Ranking The Most Influential hip hop presidencies

Hot Takes

Based on timelines, which presidential legacy since hip hop's birth in 1973 best shaped the history of the genre in accordance with politics and American society at large.

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

BY HARPSICHORD

Digital illustration of a fake Mt. Rushmore of Presidents Obama, Reagan, Trump, and Bush.

fifth ranking

Ronald Reagan

40th president

Hip hop during Reagan’s leadership consisted of an uncanny balance of content that flaunted wealth and the genre’s commercial growth, but also criticized poverty, censorship, and the war on drugs. Hip hop legends like N.W.A. paved the way, while a new generation of leaders such as Jay-Z and Nas grew up on hip hop as a means to survive.

1981 - 1989

  • KRS-One would sample the first hip hop song to go No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Step into a World (Rapture's Delight)” in 1997.

  • “Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge/I'm trying not to lose my head /It's like a jungle sometimes /It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under” became the lyrics of one of mainstream pop’s first socially conscious hip hop records.

  • The Philly rapper’s self-titled debut LP also highlighted consumership in songs titled “Put Your Filas On” and “Gucci Time”

  • No hip hop songs appeared on the “Filthy Fifteen” list published by the PMRC.

  • The 1 million copies were pushed thanks to the album’s fusion of MTV styled rock on “Walk This Way” and “My Adidas.”

some important reagan era records

“Gucci Time”

by Schoolly d (1985)

Credited for bringing gangsta rap to the forefront of hip– even rebuking the American standard of rock n roll– the Philly native informs his biting competitors that he’s “Lookin' at my Gucci, it's about that time.” Then there is the “Sucka MC’s” punchline.

“It’s tricky”

Run-D.M.C. (1986)

Just as Schoolly D rejected rock music, Run D.M.C fully embraced it. Their platinum selling album ‘Raising Hell’ continued a roll out of rock singles, including this one as the fourth.

“Eric B is president”

by Eric B. & Rakim (1987)

Although it's about Rakim bragging on his MC skills over the production of Eric B., there is no outright reference to Reagan. In a way it worked as a hip hop endorsement campaign for who ruled hip hop with a sample of “Funky President” and “Impeach The President.”

"Nobody beats the biz"

By biz markie (1988)

As Su'ad Abdul Khabeer pinpoints in the article, “The hip hop president?,” Biz Markie’s Shirley Chisholm and Reagan line would be repeated by the likes of Method Man [for Clinton on “Maaad Crew”] and LL Cool J [for 2006’s Bush on “What You Want”].

"Step into a World (Rapture's Delight)"

By KRS-One (1997)

Released during Bill Clinton’s second term— but almost a decade after the Reagan era came to an end— the South Bronx MC who started during that presidency samples Blondie’s “Rapture” as an ode to hip hop.

fourth ranking

Bill Clinton

42nd president

When Clinton took over, the attitude of America shifted towards the movement of the younger generations. After all, a seemingly hip President represented the nation, and therefore the culture got more expressive, liberal, and alternative-thinking. As a result hip hop experienced that open shift towards degenerate culture, while also fighting against the conservative perceptions that continued to typecast the genre.

1981 - 1989

The hip hop subgenres under Clinton

the last gen of The golden age

The transition from the 80’s to 90’s became more evident in hip hop when young MC’s like Nas, Biggie, and JAY-Z, who grew up freestyling and hustling were now telling lessons learned on their solo debuts.

Hip hop soul

Lead by the likes of Mary J. Blige, soul vocalists started to blend hip hop production as a means to appeal to the youthful urban market who enjoyed classic R&B, but also the thrill of partying.

G-Funk

West Coast rap that documented hardcore gangsta lifestyles, with the vibes of ‘70’s funk music being updated with contemporary production techniques.

Acts such as Kool G Rap and Raekwon offered hardcore styles of hip hop that found a rapper imitating the lavish personas of notorious Mafia members and killer gangstas.

Mafioso Rap

x-rated porno Rap

As obscenity trials were proving to be pointless in censorship’s fight against the music industry, the raps became more blatantly sexual and explicit. Buying a CD from the likes of Lil’ Kim meant buying the equivalent of ear porn… essentially.

Acts such as Three Six Mafia rapped double time flows with triplet flows over the theme music of horror films, creating a southern concept of entertainment.

memphis horrorcore

André 3000 with a statement at the 1995 Source Awards.

Just as hip hop had proto-rap that laid the foundations, acts like OutKast, UGK, and Goodie Mob were setting the blueprint for trap by delivering a southern sound meant to make the trenches rock.

Proto-Trap Music

Chopped and screwed

Houston’s art of lean sipping samples, that are broken up and slowed down to create a codeine effect.

