Gangsta Rap Beats

History

A subgenre of hip-hop, Gangsta Rap Beats was pioneered in the early 1980s and grabbed the attention of the world for its violent lyrics which many felt promoted vandalism, rape, racism, homophobia, drug dealing, misogyny, drive-by shootings, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, promiscuity, materialism and street gangs. It was condemned by religious leaders and many other right and left wing commentators and created much controversy due to the harsh aggressive lyrics for which it became known.

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The Gangsta Rap Beats style was heavily criticized by Spike Lee in his film Bamboozled where he described it as being similar to the black minstrel shows in which black and white performers dressed up as African Americans and acted uncultured to entertain predominantly white audiences. Many Gangsta artists have defended the style as an art form and say they are acting by adopting a character and that they do not necessarily condone the issues in their music.

Main Features

The main style of Gangsta Rap Beats is the heavy beats and the aggressive lyrics. It became a phenomenon in the early 1990s but due to the controversy surrounding the lyrics, it has been widely condemned. It has definite drum beats and beatboxing with the harsh lyrics throughout. The style of music is still quite popular today and relies heavily on the use of profanities such as ‘hoe’ and ‘nigga’. Lyrics have a definite rhyming style and accompanying music videos glorify materialism featuring expensive jewellery and cars. Most artists in the gangsta rap genre are male as most female rappers tend to steer clear of this style of violent lyrics.

In 1984 Schooly D released his single ‘Gangster Boogie’ which was the first single to use the word ‘ganster’. He then followed up with his next single ‘P.S.K’ (park side killers) where the reference to gangs was apparent and the song also had direct references to guns. Inspired by Schooly D, Ice-T released what has been referred to as the first actual gangst rap song – ‘6 in the Mornin’. For the rest of the 1980s, Ice-T released more gangsta albums with ‘Rhyme Pays’ which he released in 1987. In 1988 he released ‘Power’ and in 1989 ‘The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech’ and ‘Just Watch What You Say’ were released. All these albums contained lyrics which could be construed as glorifying the gangsta lifestyle.

Artists

One of the groups most commonly associated with gangsta rap is N.W.A. who used more aggressive and violent lyrics which were designed to shock. They openly used words such as nigger which was seen as extremely controversial at the time. Founded by an ex drug-dealer Eazy-E, N.W.A. became one of the premier gangsta rap groups and they founded their own label Ruthless Records to promote their music.

Today’s artists include Snoop Dog, Nelly, 50 Cent and Ja Rule and the gangsta rap beats style continues despite heavy criticism from all corners of the globe.

You can download beats and music from the Gangsta Rap Beats genre at beats365. Check out the styles from the 1980’s and today on the beats365 website.

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