Gangsta Gangster Rap Satire

The year is 1991, it is a Friday afternoon and you just finished your last class of the day. As you head to your dorm, you put your headphones into your Walkman and turn to the nearest hip-hop radio station. The first thing you hear is the intro to Gangsta Gangsta by N.W.A. You can not relate to anything in this song because you are from the suburbs, your dad is a police officer, and you have never seen a marijuana joint in your life. But you own a pair of Loc sunglasses and Dickies jeans so you feel like you identify with Ice Cube’s lyrics. If your parents knew that sending you to college in Los Angeles would turn you into some gangster wannabe, you would be sent back to Ohio. You can not help it because everywhere you go, you are exposed …show more content…

Gangster rap was what was selling at the time but even top record executives saw it as just a trend that was going to fade away. This served as a way to justify it’s vulgarity and explicit messages. When asked if he approved of gangster rap, Russell Simmons, a pioneer hip-hop executive, stated that while he did not like the growing popularity of gangster rap records in rap, he was “an art dealer and that's what is selling now... It's just a trend, and it will pass and something new will come along" (Sims). Thirty years later, gangster rap, in some form, is still a present force in …show more content…

It influenced fashion, movies, and even alcohol consumption. Gangster rap did not seem to have an image until N.W.A. came out. While they were not flashy in appearance and usually wore basic Dickie jeans, flannel t-shirts, and a baseball cap, their attitude and demeanor served as the real fashion statement. Often wearing Loc sunglasses, they gave off a serious, straight-to-business vibe, a vibe that was certainly intimidating. Other gangster rappers followed the fashions of N.W.A., sometimes even sporting a bandana in the color of their affiliated gang. 2Pac, however, displayed less subtle fashion choices. He often wore no shirt, showing off his tattoos, and had a bandana tied around his bald head. However it was the nose piercing that really made a statement. It seemed out of place for the symbol of hip-hop himself to wear something that was previously marked as feminine. Gangster rap fashions, especially 2Pac’s are still seen today, with a majority of rappers covering their bodies with tattoos, to come off harder than they actually