University of California at San Diego professor Michael Hanson and hip-hop artist James Calhoun spoke to UT students about the effects of the Black Panther Party on media and music Tuesday in the Hodges Library Auditorium.

The lecture was a part of UT Ready for the World's monthlong series on the Black Panther Party.

Born into the Black Panther Party and raised alongside Tupac, Calhoun has been involved in the world of hip-hop his entire life. As an adult, he founded the hip-hop trio, the Black Panther F.U.G.I.T.I.V.E.S., as a group to communicate positive messages to young people.

"I am hip-hop," Calhoun said. "I have lived, I have breathed it, I have eaten it."

"I am hip-hop. I have lived it, I have breathed it, I have eaten it." James Calhoun

He has also seen the changes in hip-hop since its early days in the 1960s and 1970s. Hip-hop music has strayed from its roots as a political forum, said Calhoun, and he wants to bring that element back to hip-hop through the Black Panther F.U.G.I.T.I.V.E.S.

When hip-hop was born, "lyrics were really driven by the politics of the time," said Calhoun. "It was really a way to express culturally the need to gather, the need to reform. It was really a powerful time to have that synergy going on," he said.

Early hip-hop artists made bold attacks on the state and spoke out about black dispossession, said Hanson. These artists were not concerned with making their music "palatable" to white listeners. Instead, they were seeking to make the Black Panther Party's stance known, he said.

Calhoun said, "The Black Panther Party is not directly...the father of hip-hop. But, it is certainly a huge catalyst for it."

However, in the late 1980s, hip-hop began to stray from its party roots and lost its ability to dictate society, said Calhoun. Instead, it became dictated by the demands of record labels. He said these record labels have made hip-hop about being the "biggest thug" and using the most foul language, rather than making a difference in the world.

Calhoun said that hip-hop artists have a responsibility to the community that they are no longer living up to, but he reminded students that it does not have to remain this way.

"Demand more out of what they do," Calhoun said. "Demand the artist to do more rather than say more."

Susie Johnson, a UT senior in psychology, was impressed by Calhoun's message.

"I thought it was amazing...to hear a black person speak out against hip-hop and to hear the history of it the impact that it had on society," Johnson said. "(Calhoun) is passionate about using his money for good and going against the media, which says money is success."