"Reality Rap" redirects here. For the album by Infamous Mobb, see Reality Rap (album).
Gangsta rap
Stylistic origins
Hip hop
hardcore hip hop
political hip hop
Cultural origins
Mid-1980s
Los Angeles, California
Subgenres
Drill
trap
road rap
Fusion genres
G-funk
Regional scenes
West Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop
Southern hip hop
Northwest hip hop
Midwest hip hop
Canadian hip hop
Irish hip hop
British hip hop
Australian hip hop
Other topics
Horrorcore
progressive rap
Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture and values typical of urban gangs, reality of the world and street hustlers.[1][2][3] Emerging in the late 1980s, gangsta rap's pioneers include Schoolly D of Philadelphia and Ice-T of Los Angeles, later expanding in California with artists such as N.W.A and Tupac Shakur.[4] In 1992, via record producer and rapper Dr. Dre, rapper Snoop Dogg, and their G-funk sound, gangster rap broadened to mainstream popularity.
Gangsta rap has been recurrently accused of promoting disorderly conduct and broad criminality, especially assault, homicide, and drug dealing, as well as misogyny, promiscuity, and materialism.[5] Gangsta rap's defenders have variously characterized it as artistic depictions but not literal endorsements of real life in American ghettos, or suggested that some lyrics voice rage against social oppression or police brutality, and have often accused critics of hypocrisy and racial bias.[5][6] Still, gangsta rap has been assailed even by some black public figures, including Spike Lee,[7] pastor Calvin Butts and activist C. Delores Tucker.
^Krims, Adam (2000). Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity. Cambridge University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780521634472.
^James C. Howell, The History of Street Gangs in the United States: Their Origins and Transformations (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2015), pp 82–85.
^*Gangs and Gang Crime (2008) Michael Newton
Gangsters Encyclopedia page 59, (2007) Michael Newton
Encyclopedia of gangs page 44, Louis Kontos, David Brotherton
Bloods and Crips: The Genesis of a Genocide: page 42 (2009) Donovan Simmons, Terry Moses
The Killing of Tupac Shakur Cathy Scott
^"Gangsta Rap – What Is Gangsta Rap". Rap.about.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
^ abPhilips, Chuck (July 19, 1992). "COVER STORY : The Uncivil War : The battle between the Establishment and supporters of rap music reopens old wounds of race and class". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
^"Cam'ron on The O'Reilly Factor". YouTube. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
^Spike Lee's satirical film Bamboozled likens gangsta rap to minstrel shows and blackface.
Gangstarap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture and values typical of urban gangs, reality...
GangstaRap may refer to: Gangstarap, a style of hip hop music GangstaRap (album), by Ice-T, 2006 "GangstaRap", a 1999 single by Ill Bill Gangsta Rap...
sensitive direction following the commercial decline of gangstarap. The trap and mumble rap subgenres have become the most popular form of hip hop during...
1979 – January 1, 2023), better known by her stage name Gangsta Boo, was an American rapper. She rose to prominence as a member of Three 6 Mafia, which...
conform to any of the traditional stereotypes of rap, such as gangsta, bass, hardcore, and party rap. Instead, they blur genres drawing equally from funk...
late 1980s, hardcore rap increasingly became largely synonymous with West Coast gangstarap, with artists like N.W.A infusing "gangsta" themed stories of...
and direction. Early gangstarap often showed significant overlap with political and conscious rap. Pioneers in the gangstarap genre such as Ice-T, N...
in hip-hop history, abandoned his introspective lyrics for volatile gangstarap. In addition to his music career, Shakur also found considerable success...
Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album by American gangstarap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton...
religiosity. Unlike the genre's more commercially-dominant counterpart gangstarap, prog-rap artists typically disavow intracultural violence and economic materialism...
Look up gangsta or gangstarap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Gangsta may refer to: Gangstarap, a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore...
The "Star Wars GangstaRap" is a parody song based on the original Star Wars trilogy. The song was later popularized as a Flash-animated music video and...
bring pleasure to them". Another article writes how in the genre of "gangstarap", women, but more specifically African American women, are lessened to...
American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1988 album Straight Outta Compton contributed to gangstarap's widespread...
early 1990s, several American politicians attacked rap artists associated with the subgenre gangstarap, including the Geto Boys. A high-profile incident...
The following is a list of gangstarap artists. 11/5 187 Fac 213 21 Savage 3X Krazy 40 Glocc 50 Cent Above the Law AMG AZ Ant Banks B.G. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony...
known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper and chef. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and...
(born November 17, 1973), better known by his stage name Gangsta Pat, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee who established himself in the Memphis...
emergence of road rap, a genre that took influences from American gangstarap and focused on crime, gang, or violent themes. Road rap was pioneered by...
Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music...
"GangstaRap Made Me Do It" is the first single from Ice Cube's studio album, Raw Footage. It was released with a music video directed by Jonathan Silver...
Global Information