Editing Gangsta rap (section)

==Criticism and debate{{anchor|Criticisms}}==
The explicit nature of gangsta rap's lyrics has made it heavily controversial. There is also debate about the [[Causality|causation]] between gangsta rap and violent behavior. A study by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, Calif., finds young people who listen to rap and hip-hop are more likely to abuse alcohol and commit violent acts.<ref>{{cite news |title=Study: Rap Music Linked to Alcohol, Violence |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5390075 |website=NPR |access-date=10 February 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011642/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5390075 |archive-date=February 12, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> The study did not find a causal relationship between rap music and alcohol abuse and violent acts, noting that young people who engage in this behavior may listen to rap music for any number of reasons, including to fit into a subculture or to find relatable content that reflects their life experiences and trauma. A 2020 study found no causal relationship between [[drill music]], a gangsta rap genre with notoriously violent lyrics, and real-world violence when compared to police-recorded violent crime data in London.<ref>{{Cite arXiv |last=Kleinberg |first=Bennett |date=2020-03-09 |title=Violent music vs violence and music: Drill rap and violent crime in London |class=cs.SI |eprint=2004.04598 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Critics of gangsta rap hold that it glorifies and encourages criminal behavior, and may be at least partially to blame for the existence of street gangs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/is-gangsta-rap-hurting-americas-children/|title=Is Gangsta Rap Hurting America's Children? – Fox News|date=November 14, 2003|website=Fox News|access-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208164723/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/11/14/is-gangsta-rap-hurting-america-children.html|archive-date=December 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 
Those who are supportive or at least less critical of gangsta rap hold that crime on the street level is for the most part a reaction to [[poverty]] and that gangsta rap reflects the reality of lower class life. Many believe that the blaming of crime on gangsta rap is a form of unwarranted [[moral panic]]; [[The World Development Report 2011]], for instance, confirmed that most street gang members maintain that poverty and unemployment is what drove them to crime; none made reference to music.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDRS/Resources/WDR2011_Full_Text.pdf |title=Conflict, Security, and Development |newspaper=Siteresources.worldbank.org |date=2011 |access-date=November 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220114710/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDRS/Resources/WDR2011_Full_Text.pdf |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ice Cube]] famously satirized the blame placed on gangsta rap for social ills in his song "[[Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It]]". Many gangsta rappers maintain they are playing a "role" in their music like an actor in a play or film, and do not encourage the behavior in their music.<ref name="mic.com">{{cite web|url=http://mic.com/articles/125023/slim-jesus-new-video-drill-time-is-being-hilariously-destroyed-by-the-internet|title=Slim Jesus' New Video "Drill Time" Is Being Hilariously Destroyed by the Internet|website=Mic.com|date=September 8, 2015 |access-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208055620/http://mic.com/articles/125023/slim-jesus-new-video-drill-time-is-being-hilariously-destroyed-by-the-internet|archive-date=December 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Moreover, English scholar Ronald A.T. Judy has argued that gangsta rap reflects the experience of blackness at the end of political economy, when capital is no longer wholly produced by human labor but in a globalized system of commodities.<ref>Judy, 1994, p. 211-230.</ref> In this economy, gangsta rap traffics blackness as a commodifiable effect of "being a nigga".<ref>Judy, 1994, 227.</ref> In other words, gangsta rap defines the experience of blackness, in which he locates in gangsta rap's deployment of the word "nigga", in this new global economic system as "adaptation to the force of commodification".<ref>Judy, 1994, 229.</ref> For Judy, ''nigga'' (and gangsta rap) becomes an epistemologically authentic category for describing the condition of being black in the modern "realm of things".

