The year is 1987 and the streets of south central Los Angeles are infested with street gangs and crack cocaine, the LAPD in turn began taking an aggressive approach towards law enforcement. This sort of environment produced a group called NWA meaning N****s With Attitude. The group had five members; Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella. The group was started from Eazy’s drug money and Dr. Dre’s producing skills. Together they started looking for local talent. Ice Cube was the first artist/songwriter to enter the group. His association with the Rolling 60s Crips made him a perfect fit for the group. The group needed another rapper who could rhyme as fast as Cube so MC Ren was added, as well as DJ Yella as a co-producer. This controversial rap group NWA came from an environment surrounded by gang violence and police brutality, which caused the group to create social turmoil.
The Early to mid 1980s saw a rapid growth in the use of crack cocaine, which in turn saw a rise in gang violence. South central gangs had become entrepreneurial and were expanding their trafficking operations. As the influence of gangs spiraled out of control with the trafficking of drugs, the early 1990s saw some of the highest homicide rates ever (Boucher). The gang shooting at Manual arts high school in 1990 left 18-year-old Lorenzo dead. The altercation started with Lorenzo throwing up a gang sign when a rival gang member shot him three times. At least seventeen men died at the hands of Orange County gang members in 1987 the oldest was 31, the youngest 15. Homicide statistics are an imperfect measure of gang activity. Dozens of people have also been shot or stabbed by suspected gang members. For example a 8 year old watchin...
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...t. In chicago a young group of rappers called 3hunna writes music about their experiences in the hood. This group claims to have been influenced by NWA so who knows what kind of turmoil they can create.
Work Cited
Boucher, Geoff. “Mark of tha Gangsta.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times , 16 Aug. 1988. 20 Feb. 2014
Freed, David. “ Police Brutality Claims are Rarely Prosecuted.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times., 07 July 1991. 25 Feb. 2014
Giovacchini, Anthony M. “The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap and what can be done about it.” Negative Influence of Gangster Rap. Stanford University, 20 Feb. 2014
Pumperup75. “Documentary-NWA: The World Most dangerous Group.” Online Video Clip. Youtube., 4 March 2013. 22 February 2014.
Renfro, James. “ Brief History of Rap-NWA.” Brief history of rap-NWA. University of Texas, 20 Feb 2014.
During the 80s a controversial group of rappers came together and changed the game of Hip Hop for generations to come. Niggas with Attitude, otherwise known as N.W.A, was comprised of the rappers; Ice Cube, MC Ren, Easy E, Yella, and Dr. Dre. Theses rappers spoke the truth about life in the streets; the hustling, the trapping, the sexual encounters, the gang life, and the most important, the racism. They shined a light on these issues in a violent, sexually explicit, yet intelligent and revolutionary way. The Facebook page, *N.W.A* creates an environment that connects people of all races, backgrounds, and ages; with the goal of immortalizing, and spreading the original message of the group.
Surprisingly, little has been written about the historical significance of black gangs in Los Angeles (LA). Literature and firsthand interviews with Los Angeles residents seem to point to three significant periods relevant to the development of the contemporary black gangs. The first period, which followed WWII and significant black migrations from the South, is when the first major black clubs formed. After the Watts rebellion of 1965, the second period gave way to the civil rights period of Los Angeles where blacks, including those who where former club members who became politically active for the remainder of the 1960s. By the early 1970s black street gangs began to reemerge. By 1972, the Crips were firmly established and the Bloods were beginning to organize. This period saw the rise of LA’s newest gangs, which continued to grow during the 1970s, and later formed in several other cities throughout the United States by the 1990s. While black gangs do not make up the largest or most active gang population in Los Angeles today, their influence on street gang culture nationally has been profound.
South, David. The History of Organized Crime: Secrets of The World’s Most Notorious Gangs. New York: Metro Books, 2013. Print.
Citation: Gary Brown. (1994). Los Angeles gangs: The bloods and the Crips. Retrieved November 21, 2016, from Socialist Alternative, http://www.socialistalternative.org/panther-black-rebellion/los-angeles-gangs-bloods-crips/
Egley, A., Howell, J., & Moore, J. (2010). Highlights of the 2008 National Youth Gang
George covers much familiar ground: how B-beats became hip hop; how technology changed popular music, which helped to create new technologies; how professional basketball was influenced by hip hop styles; how gangsta rap emerged out of the crack epidemic of the 1980s; how many elements of hip hop culture managed to celebrate, and/or condemn black-on-black violence; how that black-on-black violence was somewhat encouraged by white people scheming on black males to show their foolishness, which often created a huge mess; and finally, how hip hop used and continues to use its art to express black frustration and ambition to blacks while, at the same time, refering that frustration and ambition to millions of whites.
