The Music

Below are songs that serve as artistic hiphop responses to Hurricane Katrina and the level of action taken to help the victims. Some are from New Orleans natives, and others are from artists who felt the need to stand up. As our research continues, more music will become available in this section as well as in the Bibliography section of Hiphop University.

Mos Def - "Dollar Day for New Orleans... Katrina Klap"

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Mos Def, a 'conscious rapper' from Brooklyn New York has released three lps, been featured in several movies and is known for his provoking lyrics that question issues of social justice in American society. In "Dollar Day," he argues that the reason Katrina was such a travesty is becuase the government refused to respond, as they did not want to spend money on the issue. This argument further builds into the statement that the president, and the administration not only didn't want to spend money on the Katrina aftermath, but didn't want to spend that money becuase the majority of repairs would ameliorate the situation of Black people. This controversial claim mirrors that of many, including most notoriously rapper Kanye West's statement "Bush doesn't care about Black people." Katrina Klap also features the line "Don't Talk about it, be about it," pointing out that all the talk about Katrina, from the government, the media, celebrities etc, did not actually do anything to solve any problems in New Orleans.

Lil Wayne - "Georgia Bush"

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Lil Wayne is a New Orleans native, who has gained significant popularity in not only the Southern rap game but also nationally and internationally. In Georgia...Bush, a song, which samples Ray Charles's "Georgia," on his mixtape with DJ Drama, Lil Wayne blames the travesty of the aftermath of Katrina solely on George Bush. Wayne also begins the song by pointing out that George Bush is a white man, which immediately creates a tone of racial reasons behind the lack of response from the government. Wayne progressively builds his anger in this song, claiming by the end that the mayor and the governer both didn't respond as they should have, turning the blame onto the government in general, and continues to blame racist conservative white voters who put Bush in office. However, he ends with a sense of New Orleans pride, represening with "we from the N.O., the N.O." It might be no coincidence that this song was featured in a mixtape, allowing for a wide audience, letting Wayne's political message spread rapidly and to many listeners.

Lil Wayne (feat Robin Thicke) - "Tie My Hands"

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Tie My Hands, off Wayne's recently released Tha Carter III, is another one of his songs about Hurricane Katrina, however it is one of the most sensitve and optimistic ones. Being a native of New Orleans, Wayne uses strong measures of empathy throughout the song, putting himself through the struggle of regrowth. He carries a sense of New Orleans pride and strength through out the song, stating that although everything worked against him, and the people of New Orleans, he still managed to remain strong, and so did the city. "First came the hurricane, then the morning sun," shows his faith in the future of New Orleans. As in "Georgia... Bush," he still blames the president, but shows Black autonomy and activism, in stating that Black people are still voting, and are not going to be quelled by this tragedy. Wayne makes it very clear that he and the people of his city are still growing, still rising, and re still going to make it even though they were "born right here in the USA, but due to tragedy looked on by the whold world as a refugee."

Jay Z (feat. Neyo) - "Minority Report"

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Jay-Z, a Brooklyn NY native, recorded Minority Report for his final CD, Kingdom Come. Beginning the song with news broadcasts which display the poor response to the very basic needs of the survivors of Katrina, Jay lends his voice in the first verse to describe the deplorable situation and then to say that both the president and the media only paid attention to Katrina to make it seem that they cared, but actually nothing was done to fix the situation in the time that it needed to be fixed. More interestingly, Jay continues to juxtapose his own comfortable luxurious life as a rapper with that of the people of New Orleans. He blames himself for sending money to the situation, but not bothering to spend time, stating that he contributed to the band-aid fix behind the greater problem of rebuilding the city, the infrastructure and these peoples' lives. Perhaps by recording the song and creating further awareness, Jay felt that he was doing more.

Papoose & Razah - "Mother Nature"

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Papoose, a semi-underground rapper from New York, presents a fresh argument about Katrina in his song Mother Nature. He begins by speaking about the atmospheric and environmental changes that created the Hurricane, framing it as a fault of our own and our government; i.e. if we do not take care of Mother Nature, natural disasters will happen. He continues with the much heard criticism of the government and President Bush, and claims that the lack of response was because the (Black) people of New Orleans were not thought of with the proper level of importance. He ends the song by thanking rappers who donated money, but encourages them to also literally and metaphorically donate blood, time, love and use lyricism to expose the tragedies of Katrina. Papoose empathizes over the cleverly chosen sample from the hook Tupac's "Keep Your Head Up" in this attempt to help victims deal with the pain of the tragedy.

B. Down & Big Rags - "Katrina"

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Los Angeles native B. Down ans Big Rags are signed to the RapJunkie label. In this song he samples Mayor Ray Nagin's controversial radio interview calling for immediate help. He also continues to draw on the same major arguments which so much of the hip hop community used in critiquing the government and the president. B. Down argues that it was unfair for the government to expect the people of New Orleans to evacuate when it was clear that they were financially unable to do so. He further points out that this is no one's fault other than the government, and claims through the song that he is using his music to voice his complaints on the government, because that is his only means. This can be interpreted as a call to the hiphop and music community not to be silent about Katrina.

Jay Electronica - "... When the Levees Broke"

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Jay Electronica, a New Orleans native, produced a narrative style song which talks about the aftermath of Katrina in the perspective of people living in New Orleans. He does not talk about the immediate affects, but rather the problems with the reconstruction of lives, or rather the poor attempt at reconstruction. He speaks about the government's solutions of vouchers and temporary housing which was essentially nothing. Jay also speaks about the corrupt insurance companies that cheated a lot of residents out of insurance money. In an unsettling verse also he introduces experiences of racial profiling and police brutality to the listend. Through this song it is clear that his feelings of frustration and anger not only stem from the aftermath of Katrina, but also derive from the governments negative response to the people affected by Katrina due to the fact that they are African Americans.

The Music

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