Gangsta rap

Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of hip-hop that conveys the culture and values typical of urban gangs and street hustlers.[1][2][3] Emerging in the late 1980s, gangsta rap's pioneers include Schoolly D of Philadelphia and Ice-T of Los Angeles, later expanding in California with artists such as N.W.A and Tupac Shakur.[4] In 1992, via record producer and rapper Dr. Dre, rapper Snoop Dogg, and their G-funk sound, gangster rap broadened to mainstream popularity.

Gangsta rap has been recurrently accused of promoting disorderly conduct and broad criminality, especially assault, homicide, and drug dealing, as well as misogyny, promiscuity, and materialism.[5] Gangsta rap's defenders have variously characterized it as artistic depictions but not literal endorsements of real life in American ghettos, or suggested that some lyrics voice rage against social oppression or police brutality, and have often accused critics of hypocrisy and racial bias.[5][6] Still, gangsta rap has been assailed even by some black public figures, including Spike Lee,[7] pastor Calvin Butts and activist C. Delores Tucker.

  1. ^ Krims, Adam (2000). Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity. Cambridge University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780521634472.
  2. ^ James C. Howell, The History of Street Gangs in the United States: Their Origins and Transformations (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2015), pp 82–85.
  3. ^ *Gangs and Gang Crime (2008) Michael Newton
  4. ^ "Gangsta Rap – What Is Gangsta Rap". Rap.about.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Philips, Chuck (July 19, 1992). "COVER STORY : The Uncivil War : The battle between the Establishment and supporters of rap music reopens old wounds of race and class". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  6. ^ "Cam'ron on The O'Reilly Factor". YouTube. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  7. ^ Spike Lee's satirical film Bamboozled likens gangsta rap to minstrel shows and blackface.

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