Emcee Ankh Amen Ra is not a household name. He doesn’t have his own brand of sports drink; nor will you see him creating a new dance craze on BET. He doesn’t have his own clothing line, nor is he trying to sell a new brand of liquor.

What he does have, however, is passion.

That passion manifested itself in a song called “Darfur,” which addressed the issues in the ailing region of Western Sudan. The song, which can be heard at HipHopDX's Audio Section [click here], takes Hip Hop back to its political and social roots.

Sure enough, Ankh Amen Ra was influenced by N.W.A., Public Enemy and Eric B. & Rakim. It is then no surprise that he was serious enough about the matter at hand to pull over on shoulder of the highway during icy conditions to chop it up with HipHopDX to bring attention to the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis – and what Hip Hop can do about it. Click here to read HipHopDX's first feature on the tragedy [click here].

HipHopDX: What made you aware of the crisis in Darfur?
Ankh Amen Ra: I’d say around 2004, I saw a newscast about the conflict going on in Western Sudan. At the time, the conflict wasn’t full blown, and I never would’ve imagined it would be as severe is it is now.

DX: And you didn’t think it would escalate to its current state?
AAR: I didn’t think that it would escalate to the point where it is now however, in light of history and the not-so distant atrocities that we have witnessed over time,I guess – why wouldn’t another massive slaughter of innocent people adding to humankind’s shameful list of genocides, slavery and mass killings be possible, especially after what recently occurred in Rawanda? You’d always think that at some point, some government entity or the people would say, “We’re going to put an end to this type of slaughter of human beings.” But here we are, in 2008, and over 200,000 people have been murdered, and over a million displaced from their homes.

It’s a stain on mankind, in general. It’s a shame that we’ve allowed it to go on as far as it has. But I think that the younger generation has said “it’s incumbent upon us to bring attention to such a tragic situation – regardless of whether it’s in Sudan or another part of the world. I think the semantics of whether or not something is genocide as declared by international governmental entities is not what we should be focused on. The focus should be on the immediate halting of such violence. When there are massive killings of people, it’s time to step up and say, “We will not allow this to go on. We will not allow this to go on, regardless of where genocide, or the like, surfaces on the face of the Earth.”

DX: Was there a specific moment that made you decide that you needed to record the song “Darfur?”
AAR: For a while, I said to myself, “I need to address this.” When I first heard the appalling [death tolls and other] numbers in Darfur…it touched my conscience and I wanted to do the situation justice in some way. So I knew for a while I was going to address this, but I needed the music to effectively pull it out of me. It was came to a point where the time was right to write and record the song.

DX: In the intro to “Darfur,” you mention that the “powers that be” allow the genocide to continue. While this is certainly a legitimate statement, isn’t it also important to take a look at why the Hip Hop community has emphasized this issue so little?
AAR: Absolutely. And that’s why I made the song. Ideally, the Hip Hop community should utilize its power and strength to bring an end to the genocide and other injustices all over the world. However, that’s not really the case. I will say, though, that there have been a number of hip hop-oriented events that bring attention to the crisis in Darfur, but we could do much, much more.

When I said that the “powers that be” allow [genocide] to continue, I was speaking more in terms of how the masses can be conditioned to turn a blind eye to that type of tragedy – from a historical standpoint. Because, you know, when people look back at slavery, you think to yourself, “How in the world could people allow that kind of torture of human beings to go on for such a long period of time?” It’s just a situation where people are often times apathetic about tragedies that are staring them right in the face. Then, in retrospect, the masses unanimously say, “Oh God, what a horrible thing that went on back then.”

DX: What responses have people given you about the song? Have you gotten any negative feedback?
AAR: I can honestly say that the responses have been overwhelmingly positive, and that they have motivated me to make sure that I continue to use my music to speak to very serious issues. I went on quite a few sites that put the song up and I actually read the comments, and for the most part the comments inspired me to continue with my direction.

A lot of people have said, “someone finally addressed Darfur,” but I have to step up and say that I wasn’t the first to address it in Hip Hop. The first time I heard it was Mr. Lif on the song “Brothaz.” I don’t believe he dedicated the entire song to it, but he had a verse that addressed the issue very well. Continued on page 2 »