Gangsta Rap Is Played Out.

At Too Sense, One Drop explains his distaste for gangsta rap:

The problem is, a lot of the time these kids don’t know any actual black people. They have no way of knowing what is truth and what is fantasy. Gangsta rap plays into all of the old stereotypes about blacks: that they’re violent, over-sexed, addicted to drugs and alcohol. Culturally, we’ve gone from Amos N Andy to Capone and Noriega. And white people are completely comfortable with that image of black existence. It fits neatly with all of the preconceived notions we have. It reinforces them. […]

But gangsta rap? The life it describes is seen as “real” and “authentic” by the same people who couldn’t quite buy into the normalcy of the Cosbys. For too many people, the only face of blackness they see is the one worn by the gangstas.

Speaking as someone who grew up with those “suburban white kids,” I can definitely understand One Drop’s anger and exasperation, mostly because he’s right. For quite a few of my peers (in the loosest sense), gangsta rap did form the basis for their “understanding” of black people. In high school, I clearly remember having my “blackness” challenged by white kids who didn’t know the first thing about black people, but who listened to Get Rich or Die Tryin’ on permanent repeat.

That said, I think One Drop’s concerns might be a little ill-suited for the contemporary hip-hop world. We are long past the hey-day of mainstream gangsta rap; indeed, the genre reached it’s commercial (and artistic, I think) peak in the mid-nineties, with the rivalry between Bad Boy and Death Row. If anything, 50 Cent’s rise in the early part of this decade was the last hurrah for a genre which has steadily lost importance as tastes have changed. For all intents and purposes, gangsta rap has returned to the “underground” as it were, to be replaced by – one hand – southern hip-hop, and on the other, the pop-influenced hip-hop of Kanye West or Timbaland. In fact, two of the most well-regarded producers of the last few years – 9th Wonder and Just Blaze – rely heavily on soul samples which are oriented more towards the pop charts than they are anything else. Even rappers who are still, on some level, gangsta rappers, have embraced the pop side of things; listen to Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne’s latest albums (American Gangster and Tha Carter III, respectively) and you’ll see what I mean.

Of course, that’s not to say that gangsta rap is irrelevant; if that were the case, The Game would still be pushing demo tapes somewhere, and not working on this third album. But we should remember that gangsta rap is a trend, and isn’t necessarily a permanent fixture of mainstream hip-hop. Yes, we should (rightly) criticize the sub-genre for it’s excesses, but we should also try to keep things in perspective.

cross-posted from The United States of Jamerica

Jamelle

Jamelle Bouie is a writer for Slate. He has also written for The Daily Beast, The American Prospect and The Nation. His work centers on politics, race, and the intersection of the two.

You can find him on Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram as jbouie.
  • WestIndianArchie

    You folks (which is typical of the over-educated and insulated from the hood bloggerati) are very much out of touch with the reality of gangsta rap music.

    First things first, “gangsta rap” as a separable entity of rap music generally, ended after Straight Outta Compton was released. Everybody jumped on the “hard” doctrine. Everybody was at least tough. They might not have been gang members, drug dealers, or pimps – but most rappers started to include a lot of gun packing and weed smoking references.

    (not that those references weren’t always there (please see KRS)- but with a new awareness, the entire audience now picked up on it)

    The “hardening” happened between 1989 and 1992. So we’re talking at least 16 years ago.

    The de facto simile and punchline mc became a simile, punchline, and “i’ll bust a cap in ya” MC

    Since then, the vast bulk of popular rappers have been (lyrically) toned down versions of Ice Cube and Mc Ren.