Rap Rock

As hip hop began turning into the new pop, rock artists started borrowing the semantics of the genre. Rage Against The Machine utilized the aggression of hip hop to call out the American government’s war tactics on 1996’s “Bulls on Parade.” “They rally 'round the family with a pocket full of shells,” blurts out the band in the hook.

Nu Metal

bling bling rap

Flashy jewelry, cash, and designer

Pop Rap

Hip hop becoming commercial meant time to cash in with easy rhymes and beats any audience could adapt to

  • He did a rendition of Elvis's “Heartbreak Hotel” on the popular syndicated late night talk show that was popular amongst potential young voters, particularly African American.

  • The “Sister Souljah Moment” is when a politician condemns an extremist person or group as a means to appeal to the more beneficial demographics within a party. Bill Clinton was not pleased with what the rapper had to say to ‘The Washington Post’ about violence during the LA Riots. He used the opportunity during an appearance in front of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition to distance himself. As a result his poll numbers soared.

  • In defense of the President who was under impeachment hearings for the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Toni Morrison compares the scrutiny Clinton faces to that of Black men who are publicly fired and humiliated out of their job.

Third ranking

George h.w. Bush

41st president

Once hip hop started to grow in commercial popularity, so did its superstars who were being deemed as influential to millions of American consumers. Many rappers were expressing rage towards the US government, censorship, and the American legal system. On the opposite end, Bush and his administration championed all those matters, leading to a war of Hip Hop vs The Bush Administration.

1989 - 1993

The Bush administration vs hip hop

When then Vice President George H.W. Bush started running for President at the end of Ronald Reagan’s second term in 1988, hip hop had become more than the lightheartedness that existed in records like “Rapture” or “Rapper’s Delight.” Generational viewpoints were changing. The Gen-X youth (born in 1965 to 1980) wanted control that was being held by the Greatest Generation (of which Bush was born in 1924) and the emerging Silent Generation and Baby Boomers (1925 to 1964). Even through its light banter, The Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff captured this divide on “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”

“Parents just don’t understand”

By The Fresh prince & DJ jazzy Jeff (1988)

Even on “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” The Fresh Prince addresses the police, although it's him he actually does something wrong by joy riding without a license. Somehow the politics of music would start to mirror the Washington politics, as pop culture started to grow into more of an influential force. Hip hop had carved its way into the American vernacular. The same year that Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff would boycott the Grammys for not televising the Best Rap Performance category (where they won), would be the same one where the FBI sent a letter to N.W.A. for their song “F*ck Tha Police.”

By this point, it had been clear that the emerging epicenter of Black culture, rap music, had been a clear target for the legal system to suppress. In 1990, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the 2 Live Crew’s album ‘As Nasty As They Wanna Be’ was legally obscene. It became the first album in history to be deemed as such– and during the era of the Parents Music Resource Center nonetheless. The ruling would be overturned.

Ice Cube of N.W.A. would take matters into his own hands blending the conscious lyricism with the depiction of real life gangsta imagery and storytelling on his solo debut, ‘AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted.’ His follow up, 1991’s ‘Death Certificate’ featured an album cover of Uncle sam’s dead body cover up in a morgue. The song “A Bird in the Hand” contains the lyrics, “Or should I just wait for help from Bush?” These records inspired a future generation of rappers to mix those sentiments, including 2Pac.

“A Bird In The Hand”

Ice Cube (1991)

In the summer of 1992, The New York Times described Bush’s Vice President, Dan Quayle, as the “White House's warrior against lax morals.” This came during a report of Quayle speaking out against Ice-T’s song “Cop Killer” during a reelection campaign speech. Both the Bush administration and their opponent, Bill Clinton, spoke out against the song. Quayle specifically requested that Time Warner pull the song.

Those efforts continued on September 22, 1992. Dan Quayle announced that he wanted ‘2Pacalypse Now’ to be banned from store shelves during the trial of Ronald Ray Howard. The 19 year old– who was eventually sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of a police officer during a traffic stop– claimed that he was influenced by the track "Soulja's Story” which told a similar story. Time Warner refused, citing freedom of speech laws, and the ability to support artistic expression.

Just less than two months later, Bush would lose reelection to Bill Clinton, who had a teetering relationship with hip hop. While Bush had the strong disapproval of the Black community (and the youthful allies disgruntled by the sunken economy) he raged hip hop wars against, Clinton had appealed to the demographic despite his own major slip ups.

  • Spike Lee needed an anthem for ‘Do The Right Thing,’ a film that depicted racial tension issues going on in New York City. Hank Shocklee of Public Enemy’s production crew, The Bomb Squad, told ‘Rolling Stone’ that Spike Lee wanted a hip hop version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Shocklee rejected that idea and said he wanted something “for the streets” that every car would want to blast.

  • The invite to the luncheon had all been an error generated by the computer systems, but by the time prominent Republican figures realized the mix-up, Eazy E had sent the money.