Editing Gangsta rap (section)

==1989–1997: Golden age==

===N.W.A and Ice Cube===
The first blockbuster gangsta rap album was [[N.W.A]]'s ''[[Straight Outta Compton]]'' (1989). It established West Coast hip hop as a vital genre and Los Angeles as a legitimate rival to hip hop's long-time capital, [[New York City]].<ref>Kory Grow, [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/n-w-as-straight-outta-compton-12-things-you-didnt-know-707207 "N.W.A's 'Straight Outta Compton': 12 things you didn't know"], ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' website  Retrieved 10 May 2023</ref> ''Straight Outta Compton'' sparked the first major controversy regarding hip hop lyrics when their song "[[Fuck tha Police]]" earned a letter from [[FBI]] Assistant Director, Milt Ahlerich, strongly expressing [[police|law enforcement]]'s resentment of the song.<ref>{{cite news|first=Ryan |last=Ritchie |title=Eazy to be hard |url=http://www.presstelegram.com/entertainment/ci_5315527 |website=Presstelegram.com|date=2007-02-28 |access-date=2008-01-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304170024/http://www.presstelegram.com/entertainment/ci_5315527 |archive-date=March 4, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>Deflem, Mathieu. 2020. [https://deflem.blogspot.com/2019/07/music-censorship-labeling.html "Popular Culture and Social Control: The Moral Panic on Music Labeling."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803015238/https://deflem.blogspot.com/2019/07/music-censorship-labeling.html |date=August 3, 2019 }} ''American Journal of Criminal Justice'' 45(1):2–24 (First published online July 24, 2019).</ref> Due to the influence of Ice-T, N.W.A, and [[Ice Cube]]'s early solo career, gangsta rap is often somewhat erroneously credited as being a mostly [[West Coast hip hop|West Coast]] phenomenon, despite the contributions of East Coast acts like Boogie Down Productions in shaping the genre and despite Philadelphia rapper Schoolly D being generally regarded as the first gangsta rapper.

In the early 1990s, former N.W.A member [[Ice Cube]] would further influence gangsta rap with his hardcore, socio-political solo albums, which suggested the potential of gangsta rap as a political medium to give voice to inner-city youth. Ice Cube's early solo albums and EPs, including ''[[AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted]]'' (1990), ''[[Death Certificate (album)|Death Certificate]]'' (1991), the ''[[Kill at Will]]'' EP (1991) and ''[[The Predator (Ice Cube album)|The Predator]]'' (1992) all contributed significantly to the development of gangsta rap. N.W.A's second album, ''[[Efil4zaggin]]'' (1991) (released after Ice Cube's departure from the group), broke ground as the first gangsta rap album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts.

Aside from N.W.A and Ice-T, [[Too Short]] (from [[Oakland, California|Oakland]]), [[Frost (rapper)|Kid Frost]] and the [[South Gate, California|South Gate]]–based Latino group [[Cypress Hill]] were pioneering West Coast rappers with gangsta rap songs and themes. [[Above the Law (group)|Above the Law]] also played an important role in the gangsta rap movement, as their 1990 debut album ''[[Livin' Like Hustlers]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=above_the_law|title=TrouserPress.com :: Above the Law|website=www.trouserpress.com | access-date=24 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041107044817/http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=above_the_law |archive-date=November 7, 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/17426-above-the-law-livin-like-hustlers|title=The Quietus {{pipe}} Features {{pipe}} Anniversary {{pipe}} Is Above The Law's Livin' Like Hustlers The Best Gangsta Rap Album?|website=The Quietus |date=March 13, 2015 | access-date=24 April 2021}}</ref>

