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On Gangsta RapWritten with the Help of the Reader

Poleigh Driscoll – CMS 298

Popular Culture and Hip-hop / Gangsta Rap

“When one writes a book on popular culture, one really needs to say something about hip-hop. Hip-hop is a package of texts grounded in a distinct musical style but also including images [from MTV or BET music videos, for instance], fashion [FUBU, Phat Farm], elements of personal style [grooming, styles of jewelry and accessories, gestures and posture], and location [urban, specifically inner city].

-Rhetoric in Popular Culture, Barry Brummett

Throughout the rest of the presentation, the term ‘gangsta,’ as Brummett calls it, refers to a conglomerate of hip-hop and rap

cultural elements with more focus on the latter

Musical Style• ‘Gangsta’ music, be it hip-hop or rap, can

verbally and visually express what might, in other contexts, be considered inappropriate or offensive “When we listen to gangsta, we are

involved in things that cannot be said by just anybody in just any circumstance, we are constrained by ‘laws’ grounded in culture and social practice, and we must count on the social knowledge we know others hold to fill in the gaps of what cannot be said” (Brummett, 237)

• Part of what attracts people to gangsta is that it expresses thoughts that they would likely never say aloud themselves The language and lyrics are often very

vivid and explicit- racially, sexually and otherwise

Use of Language: The ‘N’ Word

• Gangsta embraces the ‘n’ word and allows for its use in many contexts that might otherwise be inappropriate

• As Brummett mentions, the ‘n’ word further perpetuates the reality that gangsta is associated with the African American race

• “Non-African Americans might have many reasons to yearn to say {the ‘n’ word,} such as racism or its opposite, a desire for solidarity, or a sense of ‘it’s cool to be Black’” Regardless of intention, it is still inappropriate

for Non-African Americans to use the ‘n’ word or words of the like such as ‘cracker’ despite its common use by African American artists, so gangsta does it for themEach word can be seen as equally offensive especially when used

by Non-African Americans

Imagery• Because of the typically sensitive

nature of language used in gangsta, imagery is used to further contribute to the message being sent by artists of the genre Music videos, magazine ad

campaigns, television shows all often portray hip-hop and rap culture in similar ways (as many artists would have it) Commonly seen images of gangsta

include the presence of guns, alcohol, drugs, oversized jewelry, luxurious cars or ‘whips’ as well as men and women (typically of African American race) gaudily and scantily dressed

Imagery / False Messages• Imagery, working with rhetoric,

attempts to portray gangsta as “keeping it real” while doing the opposite Criticizing from a Marxist lens,

Brummett suggests that gangsta sends false racially charged messages, but claims that those messages are real

“Many of gangstas claims cannot, in fact, be true. At any given moment of any day, countless more African Americans go to steady, respectable jobs than sell drugs on street corners- countless more African Americans phone their mothers and sisters with good wishes than say ‘bitch’ and ‘ho’- countless more African Americans open bibles and Korans than wave pistols around. That is, in fact, reality if gangsta rap was really ‘keeping it real’ (Brummett, 240) Important to note: the aforementioned

realities are not the ones seen in imagery associated with gangsta therefore crafting one image of the culture, often specific to African Americans, and ignoring the other

What gangsta doesn’t talk about

Fashion and Personal Style

• Style is often seen as flashy and gaudy

• Both men and women often wear minimal clothing contributing to the sex factor of the genre

• Jewelry is a symbol of status Gold chains Diamond mouth pieces or grills Diamond studs or earrings Oversized rings Luxury watches and bracelets

• Despite high dollar value of jewelry it is often seen as over the top by those outside of the hip-hop / rap industries

• Fashion contributes to the idea that gangsta emphasizes materialism

• In terms of personal style, those in the hip-hop / rap industries like to be seen lavishly- dripping with jewels, sitting within the coolest car of the moment, surrounded by attractive members of the opposite sex Fashion and personal style reflect economic status

Location / Economic Influence

• Rap culture is often assimilated with humble beginnings

• Many rappers write about growing up in poverty The words ‘ghetto’ and ‘hood’ are

often used to describe the poor areas and neighborhoods artists come from

• Materialism stems from finding economic success and being able to afford a lavish lifestyle that once seemed unattainable

