Gangta Rap And Racial Stereotypes

The rest of the chapter talks about the similarity of minstrel images in 1990s hip-hop, as evidenced by the defining characteristics of greed, violence, hyper sexuality and pathos in “gangsta rap” (a sub-genre of hip-hop further defined in chapter two). Ogbar balances this landscape with challenges to what he calls “neo-minstrelsy” from both inside and outside the hip-hop community, including discussions of the Spike Lee movie, Bamboozled, underground conscious hip-hop groups such as The Roots and Little Brother, and the activist “Stop Coonin’ Movement”, to name a few. Throughout the book, Ogbar explains how rappers strive for authenticity by “keepin’ it real”. And that is defined by how they rap, walk, talk, and make their

In Brent Staples article, “How Hip Hop Music Lost its Way and Betrayed Its Fans” he claims that “African-American teenagers are beset on all sides by dangerous myths about race. The most poisonous one defines middle-class normalcy and achievement as "white," while embracing violence, illiteracy and drug dealing as "authentically" black. This fiction rears its head from time to time in films and literature. But it finds its most virulent expression in rap music, which started out with a broad palette of themes but has increasingly evolved into a medium for worshipping misogyny, materialism and murder.” Here he is blaming rap, or in other words hip hop, for the things African-Americans are supposedly involved with.

Nelson George states that “Gangsta rap is direct by- product of crack explosion. Unless you grasp that connection nothing else that happened in the hip hop’s journey to national scapegoat will make sense. This is not a chicken-or-the-egg riddle —first came rocks, then gangsta rap” (136). To prove his point he examines the connection between drug culture of the inner city areas and the hip hop music. The money collected from illegal drug deals spent on recordings of gangsta rap music. George says “Suspicion of women, loyalty to the crew, adoption of a stone face in confronting the world, hatred of authority—all major themes of gangsta rap-owe their presence of lyrics and impact on audiences to the large number of African-American men incarcerated in the ‘90s” (138). I agree with his statement that gangsta rap is a directed by- product of crack explosion, because social and racial issues for instance drug dealing influencing the lyrics of music and this explosion of heroin and crack in communities gave birth to gangsta rap.

Many Americans today embrace the culture of hip-hop. Since hip-hop became mainstream its influence has surrounded most Americans. People engage in social issues from the hip-hop culture In his recent work, How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back, John H. McWhorter have offered harsh critiques of hip-hop for delaying and marring the success of black people. McWhorter asserts hip-hop music “celebrates a ghetto life of unending violence and criminality(10).” He believes hip-hop contributes to the stereotype nearly all Americans maintain in regard to black people. Reflecting on harsh song lyrics McWhorter attempts to strengthen his argument. McWhorter acknowledges not all hip-hop promotes violence in people. He concedes “not all hip-hop is belligerent

In her article “Gangsta Culture”, bell hooks explains the social calamities and degeneration of social attitude that has occurred as a result of the glamorization of street gangsta culture. Her purpose is to inform us of the detrimental effects of the patriarchal maleness that has plagued black culture with its violence and incarceration driven norm of supremacy. As a Distinguished Professor of English at City College in New York, hooks structures her text in a cause-and-effect procedure, utilizing a general-to-specific organization scheme to establish her claims. She begins with a biographical segment noting on the influence of Dr. King and Malcolm X in gangsta culture and its cultivation into mainstream media, which aligns her claims on gangsta culture serving as the vehicle for patriarchal manhood. Throughout the article, hooks uses repetition of the term “patriarchal” to emphasize that the prominent figures in hip-hop portraying such image are influencing and presenting a false facade for all black males.

(2004). She discusses the lure of the streets and why so many black men fall slave to it. As a professor of English and leading scholar, she has great knowledge about Gangsta Culture. The overall structure depicts that it is a concept based on actions of black men, mind state and reasoning behind those actions.

This paper will show that the stereotype of the violent, criminal African-American portrayed in rap music lyrics can become a self-fulfilling prophecy for African-Americans. Repeated and long-term exposure to this stereotypical behavior in rap music lyrics can lead to increased aggression and this stereotype becoming accepted as a social norm by African-Americans. I intend to support my argument with examples and analysis of the violent African-American stereotype, and by explaining how the stereotype can become accepted as a social norm.

The film Gangs of New York is set during the American Civil War in Manhattan's Five Points district, a slum neighborhood. The story mainly focuses on young Amsterdam Vallon and Bill "The Butcher" Cutting. There are numerous characters who help shape the film's story. These characters include Jenny Everdeane, "Priest" Vallon, "Monk" McGinn, William "Boss" Tweed, Johnny Sirocco and McGloin.

