Protest Rap.

By Deena Zaru

Hip-hop has been standing up for Black lives for decades.

Decades before "Black Lives Matter" became a global hashtag touted by celebrities and leading politicians, hip-hop artists were profiled, targeted and vilified for broadcasting those same systemic injustices that plagued Black America -- a reality that for decades was shut out of mainstream media.

In the early 1970s when hip-hop was born in the Bronx, New York, poverty and brutality plagued Black communities, but discussions on race and racism in America were considered taboo and, in the media, the Black experience was stigmatized and suppressed.

Detroit rapper and activist Royce da 5'9'' said that amid this void, hip-hop artists in the '80s "pushed the envelope in terms of exercising their First Amendment right" and became "the voice of the streets."

"It was that voice that America couldn't control ... it was that voice of the streets that they didn't know what the next line is gonna be and that scared them," he told ABC News. "Because we spoke our own unapologetic truth. We spoke about environments that were overlooked, that didn't have a voice, you know, that didn't have a say, that didn't have pretty much anything."

Compton, California, rapper Day Sulan, who was arrested last month during a police brutality protest, said that even when the debate on racism in America is no longer in the national spotlight, it will always be at the center of hip-hop.

"If Black lives matter, hip-hop is Black people, it's something we started, something we originated so it's not just a hashtag," she told ABC News. "Hip-hop is gonna continue that movement and it's never gonna stop because that's what we are, that's what we stand for."

From legends and icons to underground trailblazers, hip-hop artists weaved a rich, uniquely American art form that not only documents inequities and racism in America, but the movements and leaders that rose up in the face of oppression.

From 1982 to 2020, here are 15 memorable records and lyrics that reflect hip-hop's roots in activism:

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "The Message" (1982)

"A child is born with no state of mind/ Blind to the ways of mankind/ God is smiling on you, but he's frowning too/ Because only God knows what you'll go through/ You'll grow in the ghetto living second-rate/ And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate."

When "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was released in 1982, Chuck D, who would become a hip-hop icon himself, was only a teenager. But the future Public Enemy emcee told ABC News that he was "stunned by it."

"When 'The Message' came out, there was nothing like it. Nothing. Ever. Like that. So the change, it came overnight," Chuck D said. "It was a non-danceable record. That's the thing that blew a lot of people away was like, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five made some very danceable hip-hop music, but when that record came out, it totally changed everything."

Asked what the title of the song meant to him, Chuck D said, "It means pay attention to the words of hip-hop instead of just the beat."

"The Message," which features only Duke Bootee and Melle Mel from the group, was the most prominent hip-hop song at the time to feature social commentary. In the last verse, Melle tells a gut-wrenching story about a young man who drops out of school, ends up in jail and dies by suicide after getting repeatedly raped behind bars.

The song was named in 2017 by Rolling Stone as the best hip-hop record of all time and has been archived by the Library of Congress.

When NWA released its debut album, "Straight Outta Compton," in 1988, featuring songs like "Gangsta Gangsta," "Straight Outta Compton" and "F--- the Police" -- a bombastic anthem against police brutality -- white America was outraged.

The Parents Music Resource Center launched a public campaign against the group and its use of profanity, while the FBI targeted and investigated its members -- Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre and MC Ren.

But for Black Americans who experienced the disenfranchisement and brutalization of their communities, songs like "F--- the Police" were "liberating," Royce da 5'9'' said.

"To me like, as a young kid, I was just like, 'Wow, they curse really good. They curse better than my dad, they say 'F--- the police,' that's crazy,'" he added. "I didn't know you can get on a song and say that, you know, right. It was like, almost liberating -- liberating in a way to a young kid who isn't used to really having a voice or being heard or people or feeling like anything about him matters."

In 2017, NWA's "Straight Outta Compton" was archived by the Library of Congress.

KRS-One, "You Must Learn" (1989).

Arguably one of the most successful politically and socially conscious emcees of all time, KRS-One is a teacher. For decades, the Bronx native and standing member of Boogie Down Productions, has used his voice to educate -- eloquently rhyming about social ills like police brutality, poverty, lack of education and racism.

"When I came out with my music at that time there was a major crack cocaine epidemic in New York," the Bronx rapper told CNN in 2015. "The music that I would do would speak to these issues, would speak to why are we living in these conditions. It's like no one has any power to lift us from these conditions."

"You Must Learn" provides a history lesson in religion, war and education, as well as the rich contributions of Africans Americans in this country.

Queen Latifah, "U.N.I.T.Y." (1993).

In a male-dominated industry riddled with misogyny, many female emcees work tirelessly to carve out a space.

Before becoming a prominent Hollywood actress and producer, Queen Latifah demanded respect and asserted herself as hip-hop royalty. "U.N.I.T.Y." challenged everyone to make room for the queen, and gave women permission to be powerful, graceful and strong, and to expand, not shrink.

"U.N.I.T.Y." won the Grammy for best solo rap performance in 1994.

Lauryn Hill, "Black Rage" (2012, re-released in 2014).

In 1961, famed author and activist James Baldwin said, "To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time."

More than 50 years later, in 2012, musical genius Lauryn Hill, whose debut album was the first hip-hop album to earn a Grammy for album of the year, affirmed Baldwin's sentiment with "Black Rage."

The poignant song was re-released among the Ferguson, Missouri, protests in 2014, and the themes remain today. The unaddressed inequities that resurface decade after decade is another example of why Black rage exists.

Politically conscious rappers aren't nearly as popular today, but the message always finds its way to the music.

Popular rapper Lil Baby released "Bigger Picture" after the recent death of George Floyd and the racial protests that followed. The anthem, which demands a stop to police brutality, garnered more than 65 million audio and video streams in its first two weeks, according to Nielsen Music.