The Birth of Gangsta Rap Music

Gangsta rap is so much more than just a subgenre of music; it was a political movement and statement, a call to action, and an act of rebellion in the face of racism and social issues in America. From East to West Coast, reigned in the ‘90s, demanding to be heard whether you agreed with or liked it or not.

Although it is not as popular as it once was, there’s no denying the wide-reaching influence of gangsta rap in our media and lives, so it’s well worth knowing just how it came to be and who the key players were in this combustible subgenre’s story. Read on to find out more about the birth of gangsta rap.

Origins and Early Years

Gangsta rap got its start on the East Coast, with artists like Philadelphia-based rapper Schooly D spitting honest verses about violence and gangs in 1985 single “PSK — What Does It Mean?”  New York City hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions singing about true local tales of cocaine-related crime in their 1987 debut studio album Criminal Minded.

Quickly, the gangsta rap movement spread across the country, with rappers like Ice-T, who was born in New Jersey and moved to Los Angeles as a teenager, where he became a staple in the West Coast hip-hop scene. Ice T’s 1986 single “6 in the Morning” is often seen as the second-ever gangsta rap song, after (and inspired by) Schooly D’s first one year prior. Gangsta rap also moved down south to Texas, where Houston hip-hop group Geto Boys first burst onto the scene in 1987 and fully embraced controversial topics that sparked shock and outrage among many listeners.

It was after artists like Schooly D, Ice T, and Boogie Down productions laid down the groundwork for and foundation of gangsta rap that others could build upon it, taking the genre to new heights that solidified it as a structure all its own. It was in 1988, with the breakout of brand new, young, and exciting hip-hop group N.W.A. that gangsta rap entered what’s now remembered as its Golden Age.

Gangsta Rap’s Golden Age

Gangsta rap’s Golden Age began in 1988 with the formation of N.W.A., a hip-hop group out of Compton, California made up of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. That year, they released their debut studio album Straight Outta Compton. The album not only sparked controversy and garnered attention with its honest and straight-forward depiction of the violence, racism, and struggles of the people in Compton and the surrounding areas, but also moved the focus of gangsta rap from East to West Coast.

They put gangsta rap and its messages on the map to the point where the FBI even sent the group’s record distributor a letter claiming that song “F**k tha Police” incited violence and disrespect against cops and therefore was a danger and disruption in the eyes of law enforcement. The fact that words and music could incite such sentiments from an official government organization was merely a testament to the growing power and influence of gangsta rap.

The early ‘90s saw the embers of gangsta rap quickly burn into a roaring flame, with more contributions from Ice-T and solo work from Ice Cube in addition to newer faces and groups. New York City-based rap-rock group, The Beastie Boys, made a shift from punk to rap, singing about sex, guns, and drugs in a slightly humorous and lighthearted manner that marked a slight departure from the hard-core gangsta rap we’d seen before. New York-based hip-hop groups Run-DMC and Public Enemy helped further paved the way in the lyricism and political messaging of gangsta rap.

Dr. Dre’s post-N.W.A. record label, Death Row Records, helped solidify the West Coast as a hub for hardcore gangsta rap, which boasted prolific artists like Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, rap artists and groups like Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G., and Nas forged an offshoot of gangsta rap they called hardcore hip-hop. This ignited an intense East/West coast battle largely between Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records, culminating in the music’s violence bleeding into reality and ending in the murders of Tupac and Biggie, both only in their mid-20s.

This outright feuding and extreme, tragic violence hurt record labels and therefore slowed much of the gangsta rap movement’s momentum. Suddenly, the voices condemning gangsta rap were given a real reason to be heard, thus leading to an influx of backlash.

Gangsta Rap Today

Today the landscape for Gangsta Rap looks much different, but, in some ways, it still remains the same. The beats hit a lot harder with booming 808s and synthesized snare claps. What is funny is that some of the producers of these new gangsta rap tracks don’t take time to level their tracks, resulting in extremely loud drum sounds which helps give a distinct, hard sound to the music. Gangsta rappers also move different in their feuds and drama, no longer are we seeing the feuds in the paper magazines and MTV, we are seeing rappers go on IG live to beef with each other and various other social media outlets.