Despite this, many who hold that gangsta rap is not responsible for social ills are critical of the way many gangsta rappers intentionally exaggerate their criminal pasts for the sake of [[street credibility]]. [[Rick Ross]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.7847/title.rick-ross-admits-correctional-officer-past|title=Rick Ross Admits Correctional Officer Past|website=Hiphopdx.com|date=October 7, 2008|access-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208131134/http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.7847/title.rick-ross-admits-correctional-officer-past|archive-date=December 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Slim Jesus]]<ref name="mic.com"/> among others have been heavily criticized for this.

===''2Pacalypse Now'' controversy===
In 1992, then-U.S. Vice President [[Dan Quayle]] blasted the recording industry for producing [[Hip hop music|rap music]] he believed led to violence. Quayle called on [[WarnerMedia|Time Warner Inc.]] subsidiary, [[Interscope Records]], to withdraw [[Tupac Shakur]]'s 1991 debut album ''[[2Pacalypse Now]]'' from stores. Quayle stated, "There is absolutely no reason for a record like this to be published—It has no place in our society." Quayle's motivation came in light of the murder of a Texas state trooper Bill Davidson, who had been shot by [[Ronald Ray Howard]] after he had been pulled over. Howard was driving a stolen vehicle while songs from ''2Pacalypse Now'' were playing on the tape deck when he was stopped by the officer. The family of Davidson filed a civil suit against Shakur and Interscope Records, claiming the record's violent lyrics incite "imminent lawless action".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-23-mn-1144-story.html|title=Quayle Calls for Pulling Rap Album Tied to Murder Case|first=John|last=Broder|date=September 23, 1992|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102042211/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-23/news/mn-1144_1_rap-album|archive-date=November 2, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> District Judge John D. Rainey held that Shakur and the record companies did not have the duty to prevent distributing his music when they could not reasonably foresee violence arising from the distribution, nor was there any intent for the usage of the music as a "product for purposes of recovery under a products liability theory". Judge Rainey concluded the suit by ruling the Davidsons' argument that the music was unprotected speech under the First Amendment was irrelevant.

===C. Delores Tucker===
Politicians such as [[C. Delores Tucker]] have cited concerns with sexually explicit and misogynistic lyrics featured in hip-hop tracks. Tucker claimed the explicit lyrics used in hip-hop songs were threatening to the African-American community. Tucker, who once was the highest-ranking African American woman in the Pennsylvania state government, focused on rap music in 1993, labeling it as "pornographic filth" and claiming it was offensive and demeaning to black women. Tucker stated, "You can't listen to all that language and filth without it affecting you." Tucker also handed out leaflets containing lyrics from rap music and urged people to read them aloud. She picketed stores that sold the music and handed out petitions. She then proceeded to buy stock in [[WarnerMedia|Time Warner]], [[Sony]] and other companies for the sole purpose to protest rap music at shareholders meetings. In 1994, Tucker protested when the [[NAACP]] nominated rapper [[Tupac Shakur]] for one of its image awards as Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture from his role in ''[[Poetic Justice (film)|Poetic Justice]]''.

Some rappers labeled her "narrow-minded", and some ridiculed her in their lyrics, notably Shakur, who mentions her multiple times in his diamond certified 1996 album ''[[All Eyez On Me]]''. Shakur mentions Tucker in the tracks "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch" and "[[How Do U Want It]]", where Shakur raps "Delores Tucker, you's a motherfucker/Instead of trying to help a nigga you destroy a brother." Tucker filed a $10 million lawsuit against Shakur's estate for the comments made in both songs. In her lawsuit, she claimed that the comments were slanderous, caused her emotional distress and invaded her personal privacy. The case was eventually dismissed. Shakur was not the only rap artist to mention her in his songs, as [[Jay-Z]], [[Eminem]], [[Lil' Kim]], [[The Game (rapper)|the Game]] and [[Lil Wayne]] have all previously criticized Tucker for her opposition of the genre.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/13/AR2005101300024.html|title=C. Delores Tucker Dies at 78; Rights and Anti-Rap Activist|first=Yvonne Shinhoster|last=Lamb|date=October 13, 2005|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=January 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025132643/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/13/AR2005101300024.html|archive-date=October 25, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=2+pac&ti=&lab=&genre=&format=&date_option=release&from=&to=&award=&type=&category=&adv=SEARCH|title=Gold & Platinum|website=Riaa.com|access-date=December 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010153610/http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=2+pac&ti=&lab=&genre=&format=&date_option=release&from=&to=&award=&type=&category=&adv=SEARCH|archive-date=October 10, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/music/2014/01/rap-villains-people-rap-fans-hate/c-delores-tucker|title=Rap Villains: 12 People Hip-Hop Fans HateC. Delores Tucker|website=Complex.com|access-date=December 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211054155/http://www.complex.com/music/2014/01/rap-villains-people-rap-fans-hate/c-delores-tucker|archive-date=December 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/spinoff-hip-hop-artists-vs-c-dolores-tucker.1079141/|title=SPINOFF: Hip-Hop Artists vs C. Dolores Tucker|website=Lipstickalley.com|date=September 8, 2016 }}</ref>