===Ice-T's solo career===
[[Ice-T]] released one of the seminal albums of the genre, ''[[OG: Original Gangster]]'' in 1991. It also contained a song by his new [[thrash metal]] group [[Body Count (band)|Body Count]], who released a [[Body Count (album)|self-titled album]] in 1992. Particular controversy surrounded one of its songs "[[Cop Killer (song)|Cop Killer]]". The rock song was intended to speak from the viewpoint of a police target seeking revenge on racist, brutal cops. Ice-T's rock song gained controversy, with observers ranging from President [[George H.W Bush]] and his Vice President [[Dan Quayle]], the [[National Rifle Association of America]], police organizations across the nation to various police advocacy groups.<ref name="PhillipsLATimes">{{cite news|last=Philips|first=Chuck |author-link=Chuck Philips|title=Cover Story : 'Arnold Schwarzenegger blew away dozens of cops as the Terminator. But I don't hear anybody complaining.' : A Q & A with Ice-T about rock, race and the "Cop Killer" furor|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-19-ca-4406-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 19, 1992|access-date=2014-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112203705/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-07-19/entertainment/ca-4406_1_cop-killer|archive-date=January 12, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Consequently, Time Warner Music refused to release Ice-T's upcoming album ''Home Invasion'' and dropped Ice-T from the label. Ice-T suggested that the furor over the song was an overreaction, telling journalist [[Chuck Philips]] "... they've done movies about nurse killers and teacher killers and student killers. Arnold Schwarzenegger blew away dozens of cops as the Terminator. But I don't hear anybody complaining about that." In the same interview, Ice-T suggested to Philips that the misunderstanding of "Cop Killer", the misclassification of it as a rap song (rather than a rock song), and the attempts to censor it had racial overtones: "The Supreme Court says it's OK for a white man to burn a cross in public. But nobody wants a black man to write a record about a cop killer."<ref name="PhillipsLATimes"/>

Ice-T's next album, ''[[Home Invasion (album)|Home Invasion]]'', was postponed as a result of the controversy, and was finally released in 1993. While it contained gangsta elements, it was his most [[political hip hop|political]] album to date. After a proposed censoring of the ''Home Invasion'' album cover art, he left [[Warner Bros. Records]]. Ice-T's subsequent releases went back to straightforward gangsta rap, but were not as popular as his earlier releases.

===G-funk and Death Row Records===
{{Main|G-funk}}

In 1992, former N.W.A member [[Dr. Dre]] released ''[[The Chronic]]'' (1992) include "[[Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang]]", a massive seller (eventually going triple platinum) which showed that explicit gangsta rap could hold as much mass commercial appeal as the pop-oriented rap styles of [[MC Hammer]], [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince|the Fresh Prince]] and [[Tone Lōc]]. The album established the dominance of West Coast gangsta rap and Dre's new post-N.W.A label, [[Death Row Records]] (owned by Dr. Dre along with [[Marion "Suge" Knight]]), as Dre's album showcased a stable of promising new Death Row rappers. The album also popularized the subgenre of G-funk, a slow, drawled form of hip hop that dominated the rap charts for some time.

Extensively sampling [[Psychedelic funk|P-Funk]] bands, especially [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]] and [[Funkadelic]], G-funk was multi-layered, yet simple and easy to dance to. The simple message of its lyrics, that life's problems could be overcome by guns, alcohol and marijuana, endeared it to a teenage audience. The single "[[Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang]]" became a crossover big hit,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Errol |url=http://www.clashmusic.com/features/classic-albums-dr-dre-the-chronic |title=Classic Albums: Dr Dre - The Chronic |journal=[[Clash (magazine)|Clash]] |date=January 11, 2013 | access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref> with its humorous, ''[[House Party (film)|House Party]]''-influenced video becoming an MTV staple despite that network's historic orientation towards rock music.

Another success was [[Ice Cube]]'s ''[[The Predator (1992 album)|Predator]]'' album, released at about the same time as ''The Chronic'' in 1992. It sold over 2 million copies and was No. 1 in the charts, propelled by the hit single "[[It Was a Good Day]]", despite the fact that Ice Cube was not a Death Row artist. One of the genre's biggest crossover stars was Dre's protégé [[Snoop Dogg|Snoop Doggy Dogg]] (''[[Doggystyle]]''), whose exuberant, party-oriented themes made songs such as "[[Gin and Juice]]" club anthems and top hits nationwide. In 1996, [[Tupac Shakur|2Pac]] signed with Death Row and released the multi-platinum double album ''[[All Eyez on Me]]''. Not long afterward, his murder brought gangsta rap into the national headlines and propelled his posthumous ''[[The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory]]'' album (released under the alias "Makaveli") to the top of the charts. Lill 1/2 Dead released gangsta album. [[Warren G]] and [[Nate Dogg]] were other musicians at the forefront of G-funk. Successful G-funk influenced artists also included [[Spice 1]], [[MC Lyte]] and [[MC Ren]], all of them reaching decent positions on the Billboard 100, or soul chart in spite of not being associated with Death Row. Ray Luv released G single "Last Nite" in 1995.

