Thursday, May 13, 2010

Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Chapter 14

The Culture Assassins: Geography Generation and Gangsta Rap
by: Jessica Modlich and Shea Mogg

This chapter focuses on the west coast around the 1980s. Around this time there was a lot of unrest and issues with the cops. Many manufacturing plants had closed down, and the unemployment rate of youths in South Central was 50%. Gang violence was also very high. An Asian American got caught in gang gun-fire and was killed. This event started the LAPD War on Gangs, where they added 650 officers to the force. This movement was mostly a failure. They arrested a lot of people, mainly on gang profiling, but 90% were let go without any charges.

Around this same time Ice Cube and other rappers started recording music. Their lyrics reflected the feelings the youth. They were very angry and they sang about violence against cops. Ice Cube wrote and recorded Boyz-in-the-Hood with Dr. Dre and Eazy-E (NWA). This song brought back memories of Jonathan Jackson, who took members of a courtroom hostage after his brother was accused of killing a white prison guard. This song was very popular and became an anthem for the urban youth on the west coast. Even after the popularity of this song, the group still got rejections from major record labels because their music was too violent. The finally signed with Priority Records and released Straight Outta Compton. The album was huge without much promotion. This album really started the term “gangsta rap.” While there was a backlash from the violent lyrics and hatred towards cops, the album was still popular.

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