Hip-hop violence returns to L.A. (Los Angeles, Merced: neighborhood, living, cost)

[polo89]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

When you willingly join a culture that glorifies crime, rape, murder, prostitution and the degradation of women then you are as guilty as if you started that culture. While not all rappers are criminals, all rappers are guilty of perpetuating a worthless culture.
I see daily what this rap culture does to the youth of my people. It offers nothing positive.
John Gotti donated money to charity, that doesn't make him or any Mafioso good people by any stretch of the imagination.

Apples and oranges. John Gotti was the leader of a MAFIA. The pioneers who strated it, were former gangsters who turned there lives around, like Afrikka Bambata.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by majoun

Many do, many don't.

I'm not going to name names, but the number of rappers from middle class backgrounds is pretty large. Even many gangsta rappers are just actors playing a specific role - there are a substantial number of struggling actors in L.A. who are not from the hood and who have gone into rap, even playing the "gangsta", in order to advance their career, mainly because if you're African-American and portraying a thug as a role white people who aren't your friends aren't going to question you. There were good reasons why Spike Lee depicted gangsta rap as the new minstrel show in "Bamboozled" .

Exactly right. Most rappers are middle class or working class kids who have invested a lot of time in their act. Gangsta rap, as a genre, is essentially dead, and most rappers in general are embracing their roles as entertainers, albeit with little creative or innovative effort.

Rap music is in serious danger of becoming a novelty act. The appeal of rap has always been it's authenticity and it's willingness to tell the truth. However it appears to have become a cartoon character, and kids are not stupid enough to believe everything they see on TV anymore.

A huge segment of the rap-buying audience has moved on which has been devastating to the music industry. They need to keep those listeners... look at what happens when the Eagles or Paul Mcartney releases a record... it tops the charts every time. Meanwhile a top-selling rap act can't get a second record produced.

When rappers are making more money on ringtones and acting in movies than selling records, that tells you that their business is in serious trouble.

[polo89]

I dont think RAP is responsible for troubles in the community, I think DRUGS, and GUNS, are the cause of trouble. Because you can look at the muder peak years of almost EVERY large city in America, and you'll see that those cities had high muder rates, and drug problems, loooong before rap music became popular in the mainstream. And most of the rap at that time wasnt gangsta rap also. Rap MIGHT play a role, but other than that, I think ALOT of other things play a role in why the communities are strugling.

[John23]

Was rap ever really in the same league as country or rock?

Rap in the 80's was on the margins of the mainstream. In the 90's, it gained more popularity...I think in part to media/mtv. Then it turned into a lifestyle in the mid to late 90's, with rappers/hip hop guys coming out with clothing lines, jay z, etc.

How does it keep going if it's a faux lifestyle? You can only rap about Crystal's and Bentley's so much.

It also coincided with late 90's materialism, and the economic boom/credit boom of the time. I remember Will Smith doing a video for one of his songs (maybe he's not really a rapper, but he's a major media star). His "Miami" video. I think it came out in 97 or 98. He had a Bentley in it, and jet ski's. Seemed tame now, but it was a big deal.

It was this new lifestyle...the slow motion shot of Will getting out of his Bentley in South Beach. And now it's been played to death.

I dont follow the rap business very closely...but its pretty obvious its played out.

[Mike121]

Originally Posted by John23

Was rap ever really in the same league as country or rock?

Rap in the 80's was on the margins of the mainstream. In the 90's, it gained more popularity...I think in part to media/mtv. Then it turned into a lifestyle in the mid to late 90's, with rappers/hip hop guys coming out with clothing lines, jay z, etc.

...

I dont follow the rap business very closely...but its pretty obvious its played out.

Don't underestimate just how all-encompassing hip-hop is for some groups. I once mentioned in a discussion how hip-hop just doesn't exist for me or my friends. I never hear it except when it shows up in a movie soundtrack or commercial and don't know anything about the artists unless they're on TMZ. A bunch of people freaked out and said that I was lying. They found that to be impossible. For many, hip-hop and rap is the soundtrack to everything. It isn't dying.

[graciously]

Originally Posted by traveler36

I've seen the same crack head on the freeway entrance for the past 20 years of my life since I was a kid, so they have lived my lifetime so far. I can't say that a drug dealer's life can compare statistically.

This is real serious. Seen so many crack heads but believe many dont stay in one place maybe myself havent stayed one place long enough.

[9TheCityOfAngeles9]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Absolutely. I also blame the brain dead people who perpetuate this cancerous culture by buying the product.

do you blame the brain dead people who buy that EMO music then go and shoot up schools ?

[polo89]

I never thought about that^^^

[polo89]

The thing is, rap is getting blamed for alot of the social ills in our society that have existed LOOOOOONG before rap came to popularity. It's like hip-hop is some sort of scapegoat for American Society as a whole. There have been plenty of negetive events that have happended without the help of hip-hop. Columbine, OK city bombing, VTech shooting, shooting in immigrant service place in upstate NY, Sept 11, and many, many more.

[9TheCityOfAngeles9]

Its funny how people continue speaking on the hip hop culture know nothing about it and they speak on it like their scholars .