For example, in the Oxford Dictionary, slang is defined as spoken by people of “low or disreputable character (“Slang”)” and “considered as below the level of standard educated speech (“Slang”).” While artists like Iggy Azalea gain success by using slang to sound cool and knowledgeable about hip-hop, black people are shunned for their supposed lack of intelligence and linguistic ability. Furthermore, hip-hop becomes victim to cultural appropriation when white audiences actively listen to the genre of music. In Rodriquez’s article, his findings conclude that from sales figures of more 17,000 American music stores, approximately two-thirds of the hip-hop music buyers were white (Rodriquez 650). Audiences feed into cultural appropriation by listening to hip-hop music, buying these albums, and going to concerts without having a clue about the hidden political meanings. This proves to be problematic because hip-hop is supposed to express the social and political struggles of blacks. Therefore, how will messages of racial inequality be acknowledged if most listeners are white people born on the top of the racial ladder? These evidences show that white hip-hop artists and audiences enjoy the privileges of black culture while not being subjected to the negative stereotypes or racism that comes with it (Rodriquez 646). While hip-hop is in danger of becoming westernized, this would not be the first time

What I see happening is racism is still going on in 2015. No matter what race is being talked about someone is being accussed of something. Whether it's a white country singer waving the confederate flag or an innocent black man shot people are making a big deal of it. With racism it's very biased, and no one ever truely wins. The violence going on in American is absurd. With today's music especially hip-hop, rappers are very outspoken and are very influential on the issues. Maybe one day in the future race won't be a difficult topic to discuss. Living in a community where no one is scared or feels threaten; just being living life in harmony.

When analyzing rap, the struggle of African American people can be identified. Mukasa argues that gangster rap typically is affiliated with the truth about the struggles of American Americans. He also argues that there is media tends to connect rap with negative things such as crime and violence. This is supported when he says: “There is a tendency to pigeonhole black life and identity, especially as portrayed in mainstream American media, within the confines of a decrepit, immoral, destitute, criminal underworld.” Media overlooks the quality of black life. What the media does not show, Gangsta Rap vividly demonstrates. Gangsta rap is a genre that is characterized by lyrics

"Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society. Rap's contradictory articulations are not signs of absent intellectual clarity; they are a common feature of community and popular cultural dialogues that always offer more than one cultural, social, or political viewpoint. These unusually abundant polyvocal conversations seem irrational when they are severed from the social contexts where everyday struggles over resources, pleasures, and meanings take place.

While hip-hop embodies self-expression as a whole, rap took the ideal and took it to a whole new level: a new form of rap music, ‘gangsta rap’, emerged as a byproduct of the individuality that hip-hop followers pride themselves on. Author Tricia Rose sums up this controversy by saying “a key aspect of much of the criticism that has been leveled at hip-hop is the claim that it glorifies, encourages, and causes violence” (34). Riddled with misogyny and violence, rap has come under fire from numerous critics saying that the music itself is socially inappropriate. Author Rachel Sullivan explains how these opinions and attitudes towards rap music created a public view of hip-hoppers as African American low-lifes, and how rap was blamed for supposedly generating a violent fan base (607). It doesn’t help the situation when rappers tend to revel in their ‘gangsta’ lifestyles. As a response to general criticism, rap artists have used a term called ‘keeping it real’ to defend their music, saying that rap music refers to the hardships of street life in the Bronx community (Rose 134). But while the battle continued to rage on within the rap scene, others were forming their own opinions as

materialism, and misogyny (Rap Rehab). This here validates everything that has been prefaced in regards to the issues that are negatively impacting the state of hip hop from the moment it became mainstream (as previously mentioned during the 1990’s). People don't realize the psychological effect that these white men in suits inflict on the African American youth when they present black people in such a negative light. When you have negativity constantly thrown at your face, you as an individual is set to become a physical embodiment of themalice that surrounds you. Along with deliberate misrepresentation of black people in the media, “Corporations pretend to avoid “controversial” topics and themes. Yet, when it comes to songs featuring black

Gangsta rap songs tend to send a stronger message as they open up the doors to the reality that the black population has to face. People would not fully grasp the whole story behind the struggle for social equality if it was not for the strong messages behind these songs, which are more rebellious, yet also raise a sense of sympathy by the reader as they acknowledge the living standards and treatment of these individuals. To conclude, gangsta rap songs make it easier for a point to get across as they are composed of raw, personal testaments of each individual’s