Donald Trump and American hip‑hop: From businessman to gangster

It's August 11, 1973. At 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York, a historic party is taking place, where Jamaican-American DJ Kool Herc experiments with funk and soul tracks—mixing them, looping them, and isolating their drum breaks. To add variety to the DJ's beats, vocals were introduced, incorporating rhymed lyrics that hyped up the crowd on the dance floor. The space is filled with representatives of various minorities—African Americans, Caribbeans, and Latinos—whose communities in the U.S. grappled with racism, poverty, and high crime rates.

That’s how hip-hop was born—a form of party music from New York dance floors that gave a voice to the unheard and quickly became a vital part of American social commentary. Tracks like "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, which tells the story of life’s struggles in the ghetto, and "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, which underscores the need to fight systemic racism, helped shape the genre.

Beyond depicting everyday life in impoverished neighborhoods and expressing activist ideas, the history of hip-hop is also largely about the struggle for a better life and escaping the ghetto. By the 1980s, rappers frequently emphasised their ambitions to climb the social ladder and achieve success, including financial prosperity. To reflect these aspirations in their lyrics, they needed a figure who could personify wealth and affluence—the kind of success they dreamed of. As it happened, during that era, towering luxury skyscrapers, hotels, and casinos bearing the name of one company—The Trump Organisation—were rising above the heads of East Coast musicians.

By the late 1980s, Donald Trump’s wealth, as the head of his family’s real estate firm, was estimated at $1.5 billion. His fortune, combined with his flamboyant lifestyle, captured the imagination of rappers from disadvantaged backgrounds, serving as a reference point and a symbol of success.

The businessman’s name began appearing in an increasing number of tracks, mostly in the context of rappers comparing themselves to Trump or aspiring to be like him. There are plenty of examples: I got money like Donald Trump in Fat Boys’ 1989 track "Lie-Z," Ice Cube’s I'm just tryin' to get rich like Trump from "Three Strikes You In" (1998), or Lil Wayne’s Get money like Donald Trump in "Rax" (2011). The fantasy of accumulating wealth like Trump remained a recurring theme in hip-hop for the next several decades.

According to sources like ABC News, throughout history, there have been over 300 rap lyrics referencing Trump in this way.

After more than two decades on hip-hop’s pedestal, Trump’s standing in the rap community drastically declined—especially following his first presidential victory in 2016. At that point, the billionaire was no longer seen merely as a confident, egocentric, and successful businessman; he had become a politician—one whose views were not widely shared by many members of racial minority communities

During the presidential campaign, the media resurfaced instances of Trump fueling conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s birthplace, as well as the 1973 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against his company for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Black tenants.

His standing in the rap community took an even bigger hit after he expressed a desire to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. in 2015, and later, during his presidency, when he strongly criticised the Black Lives Matter protests.

All these factors led to a significant shift in the way Trump was portrayed in rap lyrics. During the 2016 election, rapper YG released "FDT" (F*** Donald Trump), a track that harshly criticised the future president. From that point on, throughout Trump’s first term, most rappers turned against the Republican figure, and instead of symbolising success, he became a representation of a despised figure. Artists like Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar released tracks in this vein, while Ice Cube took it a step further, calling for Trump’s arrest in one of his songs and referring to him as "Russian intelligence."

So how did the hip-hop community become so divided in its views on Trump over just a few years?

Politicians seek what’s known as celebrity endorsement—the backing of a candidate by high-profile figures. In 2018, in contrast to the rest of the hip-hop scene, Kanye West publicly supported Trump, meeting with him in the Oval Office at the White House. During the meeting, he declared that the MAGA hat "made him feel like Superman."

Shortly after this high-profile meeting, Trump saw a significant jump in his approval ratings among Black men, rising from 11% to 22% in just one week—a shift for which the president publicly thanked West. Three years later, at the end of his presidency, Trump made a deliberate effort to win over at least part of the hip-hop community. After four years in office, the once-celebrated symbol of wealth and success had faded into nostalgia. So, Trump sought to appeal to the scene in a different way—by reinventing himself as a "gangster."

Of course, the "gangster" label should be taken with a grain of salt, but that’s exactly how some rappers and political commentators in the U.S. referred to Trump after his decisions at the end of his presidency in 2021. One of his key moves was granting pardons to several figures from the hip-hop world. Among them were Michael Harris, co-founder of the legendary Death Row Records, and two high-profile rappers, Kodak Black and Lil Wayne. Harris had served 30 years for his role in a first-degree murder case, Kodak Black had faced charges for falsifying information on firearm purchase forms, and Lil Wayne was convicted of illegal gun and drug possession. The response from parts of the hip-hop community was overwhelmingly positive and came almost immediately.