Gangsta Rap and Race

• Gangsta culture is predominantly associated with the African American race

• Brummett discussed White rapper Eminem (pictured in the top photo) as an example of an exception to the racial stereotypes of gangsta While Eminem has come across great

success as a White rapper, it is noted that he needed to feed into the same stereotypes that African Americans played into to create a ‘gangsta’ image

Eminem also needed the help of Black producers and artists such as Dr. Dre to be seen as a legitimate artist in the industry

Gangsta Rap and Women

• Women are often portrayed as “hos” or in overtly sexual ways

• It is common for women in gangsta culture to be seen wearing minimal clothing and excessive jewelry

• Male rap videos more often than not include women as what could be described as props- leaning up against cars, dancing in their bikinis, pouring alcohol, etc…

On “Keeping it Real” and How Gangsta Rap Doesn’t• Uses of imagery and reference to material objects (guns,

alcohol) are not always accurately portrayed by gangsta • Inaccurately referenced material objects, especially in songs,

suggest that the artist has no real knowledge about those objects but is instead referencing them to appeal to false images perpetuated by gangsta

• Brummett on the inaccurate portrayal of guns in gangsta:

“Any amount of familiarity with many of the themes repeated in gangsta gives one to understand that it is not ‘real.’ For instance, at this writing, a popular song features a rapper singing about putting a scope on his Glock pistol. One cannot simply put a scope on a Glock, and from this nonsense you cannot help but derive the conclusion that the gentleman singing the song is a stranger to Glocks and is simply fronting” (Brummett, 240).

• Brummett on the inaccurate portrayal of alcohol in gangsta:

“Another currently popular rapper sings of consuming a ‘fifth’ of gin. Nobody has sold gin in that size bottle for years, so one must conclude that the singer is ignorant of gin, or has read about gin in a book, or has heard about gin from an old-fashioned granny. In any case, he too, is fronting” (Brummett, 240).

False Claim #1: African American Culture is Violent

• Brummett notes the interesting fact that while African Americans are seen as violent, it is actually historic reality that they had actually been the victims of violence more often than they had been the perpetrators (Brummett, 241)

• Violence is seen as glamourized by gangsta rap Guns, shootings and physical altercations are all

common images in gangsta advertising, music videos, lyrics, etc.

• “It is much easier to justify high rates of incarceration, poverty, single-parent families, lower graduation rates, and so forth for African Americans if it is the obvious common sense that they are more violent and hence more prone to being arrest and losing jobs and so on” (Brummett, 241)

• The use of violence seen in gangsta contributes to some of the worst stereotypes faced by African Americans- that they are people who are dangerous and cannot be trusted

False Claim #2:African American Culture is Overly Sexual

• Brummett notes that “it is easier to enslave and brutalize people if you can imagine that they are morally inferior to you” (243)

• The false perception that African Americans are morally insuperior has contributed to the thinking that once justified slavery and today justifies harmful stereotypes including those that African Americans are sexual deviants

• From a feminist critical stance, one of the most harmful images portrayed by gangsta is that women are valued only for their abilities to please men and perform sexually• The reality is that while

women serve as background props in gangsta culture and often overly sexualized, this is not the case in every day life

False Claim #3:African American Culture is Crassly Materialistic

• The concept of crass materialism is often portrayed in gangsta culture by “featuring lots of gold or platinum chains and outsized jewelry being worn… Many gangsta video images feature large houses, expensive cars and lavish parties held around swimming pools and the like” (Brummett, 243)

• As can be seen relative to fashion and personal style, cars and other luxuries, the more expensive looking goods lead to the perception of higher status and wealth

• Brummett also notes the marketing power of gangsta; consumers want to own the brands their favorite artists do

• The constant focus on material goods, money spent and money earned as signs of power and status, contributes to the racist ideology that African American culture can be valued based on the products its people associate with

In Conclusion

• Gangsta, a subculture of hip-hop, is heavily defined by explicit language and imagery often relative to African American culture Common images include guns, drugs, alcohol, gaudy jewelry, expensive cars,

lavish homes, women used as objects, violence, etc.

• Gangsta puts a lot of emphasis on ‘keeping it real’ but instead plays into the false stereotypes attributed to African Americans including ones suggesting that they are violent, overly sexual and crassly materialistic

• Gangsta culture, while wildly popular, should not serve as a basis of judgment of the African American community as a whole and it should be consumed mindfully and critically

Works Cited

Brummett, B. (2011). Rhetoric in Popular Culture: Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications.