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 1990s

G funk and Death Row Records

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In 1992 (see 1992 in music) former N.W.A member Dr. Dre released The Chronic, which further established the dominance of West Coast gangsta rap and Death Row Records, and is also the beginning of G funk, a slow, drawled form of hip hop that dominated the charts for some time. Extensively sampling funk bands, especially Parliament and Funkadelic, G funk was multi-layered, yet simple and easy to dance to, with anti-authoritarian lyrics that helped endear it to many young listeners. One of the genre's biggest crossover stars was Dre's protégé Snoop Doggy Dogg (Doggystyle, 1993), whose party-oriented themes made songs like "Gin and Juice" party anthems and top hits nationwide. New York City native Tupac Shakur (Me Against the World, 1995) has endured as one of the most successful West Coast hip hop artists of all time. Snoop and Tupac were both artists on Death Row Records, owned by Dre and Marion "Suge" Knight. Many of Tupac's greatest hits sampled or interpolated earlier music by Zapp & Roger.

Related Topics:
1992 in music - Dr. Dre - The Chronic - Death Row Records - G funk - Funk - Parliament - Funkadelic - Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle - New York City - Tupac Shakur - Me Against the World - Marion "Suge" Knight - Interpolated - Zapp & Roger

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The rise of Bad Boy records

Meanwhile, East Coast rappers like Black Moon (Enta da Stage, 1993), Mobb Deep (The Infamous, 1995), Nas (Illmatic, 1994) and the Notorious B.I.G. (Ready to Die, 1994) pioneered a grittier sound in East Coast gangsta rap. B.I.G. and the rest of Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records roster paved the way for New York City to take back chart dominance from the West Coast as gangsta rap continued to explode into the mainstream. The "East Coast/West Coast" battle between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records resulted in the deaths of Death Row's Tupac Shakur and Bad Boy's Notorious B.I.G. This had a knock-on effect on Death Row itself, which sank quickly when most of its big name artists like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg left and it found itself on the receiving end of multiple lawsuits. Dr. Dre, at the MTV Video Music Awards, claimed that "gangsta rap was dead", which proved untrue. Bad Boy Records survived, though not untarnished. Puff Daddy's commercial empire continued to lose the support of the hip hop fan base with a mainstream sound aimed at middle-class America, and challenges from Atlanta and, especially, Master P's No Limit stable of popular rappers.

Related Topics:
East Coast rap - Black Moon - Enta da Stage - Mobb Deep - The Infamous - Nas - Illmatic - Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die - Puff Daddy - Bad Boy Records - Dr. Dre - Snoop Dogg - MTV Video Music Awards - Atlanta - Master P - No Limit

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Southern and Midwestern gangsta rap

After the deaths of Biggie and Tupac, gangsta rap remained a major commercial force. However, most of the industry's major labels were in turmoil, or bankrupt, and new locations sprang up.

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Atlanta had been firmly established as a hip hop center by artists such as Goodie Mob and Outkast and many other Southern hip hop artists emerged in their wake, with gangsta rap artists achieving the most pop-chart success. Jermaine Dupri, an Atlanta-born record producer and talent scout, had great success after discovering youthful pop stars Kris Kross (Totally Krossed Out, 1992) performing at a mall, and later masterminded a large roster of commercially successful acts on his So So Def label which although mostly weighted towards pop-rap & R&B, also included gangsta rap artists such as Da Brat (Funkdafied, 1994), and himself. Perhaps the most famous gangsta rapper from the South is Ludacris (Word of Mouf, 2001) who would became an enormously successful and extraordinarily prolific pop/gangsta-rap star for Def Jam in the 21st century.

Related Topics:
Atlanta - Goodie Mob - Outkast - Jermaine Dupri - Record producer - Kris Kross - Totally Krossed Out - Da Brat - Funkdafied - Ludacris - Word of Mouf - Def Jam

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Master P's No Limit Records label, based out of New Orleans, also became quite popular, though critical success was very scarce, with the exceptions of some later additions like Mystikal (Ghetto Fabulous, 1998). No Limit had begun its rise to fame with Master P's The Ghetto Is Trying to Kill Me! (1994, 1994 in music), and subsequent hits by Rappin- 4-Tay (Don't Fight the Feeling, 1994), Silkk the Shocker (Charge It 2 Da Game, 1998) and C-Murder (Life or Death, 1998). Cash Money Records, also based out of New Orleans, had enormous commercial success with a very similar musical style and quantity-over-quality business approach to No Limit but achieved even less critical acclaim and were widely ridiculed.