In 2022, during an interview on the Full Send Podcast, DaBaby was asked if he supported Trump. "Now? Hell yeah! Trump is a gangster. He let Kodak [Black] out," he replied. A year later, popular rapper Sexyy Red stated that people like Trump were needed, adding, "once he started getting Black people out of jail and giving people that free money. Aw baby, we love Trump. We need him back in office." Meanwhile, The New York Times journalist Charles M. Blow directly described Trump’s use of presidential pardons "like gifts from a mob boss."

This image was further reinforced during last year’s election campaign when Trump appeared at a rally in the Bronx alongside two rappers who publicly supported him: Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow. What do these two artists have in common? Both have been charged with alleged gang involvement.

Trump also received public support from other artists, including Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Pump, and Azealia Banks. In an interview, Banks expressed admiration for him, emphasising that "nothing can take him down" given how many bankruptcies and divorces he had endured. While her comment may seem trivial, it reflects a key aspect of his campaign.

Trump repeatedly framed the charges against him as politically motivated attacks, portraying himself as a victim of a weaponised justice system. This rhetoric aligned seamlessly with hip-hop’s historical roots as an anti-establishment movement. Some within the rap community suddenly began to see Trump as a kind of rebel figure—someone pushing back against the system.

The legitimacy of Trump’s new "gangster" image was further solidified by the now-famous mugshot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta in August 2023. His confident, fearless stare directly into the camera instantly became a key part of his campaign. His team quickly capitalised on the moment, selling merchandise featuring the image alongside the slogan 'NEVER SURRENDER.'

Rappers, like the rest of society, had mixed reactions to the photo. For Lil Pump, it was so significant that he got it tattooed on his leg. Meanwhile, YG also released his own line of clothing featuring Trump’s mugshot—but in a mocking tone, branding them as "FDT shirts" in reference to his earlier diss track criticising the former president.

The new president repeatedly commented on this historic mugshot, and in February 2024, during a speech in Columbia, South Carolina, he stated that he felt support from African Americans because they now saw him as equally wronged and discriminated against by the government.

"I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time and a lot of people said that that's why the Black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against. And they actually viewed me as I'm being discriminated against. It's been pretty amazing. (…) My mug shot, we've all seen the mug shot. And you know who embraced it more than anybody else: the Black population. It's incredible," Trump stated.

While this statement was immediately condemned by many as highly racist, there were also Black voters who echoed this narrative, affirming Trump’s rhetoric.

Comparing NBC News exit polls from 2020 and 2024, there is a noticeable increase in Trump’s support among Black voters. The most significant shift occurred among young Black voters (ages 18-29), where support for the Republican candidate rose from 10% in 2020 to 16% in 2024.

Of course, this slight shift of Black voters toward Trump is the result of various complex political factors, and it’s difficult to assess the impact of celebrity endorsement—likely minimal. However, one thing is clear: the new president has regained favour with a significant portion of the hip-hop community.

During his first term, the narrative in rap lyrics was largely negative. Now, in 2025, praise for Trump in hip-hop is making a comeback. Tracks like "ONBOA47RD" by pardoned rapper Kodak Black and Fivio Foreign, or "American Hero," released just two months ago by Lil Pump, serve as nothing less than musical tributes to the politician.

The hip-hop scene remains divided, as many artists openly supported Democratic candidate Kamala Harris during the election. This group included Cardi B, Quavo, Lil Nas X, and Megan Thee Stallion, who even performed at a rally for Harris.

After it became clear that Trump would be the 47th president of the United States, artists—including rappers—took to social media to share their reactions. 50 Cent congratulated Trump by posting a photo of the two together on Instagram, captioning it: "I don’t care how the fight goes, I’m leaving with the winner [thing]. I still don’t know what’s going on. Congratulations!!"

On the other side, Cardi B posted a lengthy message on the same platform, expressing her support for Kamala Harris: "Thank you for being an example, thank you for being empowered, thank you for being a real example of what the American dream should be!"

Just three days before the inauguration, on January 17, Snoop Dogg performed at the Crypto Ball, an event celebrating Trump’s swearing-in. This was particularly notable given that Snoop had previously spoken positively about the new president—despite his past criticism.