Hip-hop has never just been about beats and rhymes; it’s always been about movement. A voice and a force. But when it comes to politics, who created the foundation that hip-hop activism stands on? It was him, says Reverend Conrad Tillard, who used to go by Conrad Muhammad. And now, he’s ensuring history is aware of it.
Long before Russell Simmons and Diddy were shouting voting initiatives from the mountaintops and throwing lavish political summits, Tillard was in the trenches, working to mobilize Hip-Hop as a political force. He was a well-known figure in Harlem and a former minister of the Nation of Islam who realized the potential for the culture to shape politics in ways that had not yet been fully struck.
As Tillard lamented in an interview with AllHipHop, his efforts have been invisible. “A lot of people would like to write it out of history, but what we were doing in Harlem had a huge effect,” he said.
His focus dates to the late ’90s, when he became the first Nation of Islam minister admitted to Harvard Divinity School. As a Kennedy School of Government student, he was assigned to create an organization. What emerged from that project was A Movement for Change, a dream to take Hip-Hop power out of the musical sphere and into the voting booth.
Tillard used to have a mantra: “Hands that once scratched turntables would one day pick a president.” Adapted from Jesse Jackson’s “Keep Hope Alive,” he felt hip-hop’s power could be harnessed politically, but it should not belong to one party or the other. He called heavy hitters like Simmons and Diddy, hoping to create something formidable.
Tillard eventually found support, but before long, his vision was being utilized without him. Live Streaming: Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), established in 2001 by Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, is a national organization committed to mobilizing citizen action, empowering youth, and social responsibility. Diddy had also made headlines around the same time with Vote or Die campaigns. These movements echoed Tillard’s ideas without his leadership.
But it wasn’t simply that they were left out, Tillard said. It was about who was leading the movement and where the political loyalties were. “Russell wanted to deliver the Hip-Hop generation to the Democrats,” he said. “Why do we get obedient in politics?”
Tillard hoped Hip-Hop would stay wild, using its social leverage to make demands rather than take orders. But as he pushed for his vision, he said others fought against him. “Alex, in his position, is really trying to serve a broader audience than just the game itself,” Howard said, “and eventually, he stepped down because he felt he had done enough to impact it.”
In response to Hip-Hop’s once-dominant faces, Tillard pulls no punches. “I don’t see them,” he said. “Russell’s in Bali, and brother Diddy’s in jail.”
He even remembered warning Suge Knight in ‘93 that Suge was playing with fire. Knight, now serving a 28-year prison term, illustrates how power in the industry can be ephemeral.
For Tillard, the lesson is that success isn’t about rising to the top but staying there with integrity. “It’s about winning, we need to learn how to win while winning,” he stressed.
Tillard has straddled the line between faith and Hip-Hop. When some industry parties come up, he laughs. “Yeah, I went to a few Diddy parties, but that kind, I didn’t go to.” “And I always had witnesses.”
“It is easy to lose oneself in all of this, and I want to refocus our community on building institutions and supporting Black colleges and using wealth to make a difference in a more positive way,” he shared.
“We are still climbing,” he ended. “But we can’t afford to squander what we’ve built.”
The question now becomes not whether Tillard was right he was but whether Hip-Hop will finally give credit to the bedrock he provided.
0 Comments