2024 Podcasts

This Is A Fuckin’ Business

Alam, Khadija; Kahn, Rachel

In 1999, when Yasiin Bey (then-known as Mos Def) and Talib Kweli hear about the killing of Amadou Diallo, they know they have to respond.

A year later, they release Hip Hop for Respect. The EP features 41 rappers, and it gets released when much of New York City is enraged after the four cops who shot Amadou are acquitted.

24 years later, Khadija Alam and Rachel Kahn ask: Why has no one heard Hip Hop for Respect? And does it still matter?