"Fuck tha Police": "Conscious" hip-hop increases Black people's group-based anger and collective action intentions

Historically, hip-hop has highlighted racial injustices experienced by Black people in a White supremacist power structure, as well as promote Black empowerment and activism. Across two experiments, we examined the influence of listening to hip-hop on Black Americans' collective action intentions. We also explored whether the effect of listening to conscious hip-hop on collective action intentions was mediated by group-based anger and/or collective efficacy using the dual-pathway model of collection action (Experiment 2).

In Experiment 1, Black Americans (n = 122) between the ages of 18- and 34 (M_age = 27.71) were randomly assigned to listen to conscious rap, nonconscious rap, or no music, and afterward they completed a collective action intention measure. In Experiment 2, Black Americans (n = 150; M_age = 26.52) were randomly assigned to listen to conscious rap or nonconscious rap and afterward completed group-based anger, collective efficacy, and collective action intention measures.

We found that listening to conscious hip-hop (but not nonconscious hip-hop) increased Black people's intentions to engage in collective action (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we found that group-based anger, but not collective efficacy, fully mediated the relationship between listening to conscious hip-hop music and collective action.

Exposure to some forms of artistic expression may influence emotion focused pathways of dealing with collective disadvantage among groups who are historically disadvantaged. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).