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| Gangsta Rap: Music or Conspiracy Theory? |
| All eyes now on Alicia Keys' controversy |
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Amin George Forji (amingeorge)  |
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Published 2008-04-17 04:48 (KST) |
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A new but controversial stream of Hip hop known as gangsta rap emerged in the late 1980s and gained both popularity and notoriety in the 1990s; "gangsta" denoting the corruption of the word "gangster." With many African-Americans viewing the cops at the time as brutal, racist and abusive, most gangsta rappers sought to satirize conflicts with the law. But the music went far beyond this simple characterization. By and large, it apparently sanctioned many gangster-like illegal activities that plunged one into trouble with the law, including drug use, hooliganism, the denigration of women and prostitution. In fact, violence was the watchword of this genre of music, although there is a common parlance that the actual definition of gangsta rap itself depends on the musician.
Gangsta Rap Gets Bloody
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TODAY'S TOP STORIES |
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FROM THE SECTION |
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| Things got rough when Death Row Records, based in southern California got into a bitter rivalry with Bad Boy Entertainment of New York culminating into what became known as the East Coast-West Coast feud. Any rapper who recorded with the rivalry corporation eventually became the enemy of all the other rappers in the enemy company. They sang music to blast one another, and at the apex of the fight, two prominent rappers from opposite recording houses: Tupac Shakur in 1996 and Notorious B:I:G in 1997, were gunned down in Las Vegas and Los Angeles respectively, both murders in crowded streets. Although both of their music gained more popularity at post mortem, gangsta rap saw a gradual but sure demise since their deaths.
Conspiracy Theory?
Grammy award winning artist Alicia Keys in an interview with Blender magazine that went on newsstands Tuesday, sparked new controversy by alleging that there was in fact never anything as gangsta rap, and further that it was created by the American government so that black people could kill one another.
"'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. 'Gangsta rap' didn't exist," 27-year-old Alicia is quoted in the magazine as saying. The west coast-east coast feud, she added was stimulated "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."
As soon as the story hit the newsstands, Alicia Keys proceeded to retract her original statement, softening her tone thus:
"The point that I was trying to make was that the term was oversloganized by some of the media causing reactions that were not always positive. Many of the 'gangsta rap' lyrics articulate the problems of the artists' experiences and I think all of us, including our leaders, could be doing more to address these problems including drugs, gang violence, crime, and other related social issues."
The larger question, however, remains: was gangsta rap a controversy theory in anyway? Is there any gist of truth in Alicia Keys' claims? The fact of the matter is that although it might be difficult to think in those terms, it remains a fact however that there was a certain degree of negligence in pursuing those responsible for the murders of Tupac and Notorious B:I:G. There have never been any arrests or explicit investigation to any of the murders, and it is but natural that there would always be the potential for the bitterness of fans to be expressed in various ways.
Whatever the case, her claims have now kept music talk shows and critics talking, and maybe this could even help provoke a transparent investigation into the decade old tragedies.
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©2008 OhmyNews
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 Comments Note: Kindly refrain from personal attacks and profanity. |
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1. xx
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steph , 2008-04-23 18:49
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