Preview

Gangsta Rap Thesis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1513 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gangsta Rap Thesis
In the 1980s, we saw many different genres of music emerge, genres such as Pop, Rock, and R&B. But a new genre emerged that sparked a lot of controversy: “Gangsta Rap” otherwise known as Hip Hop. Rappers/Rap groups such as NWA, Run DMC, Big Daddy Kane, and more changed the industry with catchy tunes and lyrics that talked about hard topics like slavery, violence, and police brutality. These lyrics sometimes caused major conflict, whether between races or with civilians and police. Hip Hop was very controversial in the 80s. “Gangsta rap” has caused a lot of controversy, many people protested this music in the late 80s and 90s due to the message within its lyrics and what those lyrics conveyed. Many accused “Gangsta Rap” for promoting things such as crime, killings, profanity, drugs, sex, racism, and more. But Gangsta rap doesn’t influence this type of lifestyle; it’s telling a story/conveying a message of the individuals who wrote the lyrics.
The stories are the experiences these rappers went through; they are showing their feelings, opinions, and views on society, so it isn’t really promoting a wild lifestyle it’s them telling people of the wild lifestyle around them. An example of this is NWA’s “F’The Police” in 1988.
…show more content…
The song like NWA’s “F the Police” was a song about protest against police brutality, but many didn’t see it that way. Some argued that the song would cause immense crime and violence against law enforcement and others. CLEAT, also known as (Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas) had called for a boycott for all products Time warner just so they would remove the song and the albums from stores. Due to this the songs sales went up 370 percent it even got attention from the then current president George H.W. bush who condemned the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “By 1980s, Hip Hop had become an influential culture throughout United States. Hip Hop artists became signs of the popular culture after releasing successful songs, appearing in several televisions and radio shows, and winning awards. The main artists in this period included Tupac Shakur, Ice Cube, Tung Twista, Quincy Jones, Ice-T, and Snoop Dogg,” (Persaud, 631). “During this period, Hip Hop experienced censorship after realize of a song that was seen by the FBI to causes violence and disrespect the police,” (Gordon, 369). Many Hip Hop musicians releasing songs during this period faced numerous lawsuits because some institutions thought the songs were controversial. Recording companies started to be strict with the lyrics included in the songs. Realizing a song in the first half of 1990s was very challenging due to censorship. The 2000s marked the fourth decade of Hip Hop. Hip Hop music…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some of the most famous rappers have songs named, “F**k The Police”, “Crooked A** N***a”, and “Cop Killer.” (“Negative Influences Gangster Rap What Can Be Done About It”). These songs, like so many others, also talk about murder and disrespect of women. Lives have been lost and people have suffered, yet the gangster rap industry is still flourishing. Society has noticed the negative influence this music has had, yet they still continue to make it succeed through a number of record sales. Even though there is no way to solve this problem it’s still a benefit that parents do not let their children listen to the music and have them grow up hearing these types of…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It has been twenty-eight years since the music group Niggaz Wit Attitudes, abbreviated as N.W.A, released their “Straight Outta Compton” music video in 1988. Twenty-eight years after the song’s release, racism and police brutality are still very much at the heart of Hip-Hop and black culture in contemporary America. During the music video, members of N.W.A portray images of the violent setting of Compton, California, a city that has been synonymous with poverty, drugs, rap music, sex, and gang violence for years. “Straight Outta Compton,” written in its crude and coarse manner, draws on the struggle of growing up in such a community, where the majority of youth end up being either a victim or perpetrator of gang violence by the time they reach adulthood.…

    • 176 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Changes Tupac Analysis

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Rap music effectively shows the conditions of the "hood" and helps to open the eyes of the listeners that life for everyone isn't easy and worry-free. In the song "Changes" by Tupac Shakur, the rapper illustrates an image of the common inner-city urban street. In his lyrics, Shakur describes a scene where white and blacks are enemies, and crack sellers are around every corner. Yet, even though these lyrics talk about the violence in the streets, it talks about needing to make a change within the society. Shakur raps "We need to make changes, Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers. And dats how it's supposed to be. How can the devil take a brother if he's close to me, uh, I love to go back to when we played as kids, but things change, and that's the way it is." In the previous lyrics Tupac is encouraging peace within the community. He is encouraging whites and blacks to see each other more as individuals rather than two different enemies, but in the end he says that is just the way the life is (filled with hatred). The ability that the rap and hip-hop genre has to expose how life really is in the ghetto not only can promote change, but it helps to show people of all socioeconomic backgrounds that life everywhere isn't truly kosher. Many of the rap lyrics composed by various artists focus on the neighborhoods that they live in, not generally depicting masculine views, but talking about how harsh urban life really…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though many have protested that “gangsta rap” is to blame for its influence in the violence, female discrimination and violent behavior that take place throughout America, others argue that it is simply the other way around, implying that the artist is influenced by his own personal experience of being a part of and/or bearing witness to violence, drugs and crime that have taken place around him thus influencing him to express himself through lyric and rhyme becoming “gangsta rap”. This leaves us to question does gangsta rap music encourage violence or does violence influence what the artist raps about?…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gangsta Rap is a genre of hip-hop that came around in the 1980’s. In these songs rappers express the hardships and times they have been through. It is used to describe harsh realities of life for a modern black male living in poor areas. A gangsta is defined as “a member of an urban street gang.” (Merriam-Webster) The definition of gangsta rap is, “a type of rap music with lyrics about the violence and drug use of street gang” (Merriam-Webster). “The romanticization of the outlaw at the centre of much of gangsta rap appealed to rebellious suburbanites as well as to those who had firsthand experience of the the harsh realities of the ghetto” (Britannica). This style of music usually upbeat with a lot of energy and relatively has a very catch chorus that is repeated throughout the whole song. This genre became roundly populated by music artist such as N.W.A, Ice-T, and 2-Pac.…