===Mafioso rap===
Mafioso rap is a [[hardcore hip hop]] subgenre founded by [[Kool G Rap]] in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/only-built-4-cuban-linx-mw0000171262 |title=Only Built 4 Cuban Linx – Raekwon |website=Allmusic.com |access-date=November 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013175854/http://www.allmusic.com/album/only-built-4-cuban-linx-mw0000171262 |archive-date=October 13, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> East Coast mafioso rap was partially the counterpart of [[West Coast hip hop|West Coast]] gangsta rap and [[G-funk]]. Mafioso rap is characterized by references to famous [[Gangster|mobsters]] and [[made man|mafiosi]], [[racketeering]] and [[organized crime]] (particularly the [[Sicilian Mafia]], the [[American Mafia|Italian-American Mafia]], [[African-American organized crime]], and [[Latin Americans|Latin American]] organized crime or [[drug cartel]]s) or has subject matter that would relate to the mafia. Though a significant amount of mafioso rap was grittier and more street-oriented, focusing on street-level organized crime, other mafioso rap artists frequently focused on lavish, self-indulgent, [[Economic materialism|materialistic]], and luxurious subject matter associated with [[crime bosses]] and high-level mobsters, such as expensive drugs, cars, [[champagne]], and semi-legitimate businesses. Though the genre died down for several years, it re-emerged in 1995 when [[Wu-Tang Clan]] member [[Raekwon]] released his critically acclaimed solo album, ''[[Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...]]''<ref>Ma, David. [http://www.waxpoetics.com/2009/07/cuban-linx-revisited-interview-with-raekwon/ ''Cuban Linx'' Revisited (page 1)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206005821/http://www.waxpoetics.com/2009/07/cuban-linx-revisited-interview-with-raekwon/ |date=December 6, 2010 }}. ''[[Wax Poetics]]''. Retrieved 20 April 2021</ref> That year also saw the release of ''[[Doe or Die]]'' by [[AZ (rapper)|AZ]] and the release of the album ''[[4,5,6]]'' by subgenre originator Kool G Rap. His album featured other mafioso rap artists, including [[MF Grimm]], [[Nas]], and B-1. These three albums brought the genre to mainstream recognition, and inspired other East Coast rappers, such as [[Jay-Z]], [[The Notorious B.I.G.|Notorious B.I.G.]], [[Nas]], and [[Diddy]] to adopt the same themes with their albums ''[[Reasonable Doubt (album)|Reasonable Doubt]]'', ''[[Life After Death]],'' ''[[It Was Written]],'' and ''[[No Way Out (Puff Daddy album)|No Way Out]]'', respectively.

East Coast gangsta rap was popular by the late 1990s, and there were more modern mafioso rap albums such as [[Ghostface Killah]]'s ''[[Fishscale]]'', [[Jay-Z]]'s ''[[American Gangster (album)|American Gangster]],'' [[Raekwon]]'s ''[[Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II]],'' and [[Rick Ross]]'s ''[[Deeper Than Rap]]''.  Many rappers, such as [[T.I.]], [[Fabolous]], [[Jadakiss]], [[Jim Jones (rapper)|Jim Jones]], and [[Cassidy (rapper)|Cassidy]] have maintained popularity with lyrics about [[African-American organized crime]] or "hustling". [[Lil' Kim]]'s mafioso album ''[[La Bella Mafia]]'', released in 2003, was a commercial success, receiving platinum certification.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database |title=Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – March 03, 2015 |website=Riaa.com |access-date=2015-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830055854/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database |archive-date=August 30, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===East Coast hardcore hip hop and the East Coast–West Coast feud===
Meanwhile, rappers from New York City, such as [[Wu-Tang Clan]], [[Black Moon (group)|Black Moon]] and [[Boot Camp Clik]], [[Onyx (hip hop group)|Onyx]], [[Big L]], [[Mobb Deep]], [[Nas]], [[the Notorious B.I.G.]], [[DMX]] and [[the Lox]], among others, pioneered a grittier sound known as [[hardcore hip hop]]. In 1994, both [[Nas]] and the Notorious B.I.G. released their debut albums ''[[Illmatic]]'' (April 19) and ''[[Ready to Die]]'' (September 13) respectively, which paved the way for New York City to take back dominance from the West Coast. In an interview for ''[[The Independent]]'' in 1994, the Wu-Tang Clan's [[GZA]] commented on the term "gangsta rap" and its association with his group's music and hip hop at the time:

