"gangsta" rap?

[FroDawgg]

Does it actually exist? If so, how is it defined?

To the ignorant non-hip hop community, all rap is gangsta rap; if you rap, you must be a gangsta. To others, it is a classification within the rap genre. But the question is, what artists would be classified as such?

Artists like Tupac and Nas have both been called this, but will be defended as not by their fans. Both have positive aspects in their music, but both have also rapped about content which some would consider gangsta-like.

Some artists would never be thought of like this--Will Smith, the Black Eyed Peas, Mos Def, etc. etc.

So who would be--artists who actually rap about the gang lifestyle (Snoop, The Game), or any rapper who has violent lyrics?

Your thoughts, please.

 

[Euphanasia]

Game calls himself the "messiah of gangsta rap," so I guess he would fall into that category. Personally, i hate the term with a passion. I don't consider anyone else that I listen to besides Game a gangsta rapper. I listen to rap music. Like Tupac said, "I never classified my music as gangsta rap. I don't even know what gangsta rap is." I associate the term with ignorance because that's what it implies when someone says, "oh you're into that gangsta rap," and they're basically saying you listen to garbage shit with no meaning and no message.

 

[FroDawgg]

^^^i agree with you. i think the label places a negative connotation on the whole genre.

 

[Bhuddahhoodlum]

too me the ignorance comes into play when people act like it doesn't exist. but it's just as ignorant for some one to think all of rap is gangsta rap.

simply put it's when a rapper only expresses that particular lifestyle. when he talks about commiting gang related crimes, says he's involved with gang activities, when he says he's a gangster. it's gangsta rap. throwing a "feel sorry for me" song outta 15 tracks of murder, drugs, and gang culture doesn't change that.

the shit ain't nothing but a sub-genre of the genre. and all music genres have subgenres. when you hop on an album and rep a gangsters life, that's what you'll be categorized in. that particular subgenre. and like all forms of music it has a message. it's not the message you might want to hear. it's probably a message most people can't fathom or want to acknowledge. but it's there. clear and bold as ever. it's what's happening in our world.

and everyone knows Tupac wasn't a gangsta....


....he was a thug. which ain't nothing but another word for gangsta. so how they don't see him as a gangster rapper is beyond me.

 

[masta247]

Does it actually exist? If so, how is it defined?


artists who actually rap about the gang lifestyle

That's what it is to me, and that's how I define it.

2pac was a gangsta rapper, he wasn't a gangsta but he was rapping about gang lifestyle, killing people, having sex with other mans wife (sounds like to live and die in LA intro ).

For example if there was a serial killer, leader of a Mafia family rapping about flowers, butterflies and shit (not literally rapping about shit) he wouldn't be considered a gangsta rapper to me.

That's why even if gangsta rappers aren't usually really gangsters but they talk about gang lifestyles. That's why they're defined as gansta rappers.

 

[samtarin]

That's what it is to me, and that's how I define it.

2pac was a gangsta rapper, he wasn't a gangsta but he was rapping about gang lifestyle, killing people, having sex with other mans wife (sounds like to live and die in LA intro ).

For example if there was a serial killer, leader of a Mafia family rapping about flowers, butterflies and shit (not literally rapping about shit) he wouldn't be considered a gangsta rapper to me.

That's why even if gangsta rappers aren't usually really gangsters but they talk about gang lifestyles. That's why they're defined as gansta rappers.

yeah i would agree with you outta the other replies. 2pac to me was a lot of things. sometimes he was a gangsta rapper and sometimes his raps werent gangsta. but i dont think all rappers are really gansta rappers. just depends on what they rap about. but a large majority i would say are.

 

[Euphanasia]

the shit ain't nothing but a sub-genre of the genre. and all music genres have subgenres. when you hop on an album and rep a gangsters life, that's what you'll be categorized in.

I agree.



and everyone knows Tupac wasn't a gangsta....
....he was a thug. which ain't nothing but another word for gangsta. so how they don't see him as a gangster rapper is beyond me.

I disagree. "thug" is not another word for "gangsta," at least not in the way that Tupac meant it. It is completely wrong to think that Tupac's "thug" portrayal was meant to be interpreted as a "gangsta" image. If you break it down, you'll realize the two of them are not very alike at all. Tupac's definition of a thug was someone who started out with nothing and rose above all the poverty and turmoil to become someone successful. It also implied a certain "rough image" that came from growing up poor and on the streets but in no way embraced a "gangsta" lifestyle that abuses and neglects people and communities through senseless violence, murder and brutality. To the contrary, the "thug," having overcome the harsh realities of a ghetto upbringing, strives to use his fame and newfound capital to revive the community that brought him up. The mere fact that the "thug" may or may not be successful in this regard, and arguments can be made that Tupac was or wasn't, the intention to do good can be found beneath the tough-guy persona. In the gangsta, this benevolent intention is non-existent.

 

[S O F I]

There's a big difference between being a thug and being a gangsta both in music and in real life.

 

[EDouble]

by categoration Gangsta Rap can be used but thats where it stops

Rap is Entertainment & Rappers r Entertainers. people understate this & that is where that one quote from Tupac would be aplicatable. You dont call Actors who play in gangster flicks gangster actors.

its another thing on invidividuals lives

 

[Mr.Deuce]

NWA
SCC
Above The Law
The Whole NWA Circle.

 

[_carmi]

gangsta rap - talks about gangs, about how gangsta they are, talk about the gangsta lifestyle

 

[Bhuddahhoodlum]

I disagree. "thug" is not another word for "gangsta," at least not in the way that Tupac meant it. It is completely wrong to think that Tupac's "thug" portrayal was meant to be interpreted as a "gangsta" image. If you break it down, you'll realize the two of them are not very alike at all. Tupac's definition of a thug was someone who started out with nothing and rose above all the poverty and turmoil to become someone successful.

reality doesn't change based on what some one believes.

saying that, we all know a real thug ain't gonna rise above poverty and turmoil by selling roses in a flower shop.
so like i said before, to me, thug and gangsta are the same.

the only real difference is that the term "gangsta" might be used to directly associate someone as a member of an actual gang (blood, crip, etc.). or it might be used to associate someone with the mob.

anything else is selective reality. and if that's what Pac really thought of himself, then that's what he had, his own selective reality. where he only accepted the truths he wanted to accept.

i guess another word for that could probably be delusional.

 

[HipHop-Beef.com]

man theres a lot of those. Jeezy was out there in the streets. Just because 90% is phoney, doesn't make that real 10% any less real.

 

[Euphanasia]

saying that, we all know a real thug ain't gonna rise above poverty and turmoil by selling roses in a flower shop.
so like i said before, to me, thug and gangsta are the same.

Yes, a "real thug" is not going to rise above his plight by selling roses in a flower shop, yet he is also not going to rise above the harsh realities of ghetto life by selling drugs and engaging in criminal activity. Granted, the thug might surely have experiences in those things, but those actions are not going to bring him success. Instead, a change has to be made. Tupac sold drugs for a few weeks, but selling drugs is not what made him a superstar. Instead, he rose above poverty by using his talents and his genius. A person that reaches success in such a way might be labeled a "thug" in the sense that he comes from the gutter and has a "criminal mind" in some sense, but he is clearly not a "gangsta"