Gangsta rap

Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop music which involves a lyrical focus on the lifestyles of inner-city thugs, criminals and gangsters.

Gangsta rap in the 1980s

Los Angeles' Ice T is often credited as the first gangsta rapper due to his influential "Six n' da Mornin'" and other aggressive, gritty recordings (like Rhyme Pays, 1987), though many other artists such as Philadelphia's Schoolly D (The Adventures of Schoolly D, 1987, and the song 'PSK'), Kool G Rap ("It's a Demo", "I'm Fly"), N.W.A and BDP's first album Criminal Minded are crucial to the foundations of the genre. Gangsta rap is usually credited as being an originally West Coast phenomenon, due to the influence of Ice-T and N.W.A, though Schoolly D, BDP and Kool G Rap are East Coast rappers. Other major influences include the pioneering hardcore work of politically-aware performers like Public Enemy (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 1988), Ice Cube (AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, 1990) and Boogie Down Productions (Criminal Minded, 1987), and the similarly "poetic gangsta" prose and poetry of Ice-T's namesake, Iceberg Slim, and the Lightning Rod album Hustler's Convention. Kool G Rap's epic tales helped inspire the related Mafioso rap phenomenon, which later achieved some mainstream success and great critical acclaim in 1995 (see 1995 in music) with albums like Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and AZ's Do or Die and Mobb Deep's The Infamous.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - Ice T - Rhyme Pays - Philadelphia - Schoolly D - The Adventures of Schoolly D - Kool G Rap - N.W.A - BDP - Criminal Minded - West Coast - Hardcore - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back - Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted - Boogie Down Productions - Iceberg Slim - Lightning Rod - Hustler's Convention - 1995 in music - Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx - AZ - Do or Die - Mobb Deep - The Infamous

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Hip hop moves west and gangsta rap appears

Until the very late 1980s, hip hop had been dominated by the East Coast (essentially New York City, though Philadelphia and New Jersey also had vital scenes), with West Coast hip hop a curiosity dominated by dance-heavy and critically reviled electro hop artists like Egyptian Lover and World Class Wreckin' Cru. The latter crew included Dr. Dre before he joined N.W.A.

Related Topics:
New York City - New Jersey - Electro hop - Egyptian Lover - World Class Wreckin' Cru - Dr. Dre

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Aside from electro hop, early pioneer hardcore hip hop artists, including most notably Ice-T, gained underground fame in the Los Angeles area during the early 1980s. Ice-T is often considered the earliest gangsta rapper, though paradoxically, he is most well known to mainstream America for the controversy regarding "Cop Killer", a song from his heavy metal band Body Count's self-titled debut album which bears virtually no resemblance to modern forms of gangsta rap. Aside from N.W.A and Ice-T, early West Coast gangsta rappers include Too $hort (from Oakland, California) and others from Compton and Watts, Los Angeles, as well as Oakland, San Francisco and San Diego.

Related Topics:
Ice-T - Heavy metal - Body Count - Too $hort - Oakland, California - Compton - Watts - San Francisco - San Diego

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By the late 1980s, gangsta rap began to become a major force in hip hop. The first blockbuster hip hop album was the West Coast gangsta rap album Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A in 1989 (see 1989 in music). Straight Outta Compton also established West Coast hip hop as a vital genre, and a rival of hip hop's long-time capital, New York City. Straight Outta Compton sparked the first major controversy regarding hip hop lyrics when their song "Fuck Tha Police" earned a letter from the FBI strongly expressing law enforcement's resentment of the song.

Related Topics:
1980s - West Coast - Straight Outta Compton - 1989 in music - New York City - Fuck Tha Police - FBI - Law enforcement

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