Related Topics:
Master P - No Limit Records - New Orleans - Mystikal - Ghetto Fabulous - The Ghetto Is Trying to Kill Me! - 1994 in music - Rappin- 4-Tay - Don't Fight the Feeling - Silkk the Shocker - Charge It 2 Da Game - C-Murder - Life or Death - Cash Money Records - No Limit

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The mainstream era

Before the late nineties, gangsta rap and hip hop in general, while being extremely popular, had always been seen as a fringe genre that lay firmly outside of the pop mainstream. However, the rise of Bad Boy Records signaled a major stylistic change in gangsta rap, as it morphed into a new subgenre of hip hop which would become even more commercially successful and become completely absorbed into the mainstream musical fabric of America. Notorious B.I.G. is seen by many to have initiated gangsta rap's move towards conquering the pop charts, as he was the first hardcore gangsta rapper to produce albums with a calculated attempt to include both gritty gangsta narratives and polished, catchy, danceable pop productions entirely aimed at the clubs and at the mainstream pop charts. After Biggie's death, Bad Boy's Puff Daddy continued to bring pop and gangsta rap closer together : the references to guns, drug dealing and life as a thug on the street remained, but the production style changed from the early darker, sample-heavy sound to a cleaner, more upbeat sound that was fashioned for direct pop audience consumption. R&B-styled hooks and instantly recognizable samples of well-known soul and pop songs from the 1970s and 1980s were the staples of this sound, which was showcased primarily in his latter-day work for The Notorious B.I.G. ("Mo Money, Mo Problems"), Ma$e ("Feels So Good"), and non Bad Boy artists such as Jay-Z ("Can I Get A...") and Nas ("Street Dreams"). Very little of this commercially minded music was met with acclaim from hip hop enthusiasts or critics, however - Puff Daddy's "loop it and leave it" style of sampling, which most of the time just consisted of rapping over someone else's instrumental, was criticized heavily. Generally, the era in which this sound prospered (called the "Shiny Suit Era" by some due to Puffy and Ma$e's tendacies to wear expensive clothing that would literally shine) is not fondly remembered, and it is no coincidence that its rise to prosperity was virtually paralleled by a surge of activity in underground and alternative hip hop scenes.

Related Topics:
R&B - Soul - Pop - 1970s - 1980s - The Notorious B.I.G. - Ma$e - Jay-Z

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Also achieving similar levels of success with a similar sound at the same time as Bad Boy was Master P and his No Limit label in New Orleans, as well as the New Orleans upstart Cash Money label. A Cash Money artist, The B.G., popularized a catch phrase in 1999 that sums up what the majority of late-nineties mainstream hip hop focused on subject-wise: "Bling-Bling." Whereas much gangsta rap of the past had portrayed the rapper as being a victim of urban squalor, the persona of late-nineties mainstream gangsta rappers was far more weighted towards hedonism and showing off the best jewelry, clothes, liquor, and women. Many of the artists who achieved such mainstream success in fact started out as straight gangsta rappers - artists such as Ma$e, Jay-Z and Cam'Ron are straight out of the mid-90s New York school of gritty gangsta rap, influenced by artists such as the Notorious B.I.G, Mobb Deep, and Nas. Ma$e, Jay-Z and Cam'Ron are also typical of the more relaxed, casual flow that became the pop-gangsta norm.

Related Topics:
Master P - No Limit - New Orleans - Cash Money - The B.G. - Catch phrase - 1999 - Bling-Bling - Liquor - Cam'Ron

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Pop-inflected gangsta rap continues to be successful into the 21st century, with many artists deftly straddling the divide between their hip hop audience and their pop audience, such as Ja Rule and Jay-Z. The influence of West Coast gangsta rapper 2Pac on the East Coast gangsta rap scene has also become increasingly apparent in the new century.

Related Topics:
Ja Rule - Jay-Z - 2Pac

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Hardcore East Coast gangsta rap after 1997

Although the "softer" pop/R&B-inflected artists received the most commercial success, hardcore gangsta rap continued to thrive on the East Coast. Baltimore-born DMX is often credited with reviving New York's hardcore scene with It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, his 1998 debut, which entered the charts at #1. DMX's work was clearly inspired by that of Nas (Illmatic, 1994), The Wu-Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), 1993), and 2Pac (All Eyez On Me, 1996). DMX's management company, Ruff Ryders Entertainment, ran a record label by the same name which also featured Eve (Scorpion, 2001) and The Lox, defectors from Bad Boy (We Are the Streets, 2000).

Related Topics:
Baltimore - DMX - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot - 1998 - Nas - Illmatic - The Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - All Eyez On Me - Ruff Ryders Entertainment - Eve - Scorpion - The Lox - We Are the Streets

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However, the biggest success for post-Bad Boy East Coast gangsta was 50 Cent, who achieved worldwide superstardom after signing with Eminem's Shady Records and releasing the album Get Rich or Die Tryin', before launching numerous similarly styled affiliate artists such as Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo. 50 Cent's music was harder-edged than most artists who had achieved similar levels of success, though he made occasional concessions to a more mainstream sound, particularly in his single releases.

Related Topics:
50 Cent - Eminem - Shady Records - Get Rich or Die Tryin' - Lloyd Banks - Young Buck

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