    Let’s just look @ the top 10 rap songs on Billboard this week
    – A Milli – Lil Wayne – G.Rapper
    – Get Like Me – David Banner – Defn a “Will Kick Your A**” rapper
    – Put On – Young Jeezy – G. Rapper
    – Got Money – Weezy and T.Pain – G.Rapper and G. R&B singer
    – Bust It Baby Pt @ – Plies – G.Rapper
    – Here I Am – Rick Ross – G.Rapper (named after an infamous drug king pin)
    – The Business – Yung Berg – G.Rapper
    – Dangerous – Kardinal Offishall – A Canadian Non G. Rapper (but possibly a Rude Bwoy – which would make him a Jamaican Canadian G-Rapper)
    – Lolli Lolli – Three Six Mafia – They’ve got Mafia in their name

    8 of the top 10 songs are songs made by G-Rappers

    And Kardinall Official and David Banner could easily fit under the hard/hardcore banner.

    The idea that G-Rap is dead or played out, conveniently ignores a good 15 years of history at the commercial level. I guarantee if you went to any black hood in the States, they’ll be bumping a lot of national gangsta rap records (with the occassional nod to Kanye), but more importantly – when you look @ what local rappers want to sound like – they all want to be this generation’s Tupac.

    Outside of the college rappers, no one is trying to be this generations Chuck D (or old Tupac). And even with the SAT crew, most of those folks are aiming not to be a Boots, Chuck D, Paris, Brother J, Grand Puba or anyone else who put politics at the beginning of their art. They want to be a Mos Def, Q-Tip, or a Common Sense – rappers who might have a political song here or there, but fit under the “conscious” umbrella – even when they resist categorization.

    I think that this goes to an even bigger idea that G-Rap is somehow not as good as say De La Soul or some other member of lite rap genre.

    There are a lot of “rap” fans that don’t really like rap.

    They just want to hear certain political views (was black nationalism, now it’s more on the green party/progressive tip) over some decent beats with black people on the mic, if possible. (see Immortal Technique or Murs barely registering with the Coffee Shop/Poetry Slam set)

    So long story short
    – g-rap is not dead, it is and has been the dominant form of rap
    – you see it in black neighborhoods all over
    – it’s not going to die, because when kids pick up the mic, they want to sound like G-Rappers
    – so-called conscious/political rap, is for people who listen to NPR, debate whether or not Wal-mart should be in their neighborhood, and have either been vegetarian, or are considering it. This Obama for Change audience is out of touch with the vulgar and coarse tastes of people they claim to represent.

    Thanks for reading this far.

  • This is an awesome post.

    I gotta ask, though, is the problem of white kids thinking gangsta rap is “authentic” really the problem of gangsta rap itself? I mean, this is basically the age-old good vs. bad “race man” argument again. Which always makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

  • LH

    bitchphd: In a word, no. Gangsta rap and its attendant problems have practically nothing to do with white kids, suburban or otherwise, thinking gangsta rap is authentic.

    The problem with gangsta rap is that in all too many cases, it is real. And it would be no matter who was consuming it.

  • I think we need a working definition of gangsta rap here. I’m 33, and to me gangsta rappers are Kool G Rap, Ice Cube, Ice-T, etc…I just saw that list with Jeezy, Lil Wayne, etc and I thought to myself…word?

  • aisha

    Rashad: maybe it’s gangsta rappers vs. “i used to sell crack but i flipped it to buy a record label.” rappers. I don’t consider anyone on that top 20 list to be a gangsta rapper. I mean Plies makes thug love songs. So no gangsta.

    WIA: I do agree with you that a lot of people don’t like rap. i don’t think they know a thing about the technique. There a lot of times I don’t like subject matter but I respect the technique and the beats.

  • ladyfresshh

    You folks (which is typical of the over-educated and insulated from the hood bloggerati) are very much out of touch with the reality of gangsta rap music.

    @westindianarchie – this would be a false assumption based in not knowing or understanding NY culture. Many over educated folk still live in the hood simply because of their roots and cost efficiency. many still work in the hood. speaking for myself while i was in touch with “gangstas” i was never in touch with gangsta hiphop simply because of it’s mysogynistic base. you may wish to rework this aspect of your all encompassing blogerai theory