    • 1829 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To most artists doesn't even use some thing what the media says. Most artists rap about their personal life stories.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Despite undercurrents of menace, the vast majority of hit rap songs have always concerned the same topics as hit rock or pop songs: dancing, getting wasted and getting laid.” And yet, the violence described in gangsta rap was seen by law enforcement as more dangerous, more in need of policing, not entirely unlike black urban communities in the 1980s themselves. However, if you were to read the lyric sheets to the top ten rock songs vs the top ten rap songs of the 90’s, it would be very difficult to argue that the rap lyrics weren’t substantially more violent and many times, outright instigating violence. Guns and Roses Sweet Child O Mine has yet to be cited as an influence in someone’s murder or…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gun Laws Must Be Enforced

    • 1811 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Herd, D. (2009, Spring). Changing images of Violence in Rap music. Journal of Public Health, 30(4), 395-406 12p. EBSCOhost.…

    • 1811 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    New School Hip Hop

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Major record companies wanted to sign up hip hop group to their label, but they didn’t want to sign the disc jockey of the group. The record companies felt that they should not have to pay someone that was not performing on the record. A lot times, a producer from the record company would strike a deal with the MCs, by telling them that they are doing all the work, and the fans are screaming their names, not the disc jockey. So MCs would get the contract and the Disc Jockey was cut loose, making this the end of Disc Jockies or MCs, and the birth of the rapper. New school rappers these were making from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 an album. Now the rapper was headlining show and filling football stadium seats. The rapper that used to be the MCs for the disc jockey, began paying the disc jockey to spin or play music for him or her at a concert. Hip hop is now known all over the world, sung in many different languages. The lyrics of today’s hip hop rappers are not like the MCs of yesterday, Rappers now talk about how much money they are making and disrespecting women in their songs. Some rappers like tell how they made it from the drug game to the rap game, while rappers talk about the use of drugs and types drugs they prefer to use. A rapper’s lyrics often reflect the violent lifestyle of American inner cities afflicted with poverty. The “N” word is used a lot in today rapper’s…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hop Satire

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Media often paints a different picture than as seen by the eye. Often heard on the headlines are the bad and the ugly never the good. One picture that is often skewed by the media is that of hip hop. It is often heard that this genre is a negative influence on children, as the message put out by these rappers is not appropriate for today’s youth. The lifestyle is too violent and the lyrics are too harsh. All this is skewed in the wrong direction. As the hip hop genre is impactful and helpful for the youth of the world.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hip Hop Planet Analysis

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In James McBride article “Hip Hop Planet”, he introduces the reader to many issues that are affecting society, including violence, social class, and racism. McBride ensures that he includes hip-hop’s history, in order to explain that the musical genre began as an attempt to avoid or prevent teen gang involvement. Additionally, social class is present in hip hop culture because many of the artist's success determined by the resources that they have when beginning their career as a DJ. Lastly, race is revealed to play a large role in hip hop culture due to the fact that many rappers include lyrics about racial injustices, as well as tension between people of different cultures. Although McBride introduces different arguments throughout his essay,…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essay On Rap Music

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I listen to music every day of my life. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. My current mood determines what type of music I listen to. For example, in the morning, I like to start my day off with something slow and calm. This usually jazz music with its soft and mellow tones. Then later in the day, I prefer to listen to rap music. It really helps me get excited. This helps me when I am in the gym, especially the sound of the loud bass and tones. I tend to calm down after a long day of activities. I sooth my mood with slow, mellow, and calm music. This really helps my body and mind relax after a long day of work. In conclusion, Jazz, Rap, and R&B are very powerful different types of music, each having its own different style and background.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Violence In Rap Music

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to Becky Tatum (1999) he said that the rap music has many themes that involve many themes racism, drug addiction, Rap Music is considered to be the voice of the African American youth. He also stated the types of rap music; lifeline and hard-core rap, commercial or soft rap; the commercial or the soft rap is all about social messages that addresses social messages between the races and classes which describes problems and frustrations that exist between teenagers and parents on the other hand the lifeline or the hard core rap is divided into 2 the gangsta rap and the political or black nationalist rap, its about religion, political or black people issues.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Music Lyrics being NON-VIOLENT Rap music can be considered a style of art, and a way for the artists to express feelings through their words on paper. However, there are quite a few rap artists that get criticized for their lyrics. In my essay, I want to discuss why rappers use certain lyrics in their music and why people shouldn’t believe that it causes violence among the younger generations. People shouldn’t censor the music just because of violent, vulgar and abusive messages it promotes to the world. I believe in my own mind, that there is a reason for these types of lyrics that rap artists use and I will simply explain those reasons in this essay. Rap has been called one of the most important music forces to emerge in two decades. It’s pounding beats and staccato rhymes exploded on the streets of the urban America in the early 1980s and since have become the theme music and lyrical heart of the vibrant youth culture called hip-hop ( SIRS 1993). There are many different types of rap artist. There are some that talk about money, some talk about righteousness, and the list goes on and on. Every rap artist had their own way of expressing themselves. There are those that talk about sex, drugs, and violence who receive the negative attention( SIRS 1993). People, think this so- called gangster rap is a bad influence on children in the world and that it promotes violence and that it also is abusive to women. Delores Tucker, head of national congress of black women has been among those pressuring different record companies to stop distributing gangster rap music. There were other significant names that participated in this action. Names like Senate Majority leader Bob dole, and former education Secretary William J. Bennett(Surveys, pg. 1). There are some rap artists that have been openly criticized for their lyrics. Rappers like Lil Kim, Too Short, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and a member from “Too Live Crew,” named Luke Skywalker. These rap artists in the past have been…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays