political hip-hop album that features songs about topics like September 11th, racial profiling, the “N” word, and the Bush administration. It’s no wonder that Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations has been slugged “Edutainment to the fullest.”
With a spoken word delivery backed by hip-hop beats, West reminds me of Gil Scott-Heron, a political spoken word artist from the 60s and 70s. Similar to Scott-Heron and also the 70s spoken word group the Last Poets, West’s CD skewers our nation’s political and ethical choices through music. But with guests like Prince, Andre 3000, Black Thought, Talib Kweli, and KRS-One, this album has a more current sound.
In an NPR interview about the CD, West explained that “A paradigm shift is taking place in hip hop. It’s going back to the best of the tradition, by connecting with young folk…In the end it’s about dignity and respect.” And I think 2007 is ripe for it.