{{Blockquote|Our music is not "gangsta rap". There's no such thing. The label was created by the media to limit what we can say. We just deliver the truth in a brutal fashion. The young black male is a target. Snoop (Doggy Dogg) has gone four times platinum and makes more money than the president. They don't like that, so you hear "ban this, ban that". We attack people's emotions. It's a real live show that brings out the inside in people. Like I said, intense.<ref name="ALewis">Lewis, Angela. [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/pop-music--on-pop-1386521.html On Pop: Life & Style] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224171843/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/pop-music--on-pop-1386521.html |date=December 24, 2012 }}. ''[[The Independent]]''. Retrieved on 2009-08-03.</ref>|GZA}}

It is widely speculated{{By whom|date=June 2023}} that the ensuing [[East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry]] between [[Death Row Records]] and [[Bad Boy Records]] resulted in the deaths of [[Death Row Records]]' [[Tupac Shakur|2Pac]] and [[Bad Boy Records]]' the Notorious B.I.G.. Even before the murders, Death Row had begun to unravel, as co-founder Dr. Dre had left earlier in 1996; in the aftermath of 2Pac's death, label owner [[Suge Knight]] was sentenced to prison for a parole violation, and Death Row proceeded to sink quickly as most of its remaining artists, including [[Snoop Dogg]], left. Dr. Dre, at the [[MTV Video Music Awards]], claimed that "gangsta rap was dead". While Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Entertainment fared better than its West Coast rival, it eventually began to lose popularity and support by the end of the decade, due to its pursuit of a more mainstream sound, as well as challenges from [[Atlanta]] and New Orleans–based labels, especially, [[Master P]]'s [[No Limit Records|No Limit]] stable of popular rappers.

===Southern and Midwestern gangsta rap===
[[Houston]] first came on to the national scene in the late 1980s with the violent and disturbing stories told by the [[Geto Boys]] (hit single "Mind Playing Tricks On Me"), with member [[Scarface (rapper)|Scarface]] achieving major solo success in the mid-1990s. After the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. and the media attention surrounding them, gangsta rap became an even greater commercial force. However, most of the industry's major labels were in turmoil, bankrupt, or creatively stagnant, and new labels representing the rap scenes in new locations sprang up.

Master P's No Limit Records label, based out of New Orleans, became quite popular in the late 1990s, though critical success was very scarce, with the exceptions of some later additions like [[Mystikal]] (''[[Ghetto Fabulous (album)|Ghetto Fabulous]]'', 1998). No Limit had begun its rise to national popularity with Master P's ''[[The Ghetto Is Trying to Kill Me!]]'' (1994), and had major hits with [[Silkk the Shocker]] (''[[Charge It 2 Da Game]]'', 1998) and [[C Miller|C-Murder]] (''[[Life or Death (C-Murder album)|Life or Death]]'', 1998). No Limit released [[Mia X]], Mr. Serv-On and TRU albums also. [[Cash Money Records]], also based out of New Orleans, had enormous commercial success with Juvenile, B.G., Hot Boys, beginning in the late 1990s with a similar gangsta rap style like No Limit.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview with BRYAN "BIRDMAN" WILLIAMS, co-owner of Cash Money Records – Feb 6, 2012|url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Birdman.html|work=HitQuarters| access-date=10 May 2023 |author=Jan Blumentrath}}</ref>

[[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] collective [[Hypnotize Minds]], led by [[Three 6 Mafia]] and [[Project Pat]], have taken gangsta rap to some of its darker extremes. Led by in-house producers [[DJ Paul]] and [[Juicy J]], the label became known for its pulsating, menacing beats and uncompromisingly thuggish lyrics. However, in the mid-2000s, the group began attaining more mainstream popularity, eventually culminating in the [[Three 6 Mafia]] winning an [[Academy Award]] for the song "[[It's Hard out Here for a Pimp]]" from ''[[Hustle & Flow]]''.

