I thought gangsters and hos were cool.
I was listening to a lot of hip hop back then and I stumbled upon some really nasty stuff, the stuff you giggle about in secrecy because if your parents knew you were listening to this, you'd get grounded for like, life, man.
I lived in a cushy suburban hellhole at the time and some of the older boys were into this stuff. Being a tomboy and only really hanging out with boys, I picked up some of their musical tastes which included gangster rap.
I was already into hip hop so the progression was natural. It was all about bitches and hos, ak-47s and sawed offs. Doing drive-bys and getting beat down by cops. Drinking 40s and smokin' blunts. You know, those fundamental things that I could relate to..oh wait. I had no effing idea about what half of the shit they were spewing. But the beats were good and there were some talented lyricists doing this stuff at the time. I can appreciate but not fully understand it.
Oh and did I mention it was funny? What pre-teen doesn't giggle when they hear words like tits, ass, dick and blow job? lol
Some of the stuff they were rapping about wasn't so funny however. Like beating women, killing for fun, being killed for fun, oppression, extreme poverty, and racism. These are some of the things I couldn't relate to. A lot of them I did not condone either.
Around the age of 13 I started getting out of the gangster rap and I stopped listening to anything new. I had found positive and upbeat stuff that appealed to me better.
I'm still into some of the old stuff and I listen to it for nostalgia's sake.
I figured I would post some vids of some of my favourite tunes from way back and a new one that I found from one of the old groups I used to listen to. Apparently they are making a comeback.
Cypress Hill - Armada Latina **NEW**
Cypress Hill - Real Estate
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
NWA - Automobile
Schoolly D - Signifying Rapper
Boogie Down Productions - 9mm Goes Bang
Ice-T - New Jack Hustler
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
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hahahah, I just can't take Ice-T seriously as a rapper any longer after seeing SVU, lol :P I like him better as an actor.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the new Cypress Hill though, Armada Latina sounds awesome.
I must say I still enjoy gangsta rap...I think it depends how you take it. I see a lot of it as being sardonic or satirical rather than necessarily condoning the kind of stuff they rap about...I see much of it as being pretty much of an extreme caricature of modern capitalism in general, even the look with the bling etc....excessive, way OTT...I myself have been misunderstood and been accused of 'glamourising' certain things because of what I write about and the kind of music I play etc...the truth be told, for instance, I don't glamourise or promote addiction, just say how it is from my perspective from where I am at right now, same goes for prostitution or anything like that which I write about...a lot of gangsta rap can be a bit repetitive and monotonous (i.e a top theme is the joys of being a coke pimp...I am sure people would get a tad bored if I were to make an entire album soley on that same thing but from a 'ho's' perspective lol_
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