A race issue that occurs within the rap and hip-hop musical genre is the racial stereotypes associated with the musical form. According to Brandt, and Viki rap music and hip- hop music are known for fomenting crime violence, and the continuing formation of negative perceptions revolving around the African-American race (p.362). Many individuals believe that rap and hip-hop music and the culture that forms it is the particular reason for the degradation of the African-American community and the stereotypes that surround that specific ethnic group. An example is a two thousand and seven song produced by artist Nas entitled the N-word. The particular title of the song sparked major debates within not only the African-American community thus the Caucasian communities as well. Debates included topics such as the significance and worth of freedom of speech compared with the need to take a stand against messages that denigrate African-Americans. This specific label turned into an outrage and came to the point where conservative white individuals stood in front of the record label expressing their feelings. These individuals made a point that it is because artists like Nas that there is an increase in gang and street violence within communities. Rap and hip-hop music only depicts a simple-minded image of black men as sex crazed, criminals, or “gangsters”. As said above, community concerns have arisen over time over the use of the N-word, or the fact that many rappers vocalize about white superiority and privilege. Of course rap music did not develop these specific stereotypes, however these stereotypes are being used; and quite successfully in rap and hip-hop which spreads them and keeps the idea that people of color are lazy, all crimin...
Swedenburg, Ted. "Homies in The ‘Hood: Rap’s Commodification of Insubordination." Rpt. in That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004. 579-591. Print.
Many artist and groups in hip hop groups like N.W.A and Ice-T had ties to gang activities and spoke violence in their songs. Many hip hop groups during this time played songs that were considered to be “gangsta rap” songs. Gangsta rap was not only about the music but it was about the lifestyle and “thug’ attitude. “Between 1984 and 1994 the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 doubled compared to years prior” (Robinson). Violence and police brutality towards blacks was big in hip hop during the 1980’s and 1990’s, like it is today. Many black hip hop artist and fans felt that they were being targeted and treated differently by police compared to whites in American because of their skin color and what neighborhood they lived in. In 1988 N.W.A song Fuck The Police came out and the song title speaks for itself in how N.W.A felt towards the police, “I’m brown and not the other color so police think they have the authority to kill a minority”. This song spoke to minorities in America who felt this way towards
“Teen Gangs”. (2009, Apr. 9). Issues & Controversies On File. Retrieved Mar. 29, 2014, from Issues & Controversies database.
In Total Chaos, Jeff Chang references Harry Allen, a hip hop critic and self-proclaimed hip hop activist. Harry Allen compares the hip hop movement to the Big Bang and poses this complex question: “whether hip-hop is, in fact a closed universe-bound to recollapse, ultimately, in a fireball akin to its birth-or an open one, destined to expand forever, until it is cold, dark, and dead” (9). An often heard phase, “hip hop is dead,” refers to the high occurrence of gangster rap in mainstream hip hop. Today’s hip hop regularly features black youths posturing as rich thugs and indulging in expensive merchandise. The “hip hop is dead” perspective is based on the belief that hip hop was destined to become the model of youth resistance and social change. However, its political ambitions have yet to emerge, thus giving rise to hip hops’ criticisms. This essay will examine the past and present of hip hop in o...
Hip-hop started out as a parade of songs that were celebration-suitable, stemming from artists such as LL Cool J and Marky Mark. Eventually, there were some minor miscalculations. Whenever artists began to not compete or collaborate with one another, but to murder their rivals from particular areas of the country: the East Side and the West Side (Merino 88), hip-hop took a downward spiral. Rappers began feuding with one another, which, primarily may seem like a petty squabble, evolved into something far from minor: violence.
...Giovacchini, Anthony M. “The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap and What Can Be Done About It.” The Negative Influence of Gangster Rap And What Can Be Done About It. EDGE, 4 June 1999. Web. 02 May 2014.
Originating from the harsh streets of Los Angeles in 1986 - It was tough times in the city of the Queen of Angels: with drugs on the rise and crime rates in addition to significant excessive force by the LAPD, NWA was a determined, motivated group of Hip Hop artists who against all the odds of financial statuses or difficulties and discrimination at the time made it to be written in history books as arguably some of the best in the field.
Although music can help for delighting moods, some music communicates harmful health messages. Today’s music and lyrical content have undergone dramatic changes after the music industry has shaken up with the new music introduction of gangster rap, which portrays images of gangs, guns, violence, and sexism. For example, N.W.A has widely considered one of the greatest American hip hop groups in the history and sold over ten million units in the United States. However, majority of their lyrics glorifies violence, expresses deep hatred towards police officers, imply how the violence and races of police officers, and mock at the process of the judicial system. Studies