Immortal Technique

For the past three and a half decades, hip-hop has held the lion's share of political speech in poetic form. Old school acts like Public Enemy regularly made social commentary a cornerstone of their lyrics. As the scene developed, and powerful corporate interests in the music industry began to steer what albums hit mainstream markets, political speech took a back seat to record sales.

It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change

They wanna rearrange the whole point of view of the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Read about the history of the place that we live in
And stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children

-Lyrics From "The 4th Branch"

Immortal Technique was born in Peru, and raised in New York City. These days he owns his own label because signing to one of the big names would basically put a muzzle on him, whether by edits or economics. Women's Rights, neocolonialism, race relations, the state of the justice system, foreign policy: you name it, and he's rapping about it. The beats are fresh, but the the lyrics are burning.

He's also a rapper who puts his money where his mouth is. Instead of using his proceeds to buy luxury for himself, he's been financing (and personally building) orphanages in Kabul, buying farmland for the poor in Latin America, and personally maintaining outreach programs to prisoners here in the US. When we're considering the generation of culture as a remedy to social ailments, I can hardly think of a better person to showcase on the first day of this search. Give the video a watch. It's well worth it.