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Rameen Moslehi
Professor Oderlin
English 1B
30 March 2016
Moguls of Gangsta Rap: How to Become a True O.G.
In the late 1970’s, a new genre of music exploded into the mainstream, its beats blaring
across America. African American youth in South Bronx, New York, began spreading the music
created by DJ Kool Herc. Herc’s Jamaican roots heavily inspired him to create a new genre of
music that took the music of hard funk bands and isolated the instrumental, focusing particularly
on the beat. His new style, combined with his “toasts”, eventually developed into rap music. Rap
music balanced rhythmic melodies with witty lyrics to create an alpha male persona and
incorporated up-beat dance routines. This new style of music quickly gained popularity among
adolescents by challenging mainstream society as it lyrically displayed the heavy emotions of the
artists. Until the late 1980’s, rap music was simply a genre to show off who’s the best lyricist
around. Rap battles and clever lyrics would determine who was crowned as the top dog of the
industry. Rap was merely about finesse and charm rather than story telling. Beginning with the
group N.W.A and rapper Ice-T in 1986, the sub-genre called gangsta rap was introduced to the
world. The pent up anger of young black men living in Compton, California was the setting of
this new style of expression as the group’s members thrived off of rage and protest. The young
members of N.W.A created a cult-like following of African Americans who lived the “thug life”.
The group rapped about society and politics, and reflected onto the music industry what it was
like being a young black male in “racist America”. N.W.A made it clear that they would pave the
way for every coming artist in the gangsta rap genre. The next mogul of gangsta rap was Tupac
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Shakur. Tupac emerged in 1991 with a style that was unmatched. His lyrics were as powerful as
they were controversial. Tupac rapped about what it was like being a gang member and the life
he had growing up. Tupac’s music was an autobiography of his life. He made songs about the
difficulties of growing up in the inner city and not having a father figure in his life. On the East
Coast, Tupac’s rival Biggie Smalls was gaining national attention with his interpretation of
gangsta rap. Smalls portrayed his flashy lifestyle through his lyrics and showed what the thug life
was to a more mainstream audience. The West and East coasts battled for years over which coast
was the more dominant gangsta rap area.
Gangsta rap has become one of the most successful genres of music in America since its
arrival. The pioneers set the bar for many artists to reach and have created loads of controversy
as many rappers have been murdered along the way. The quality of a gangsta rap artist is