===First Amendment rights===
Gangsta rap has also raised questions of whether it is protected speech under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]], since lyrics may express violence and may be considered [[true threat]]s. The Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Elonis v. United States]]'' (2015) that ''[[mens rea]]'', the intent to commit a crime, is necessary to convict someone of a crime for using threatening words in a rap song.

In a notable case, rapper Jamal Knox, performing as "Mayhem Mal", wrote a gangsta rap song named "F*** the Police" shortly after he was arrested for gun and drug charges in Pittsburgh.<ref name=harvard132>{{cite journal |last1=Note |title=Recent Case: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Finds Rap Song a True Threat |journal=[[Harvard Law Review]] |date=2019 |volume=132 |page=1558 |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1558-1565_Online.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302233407/https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1558-1565_Online.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> The song's lyrics specifically named the two arresting officers, and included explicit violent threats including "Let's kill these cops cuz they don't do us no good". One of the officers, believing to be threatened, subsequently left the force.

Knox was convicted of making [[terroristic threat]]s and of [[witness intimidation]] in a bench trial, and the conviction was affirmed by the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]], which held that the song's lyrics amounted to a true threat.<ref name=harvard132/><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Commonwealth v. Knox|vol=190|reporter=A.3d|opinion=1146|court=Pa.|date=2018|url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16830461058030971078 }}</ref> Knox petitioned the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] to hear the case, and academics joined rappers Killer Mike, Chance the Rapper, Meek Mill, Yo Gotti, Fat Joe and 21 Savage in an ''[[amicus curiae]]'' brief arguing that Knox's song should be seen as a political statement and thus is protected speech.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Liptak |first1=Adam |author-link=Adam Liptak |title=Hip-Hop Artists Give the Supreme Court a Primer on Rap Music |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/us/politics/supreme-court-rap-music.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/us/politics/supreme-court-rap-music.html |archive-date=2022-01-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=2 March 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=6 March 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Supreme Court declined review in April 2019.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/politics/supreme-court-jamal-knox-first-amendment/index.html | title = Supreme Court declines to take up First Amendment case brought by rap artist | first = Adrian | last = de Vogue | date = April 15, 2019 | access-date = April 15, 2019 | work = [[CNN]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190415162415/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/politics/supreme-court-jamal-knox-first-amendment/index.html | archive-date = April 15, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/us/first-amendment-rappers-supreme-court-elonis/index.html | title = Hip-hop wants Supreme Court to rule, again, on when threatening to kill constitutes art | first = Eliott C. | last = McLaughlin | date = March 19, 2019 | access-date = April 15, 2019 | work = [[CNN]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190416003852/https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/us/first-amendment-rappers-supreme-court-elonis/index.html | archive-date = April 16, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Knox v. Pennsylvania |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/knox-v-pennsylvania/ |website=[[SCOTUSblog]] |access-date=2 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref>