Hip-Hop Turns 50: Is there a Krishna Conscious Connection?

In August of 2023, the global Hip-Hop community will celebrate the 50th anniversary of this influential cultural movement. Hip-Hop music has not only served as a platform for artistic expression but has also become a powerful tool for broadcasting specific qualities of consciousness. To discover the intersection of Hip Hop and Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON News interviewed AZitIZ (Lalita Garrett), a Krishna-conscious hip-hop artist, to explore her journey and the significance of this art form as a means of sharing Krishna Conscious messages and sankirtan in the global community.

AZitIZ, renowned for her spiritual rap music, shared insights into how her music resonates with people on a deeper level, even beyond language barriers. She expressed, “People can feel it, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be in their language. That’s the beauty of hip hop in sankirtan, and that’s the beauty of Krishna. That’s the beauty of God, period.” Her experiences have demonstrated that spiritual music, regardless of linguistic understanding, can touch the hearts of listeners and evoke a spiritual connection.

Throughout its history, hip-hop has been intertwined with movements seeking liberation and empowerment, particularly within the Black Arts movement. Notably, this movement emerged during the same period as the presence of Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in America.