Gangsta Rap and Social Identity

There are many subgenres of hip hop, however gangsta rap is by far the most violent. Lyrics of murder, sex, and money are paired with a variety of instrumentation which includes, but is not limited to, beatboxing, vocals, drums and guitars. The musical subgenre reflects the lifestyles of some inner-city residents – filled with drugs, guns, poverty and a hatred for authority. The word gangsta is a [slang] pronunciation of the word gangster” and has become synonymous with the genre’s pioneers (Wikipedia). These innovators include Los Angeles based “rappers such as Schooly D and Ice T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by [other West Coast artists] like N.W.A.” a.k.a. Niggaz with Attitude; however, gangsta rap did not achieve mainstream success until the mid-1990s. Because of “the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop” in the United States, even though the subjects discussed by the rappers caused major controversies.
Controversial issues included N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” album that featured the song Fuck The Police. Lyrics from N.W.A. member Ice Cube included “…Young nigga got it bad cuz I'm brown/And not the other color so police think/They have the authority to kill a minority…” which told of police brutality and racial profiling in Ice Cube’s hometown of Compton, California. Most of disagreements between gangsta rappers and their city’s police department stemmed from the fact that many of the artists were members of gangs. From the crypts to the TTP a.k.a. Tree Top Pirus, gangs were seen as a way for many teenage males to find a “family unit” and/or respect in their communities. The same could be said for rapping. These same gang-affiliated teenagers saw gangsta rap as a way to express themselves further; therefore, naturally the gangsta rap industry’s code of conduct was the same code used with the gangs in the street (Staff).
Criticism of gangsta rap comes mostly, but not solely, from “religious leaders who have accused the genre of promoting violence, profanity, sex, homophobia, racism, promiscuity, misogyny, rape, street gangs, drive-by shootings, vandalism, thievery, drug dealing, alcohol abuse, substance abuse and materialism” and all of these topics can be found in the lyrics of gangsta rap songs; however, the artists themselves have fought back (Wikipedia). These accusations are defended by the rappers who simply state that they do not promote these topics; they simply talk about what is already happening in their neighborhoods and cities. The rappers cannot distance themselves, however from the fact that they influence millions of young people around the world.
For example, lyrics from the 1992 single Cop Killer by Ice T’s band Body Count were thought to have glamorized the idea of killing police officers. The following is an excerpt from the single:
“I got this long-assed knife/And your neck looks just right/My adrenaline's pumpin'/I got my stereo bumpin'/I'm 'bout to kill me somethin'/A pig stopped me for nuthin'!”
The song is performed in the first person of an individual who is outraged by the police brutality he witnesses and decides to take the law into his own hands by killing violent, corrupt police officers (Wikipedia). It tells a story that many African-American males in the Compton and greater Los Angeles, California area were able to identify with racial profiling by police officers was a huge problem in the 1990s and even today.
A specific commentator and critic of gangsta rap would be Spike Lee. Through his satirical film Bamboozled, the filmmaker criticized the hip-hop subgenre as “analogous to black minstrel shows and blackface performance, in which performers – both black and white – were made up to look African American, and acted in a stereotypically uncultured…manner for the entertainment of audiences” (Wikipedia). Other critics go on to say that the influence of gangsta rap is bringing down our society. Fellow critic of gangsta rap Sam Leary, also states that “children may respond to the message [of gangsta rap]…differently than a college student would [and that] less educated people might be more likely to take the message more seriously,” and therefore go out into their own communites to immolate what they have heard rappers describe. He also goes on to compare gangsta rappers with the likes of Adolf Hitler, stating that both are examples of leaders with great [negative] influences on society as a whole.
With regard to these critics, it seems as though gangsta rap has an enormous influence of individual’s values, identities and actions. In his article, Music and Identity, Simon Firth explains his opinion of how the two aspects work together as follows:
"What I want to suggest...is not that social groups agree on values which are then expressed in their cultural activities...but that they only get to know themselves as groups (as a particular organization of individual and social interests, of sameness and difference) through cultural activity, through aesthetic judgment. Making music isn't a way of expressing ideas; it is a way of living them."
Therefore, using Firth’s interpretation of music and social identity and in contrast with the ideas of critics, gangsta rap does not shape an individual by its lyrics. Instead, the lyrics are simply a mechanism that brings together individuals who already agree with them and identify with their content. Through his article, Firth is able to unknowingly defend the artists of controversial music and show that they cannot be held solely accountable for the actions of their listeners. There is an undeniable and fine line which not only listeners of music, but consumers of any product must straddle. Consumers must be able to separate their own lives from that of their idols, distinguish between right and wrong and realize that rappers do sometimes exaggerate their experiences or even make-up total events.
Journalist John H. McWhorter disagrees with Firth’s argument. In an article entitled HowHip-Hop Hold Blacks Back, McWhorter explains how “many writers and thinkers see a kind of informed political engagement… in rap and hip-hop” and that they are wrong for believing that this genre and it’s subgenres have revolutionary potential. The journalist believes that “by reinforcing the stereotypes that long hindered blacks, and by teaching young blacks that a thuggish adversarial stance is the properly “authentic” response to a presumptively racist society, rap retards black success.” McWhorter’s opinions mirror those of Spike Lee in that gangsta music is not a healthy outlet of expression as rappers and supporters would like to portray it. Instead the two see gangsta rap as a hindrance to the growth of the African-American community. If a community of historically repressed people continues to listen to music that dwells upon this oppression, the community cannot advance socially. By continuously bombarding themselves with violence, in the opinion of critics, the listeners of gangsta rap will only further the cycle of murder, sexual exploitation and materialism found in their neighborhoods.
McWhorter gives an example of the continuous dwelling in less than glamorous circumstances as the way in which hip-hop performers have celebrated a ghetto life of unending violence and criminality. Schooly D’s “PSK What Does It Mean?” is a specific case:
"Copped my pistols, jumped into the ride./Got at the bar, copped some flack,/Copped some cheeba-cheeba, it wasn’t wack./Got to the place, and who did I see?/A sucka-ass nigga tryin to sound like me./Put my pistol up against his head—/I said, “Sucka-ass nigga, I should shoot you dead.”
Here, Schooly D paints a vivid picture of obtaining weapons with which he threatens an enemy’s life. These lyrics are the fuel that keeps the fire of hatred and the idea that violence is attractive alive. McWhorter wants his readers to see that rappers and music makers have the most influence over young people in today’s society. Young people hang on every word of their favorite rappers and the journalist, as well as other critics, wants the music makers to take responsibility for the influence of their music. There is a point when making money and selling records must take backseat to the well-being of our society, but how long will it be before rappers realize this? Stuart Fischoff states that “from the point of view of implicit personality theory…in the minds of [listeners of rap music,]…such lyrics invited strong associations with inferences about other negative traits.” Therefore, the influence of gangsta rap on society cannot be denied, however whether a subgenre of music can be blamed for the actions of its listeners is a debate that will go on for decades.