Conscious hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop that challenges the dominant cultural, political, philosophical, and economic consensus. It is not necessarily overtly political, but it does discuss social issues and conflicts. Themes of conscious hip hop include afrocentricity, religion, aversion to crime and violence, culture, the economy, or simple depictions of the struggles of ordinary people. Conscious hip hop aims to subtly inform the public about social issues and having them form their own opinions instead of aggressively forcing ideas and demanding actions from them. "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential song in creating conscious hip hop, decrying the poverty, violence and dead-end lives of the African-American youth of the time.
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