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Rap music began in the mid 1970 's with artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Africa Bambaataa, and Kurtis Blow. According to the encyclopedia based web site infoplease. com " the word rap is derived from a 1960 's slang word for conversation. (web). This extraordinary style of music served as a form of street poetry for most artists. With a mixture of jazz, disco, and funk rap became extremely popular within the African American and Hispanic communities. Some of the artist spoke of only fiction stories while others spoke of true-life triumphs and experiences.
Artist such as the Sugar Hill Gang rapped about parties and themselves as the ever-popular ladies men when rapping first began. Africa Bambaataa had their greatest hit Planet Rock, which is still famous and played throughout many clubs and radio stations today. Grandmaster Flash released his greatest hit Showdown, which mainly spoke about political issues and problems embedded within his community. The major topic that was never spoken of was violence. I am sure that there was some type of crime that was occurring during the late 70 's and early 80 's but most artists never made crime or violence their main focus. Please keep in mind that the artist that I have spoken of are all from the East Coast, mainly the New York area.
It was not until 1985 - 86 when the West Coast began to rise. During the mid 80 's the movie Colors debuted publicizing the rise in drug dealings and gang related activities. The ever so infamous song, colors, of the movie sound track was made by Los Angles rapper Ice-T. The artist spoke of the two inner city gangs the crips and the bloods. At this time what is now known as gangsta rap had begun to surface and spread throughout the nation.
When Los Angles rap group Niggas With Attitude (NWA) released their album N. W. A. and the Posse gangsta rap became the fad across the nation. In 1989 the group released their next album " Straight Out of Compton, which sold 750, 000 copies before their tour." (Rolling Stone.
com). The albums top hits were Gangsta Gangsta and F -- k the Police in which the group expressed their feelings about police officers and activities going on in their neighborhood. Their lyrics were extremely explicit and plagued with profanity. The song F -- k the Police speaks for itself towards the statement that the group posed to relay to their listeners.
The group also published songs such as A Bitch is A Bitch, which again is self explanatory to those who possessed their music. Artist after artist would began to surface on the West Coast using gangsta rap to make a living. Songs such as the Dopeman and Making Crack to This began to influence listeners to sell drugs. West Coast rap group Above The Law released their single 187, which is the police code for a homicide. Different artist began to record replications of drive by shootings and car jacking's and used them in their songs. In less half a decade gangsta rap had spread threw the south and on to the East Coast.
Texas rap group the Under Ground Kings (UGK) released hits such as Mo Cocaine in the Back of the Ride and A Pocket Full of Stones that spoke mainly about drug transactions. This era of music has definitely been extremely influential to all listeners. There is no doubt in my mind that gangsta rap does promote violence, but I strongly feel that every person should be held responsible for his / her own actions. There are very many people who feel that gangsta rap promotes and causes violence. Johnny Z a rap producer stated that " 75 % of the rappers in his area are presently or have been involved in the game of dealing drugs and involvement in gang life." (web). According to Gun Sriram, rap music has always been associated with gang violence because most of the artist were affiliated with gangs. (totoro.
berkeley. edu). Dr. Delores Tucker, president of the National Council for Black Women, did not bite her tongue at all when she stated that " Popular gangsta rap music is directly responsible for violence, drug use, and misogynistic actions towards women." (web). Dr.
Tucker also explains how children will imitate what they see and that gangsta rap incites violence. She feels that the music should be banned and that the right to freedom of speech was not ment for such. Tucker also expressed that some children emulate and look up to some of the artist and think that talking and looking like a gangster is cool. As I stated earlier I am sure that mass number of people that will back Dr. Tucker's statements to the utmost. We must remember every story has two sides.
As a youth I grew up listening to gangsta rap. Of course I wanted some of the money and jewelry that the artist portrayed but my mother instilled in me that good things only come by hard work. I feel that this is the major problem that everyone has forgotten. The home is where everything begins and serves basic means of socialization. I do not honestly believe in zombies, but this is what everyone is perceived as who Delores Tucker is speaking about. If this is the case then Dr.
Tucker should have directed he main cause to television instead of music. There is far more violence seen on television programs each day than in music videos. An individual responded to a rap web site relating the topic rap in our society. The age, race, and gender of this person remains anonymous as the individual stated that "Hip Hop not only gives underprivileged youth a way to express themselves, but also educates others on their lifestyles. (web).
I can recall playing a song for a squad member while we were in Desert Storm serving in the US Army. The soldier was a euro-american male about in his mid to late 20 's that only listened to country music. I can remember the expressions on his face as he listened to the story that the artist was telling. The artist spoke about how he had to walk threw gang territories to go to school and lived in the projects with his brother, sister, and mother.
He goes on to speak about eating the same beans and rice every night and sharing one pair of paints with his brother. Eventually bills began to pill up and his job at McDonalds is not paying enough. Basically this is how he fell victim to the dope game (selling drugs). At the end of each verse he would end by asking now tell me what I am supposed to do.
At this time the soldier that I was playing the song for established a completely thought on rap music. Therefore as previously stated it does help educate others. I interviewed ten people to see if they felt that gangsta rap music promoted or caused violence. I also wanted to see if they knew any artist or songs. 4 - 10 agreed that rap promotes violence but doesn't cause it 1 - 10 disagreed that it neither causes nor promotes violence 3 - 10 agreed that is causes and promotes violence 2 - 10 disagreed that it neither causes nor promotes violence Group- 1 answered the same for television Group- 2 answered the same for television Group- 3 answered the same for television Group- 4 agreed that television does cause and promote violence. 3 of the 7 individuals that agreed that gangsta rap does cause violence could not list a rap artist or song. Biblio...
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Research essay sample on Gangsta Rap Promote Violence
