Topic

Policing

Who enforces order, on whom, and with what consent.

4: in music
10:52: average
43 min: in total
34: across the network

Policing across the network →

All briefs4

10:00

By All Means Necessary

Boogie Down Productions · 1988

By All Means Necessary is Boogie Down Productions’ 1988 second studio album, released April 12, 1988. KRS-One wrote, produced, and performed every track alone. It features minimalist production and hard-hitting drum beats. Sampling is central: 'My Philosophy' uses Stanley Turrentine’s 'Sister Sanctified'; 'Ya Slippin’' interpolates Deep Purple’s 'Smoke on the Water' and reuses the 'Poetry' beat; 'Stop the Violence' uses Courtney Melody’s 'This Sound a Dem Trouble' riddim; 'Illegal Business' samples Fat Albert’s 'Creativity' and Jefferson Starship’s 'Rock Music'; 'Nervous' samples Rhythm Heritage’s 'Sky’s the Limit' and War’s 'Galaxy'; 'I’m Still #1' samples All the People’s 'Cramp Your Style'. Themes include government and police corruption, safe sex, government involvement in the drug trade, and intra-community violence. It marks KRS-One’s adoption of the 'Teacha' identity and follows DJ Scott La Rock’s murder.

9:23

Run The Jewels 4

Run the Jewels · 2020

RTJ4 is Run the Jewels’ fourth studio album, released digitally on June 3, 2020 — two days ahead of its scheduled June 5 date — as a direct response to nationwide protests against racial injustice. All tracks were produced by El-P, with co-production by Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby on most. Its cover art was conceived by El-P and realised by Tim Saccenti as a low-poly 3D-printed sculpture of the duo’s logo, photographed under multi-coloured lighting to reference past album palettes. The record is officially titled RTJ4 — the first in the series to use the abbreviated form — and features guest appearances from Greg Nice, DJ Premier, 2 Chainz, Pharrell Williams, Mavis Staples, Josh Homme, and Zack de la Rocha. Its lead singles were 'Yankee and the Brave (ep.4)' and 'Ooh LA LA', and it was performed in full during the voter-engagement YouTube stream Holy Calamavote on October 18, 2020.

12:01

Deeper Than Rap

Rick Ross · 2009

Deeper Than Rap is a 2009 hip-hop album defined by its use of soul and jazz-funk samples, its assertions of status and authority, and its unresolved tension between autobiography and fabrication.

12:03

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A · 1988

N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton (1988) is a low-budget, high-impact declaration of intent — recorded in six weeks at Audio Achievements Studio in Torrance, California, for $12,000, using TR-808 beats, sampled horns and vocals, and razor-sharp writing by Ice Cube, MC Ren, and The D.O.C. Its sound is sparse, confrontational, and unvarnished. Its ideas are local, immediate, and uncompromising. Its legacy begins not with acclaim, but with backlash — and a warning label.