Gangster Rap
 

So you may or may not have noticed the argument that brewed in the "Punk is Sh*t" thread over gangster rap and the violence and such that it inspires. Some people feel it is close-minded to dismiss the genre while others disagree with its message. Other people see it as a necessary form of speech to speak out against things such as police brutality. What do you all think of the issue? Is it right for people to dismiss it or do these people need to just relax?

Well, I generally believe that art reflects reality, and so I don't feel that Gangsta rap actually inspires violence or gang culture. Apart from the odd idiot who was always going to be a **** up, people can generally appreciate music and not its message.

There are plenty of great artists in gangsta rap, and lyrically it does provide an outlet for social commentary and the odd uplifting message.
But having said that, the glorified violence, misogyny and inflated egos that are almost ubiquitous in the genre really do put me off a lot of the time, just because I can't take it seriously and they come off as idiots.

"If a kid goes around and shoots and whole lotta people in his high school, and is wearing a Marilyn Manson shirt, it doesn't mean Marilyn Manson made him do it, it just means he likes Marilyn Manson."

In my studies I have found that there is not much correlation at all between violent music and violent behaviour. So I can't really say that I dislike gangster rap because it encourages violence. I mean, how many of us play relatively violent video games? I highly doubt we've been inspired to go shoot or bash people up. (Or have we...)

That being said however, I don't like the genre for many other reasons, including several attitudes it endorses... like attitudes towards women for example. Not to mention that I also don't find the genre very talented or captivating. But that's just personal opinion.

This whole offensive to women thing in hip hop has always made me laugh.

It's like some rapper can say he wants to kill some guy , then call a woman a bitch , and yet it's the woman he's being hateful towards :laughing:

Yeah but the killing is always portrayed as glamourous, and if you get shot you're a noble gangster with a flashy memorial shrine of gangsters or whatever. But the women are never really shown in any positive sense. Plus the representation of women is more serious because rape/sexual abuse/ sexual assault/ gender discrimination is more prevalent in society than gangsters killing each other. But I'll shut up I don't want to get into this whole gender thing again, ha.

i think it's quite clear that gangsta rap, on the real hardcore more underground side, glorifies the violence and the lifestyle. in doing that, it would affect the way that people from deprived, gangland backgrounds view the lifestyle into which they have been born.

sure, it is true that it may not take somebody from a more privileged background and encourage them to become a drug-dealer, but it sure ain't doing much good for people who grow up in environments that make it almost certain they'll end up in a gang of some sort. in glorifying the lifestyle, it leads such people, rather than taking positive measures to try to get out of it, to rather just accept it as a part of life and a matter of course.

completely denying its effect on people from impoverished, gang-laden backgrounds is absurd and i can't see for a second how anybody could do so.

Maybe they're just passionate about violence. I would rather them sing about what their passionate about then what people want them to sing about.

What if they're passionate about rape? Does that make it good?

It doesn't make rape good, it might make the music good. Passion almost always equals good music.

Songs about raping or brutally killing people (in a non metaphorical sense) are not good, period.