The [[chopped and screwed]] genre was developed in [[Houston]], Texas, the location which is still most associated with the style. [[DJ Screw]] is credited with the creation of and early experimentation with the genre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2013/03/10-chopped-and-screwed-songs-that-never-get-old/ |title=10 CHOPPED AND SCREWED SONGS THAT NEVER GET OLD |last=Cheng |first=Briana |publisher=Pigeons and Planes |access-date=2016-02-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205122601/http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2013/03/10-chopped-and-screwed-songs-that-never-get-old/ |archive-date=February 5, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> DJ Screw began making [[mixtape]]s of the slowed-down music in the early 1990s and began the [[Screwed Up Click]]. This provided a significant outlet for MCs in the South-Houston area, and helped local rappers such as Willie D, [[Big Moe]], [[Lil' Flip]], [[E.S.G. (rapper)|E.S.G.]], [[UGK]], [[Lil' Keke]], [[South Park Mexican]], and [[Z-Ro]] gain regional and sometimes national prominence.

===Narco-rap===
Narco-rap is a music scene, similar to the early underground gangsta rap scene, that emerged in north-eastern Mexico and southern [[Texas]]. Its lyrical content, popular among Latino youth, is violent and focuses on the power of drug cartels and the gruesomeness of the [[Mexican drug war]]. Narco-rap emerged in the urban areas of [[Tamaulipas]], a Mexican state currently subject to a turf war between [[Los Zetas]] and the [[Gulf Cartel]]. Narco-rappers sing about the life of mobsters and the reality of the cities under the cartel's rule. Some of the key players of the genre are [[Samuel Flores Borrego#Narco-Rap legacy|Cano y Blunt]], DemenT and Big Los.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/es/article/en-tamaulipas-los-narcos-disparan-a-ritmo-de-rap-0000156-v5n4/|title=En Tamaulipas los narcos disparan a ritmo de rap – VICE – México|website=Vice.com|date=June 13, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/06/23/hfr-el-narco-rap-la-banda-sonora-del-horror-en-reynosa|title=El ''narco-rap'', la banda sonora del horror en Reynosa|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131031413/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/06/23/hfr-el-narco-rap-la-banda-sonora-del-horror-en-reynosa|archive-date=January 31, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://diario.mx/El_Paso/2013-06-16_0ee2cdd6/se-suman-los-raperos-norteamericanos-a-la-ola-narco/|title=Se suman los raperos norteamericanos a la 'ola narco'|last=Chaparro|first=Luis|website=Diario.mx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elnuevoheraldo.com/el_valle/noticias_locales/mcallen-reynosa-la-maldosa/article_b3e9d5da-e8e4-11e2-b83d-0019bb30f31a.html|title=McALLEN: 'Reynosa la Maldosa'|website=Elnuevoheraldo.com|access-date=January 20, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611183556/http://www.elnuevoheraldo.com/el_valle/noticias_locales/mcallen-reynosa-la-maldosa/article_b3e9d5da-e8e4-11e2-b83d-0019bb30f31a.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/06/us-rappers-dedicate-their-songs-to.html|title=Borderland Beat: US Rappers Dedicate Their Songs to Mexican Drug Lords|website=Borderlandbeat.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/mexicos-narco-rappers-are-here-to-stay-cano-blunt-interview-reynosa/|title=Mexico's Narco Rappers Are Here to Stay – VICE – United Kingdom|website=Vice.com|date=June 18, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nuestraaparenterendicion.com/index.php/biblioteca/cronicas-y-reportajes/item/962-voy-a-morir-porque-creen-que-soy-un-zeta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129092240/http://nuestraaparenterendicion.com/index.php/biblioteca/cronicas-y-reportajes/item/962-voy-a-morir-porque-creen-que-soy-un-zeta|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-01-29|title=Voy a morir porque creen que soy un Zeta|website=Nuestraaparenterendicion.com}}</ref>