Gangsta rap is a genre of hip hop, often with lyrical subjects based on the violence and misogyny inherent in the gangster lifestyle. This subject matter has caused a great deal of controversy, with many observers criticizing the genre for the perceived messages it espouses, including homophobia, misogyny, racism and materialism. Gangsta rappers generally defend themselves by pointing out that they are describing the reality of inner-city ghetto life, with Public Enemy's Chuck D even calling it the "CNN of black America". Given that the audience for gangsta rap has become overwhelmingly white, some commentators have even criticized as analogous to minstrel shows and blackface performance, in which African-Americans or whites made to look like a black caricature, acted in a stereotypically uncultured and ignorant manner for the entertainment of white audiences. Some of the most lyrically hardcore performers, such as The Geto Boys, are accused of being cartoonish.
Table of contents |
1.1 Hip hop moves west and gangsta hip hop appears
2 Post-Coast rivalry1.2 G funk and Death Row Records 1.3 Bad Boy Records and the East Coast |
Hip hop in the 1980s
Slick Rick's The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
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.
Hip hop moves west and gangsta hip hop appears
N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton
By the late 1980s, gangsta rap began to dominate 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.
Dr. Dre's The Chronic |
Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle
Bad Boy Records and the East Coast
Nas' Illmatic |
OutKast's Aquemini |
Master P's No Limit label, based out of New Orleans, also became quite popular, though critical success was scarce, with the exceptions of some later additions like Mystikal (Let's Get Ready, 2000) and Juvenile (400 Degreez, 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).
After the turn of the millennium, superstar Nelly (Country Grammar, 2000) and the rest of the St. Lunatics ("Gimme What You Got", 1996) put St. Louis on the hip hop map, while Eminem (The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000) arose from Detroit to become the biggest star in the history of hip hop.
Jermaine Dupri, an Atlanta-born record producer and talent scout, had had great but-shortlived success after discovering youthful pop stars Kris Kross (Totally Krossed Out, 1992) performing at a mall, but his formula proved enormously successful in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as pre-teen pop acts like Lil Bow Wow (Beware of Dog, 2000) topped the charts, along with older performers like Da Brat (Funkdafied, 1994), Mariah Carey (Daydream, 1995) and Usher (My Way, 1997).
East Coast
Baltimore-born DMX is often credited with reviving New York's hip hop scene with It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, his 1997 (see 1997 in music) debut, which entered the charts at #1, though he had drawn upon previous releases from Busta Rhymes (The Coming, 1996) and Nas (Illmatic, 1994); Nas' Illmatic deserves special mention for the copious critical accolades bestowed upon it, with many observers calling him the savior of East Coast hip hop. In contrast to Nas and other critically acclaimed West Coast performers, such as hardcore hip hop group The Wu-Tang Clan (Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), 1993), many of the East Coast chart mainstays at the end of the decade were derided by critics; these included Puff Daddy (No Way Out, 1997) and many of his collaborators, such as Mase (Harlem World, 1997). Nas was unable to maintain his reputation, releasing a series of lackluster, poorly-received albums after Illmatic that earned him derision even harsher than that given to Puff Daddy and other pop-rappers. The wildly popular DMX helped launch a crew called the Ruff Ryders, who would eventually include future thug rap star Ja Rule (Venni Vetti Vecci, 1999), Eve (Scorpion, 2001) and The Lox (We Are the Streets, 2000). In spite of DMX's hype and popularity, Jay-Z (The Dynasty Roc La Familia, 2000) became much more famous and remained one of the biggest hip hop stars as the millennium ended. Within a few years, a new generation of rising stars including 50 Cent (Get Rich Or Die Tryin', 2003) and Cam'ron (Come Home With Me, 2002) helped re-establish East Coast supremacy, though not without significant threats from the west, south and midwest. East Coast hip hop also saw the rise of gangsta rap's two biggest female stars, Eve (from Philadelphia) and New York's Lil' Kim (Hard Core, 1996), whose sexually and violently explicit lyrics (drawn from more militant female West Coast gangsta rappers like Yo-Yo (Black Pearl, 1992)) earned them the ire of some feministss, while others praised them.