Everyday at 5pm we will be posting a classic video that meant something in hip hop..
(If you have a favorite classic video let us know)
“Sound of da Police” is the second and final single from rapper KRS-One’s debut album in (1993) Return of the Boom Bap. The song begins with KRS-One whooping twice to evoke a police siren (the “sound of the police”); this recurs several times throughout the song. This song was used in the trailer for Cop Out. The song is produced by Showbiz from DITC.
The lyrics refer to police, in places like Bronx, New York. The lyrics are a protest against institutionalized racism. It is often the case that a white officer will stop a black person on the assumption they are carrying drugs or a weapon, simply because of the color of their skin. Racism, along with its outdated Jim Crow laws were meant to be long gone in 90s New York, yet there was, and still is, oppression and violence against the black community. This is all purveyed with lines like “Are you really for peace and equality?“, comparing police officers to plantation overseers, from the slave trade. This song is very similar to a song released by N.W.A called Fuck tha Police, released 5 years earlier.
