Gangsta Rap: A Brief History of the ‘90s Movement That Changed Music

During the height of gangsta rap in the mid ‘90s, a very real rivalry between east coast and west coast rappers emerged, resulting in the death of two legends: Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG. Here, Guestbloggers Nick and Martin take a brief look at how gangsta rap came about and quickly reached boiling point.

The Beginning

The story starts with hiphop, which emerged from disco and dancehall and, at the time, moved rapidly, bringing an entirely new language, new lifestyle and new wardrobe with it. Hiphop grew up on the streets of New York in the seventies but, as it grew popular and marketing geniuses smelled the profit in it, it grew into a global phenomenon and the raw edge it once had was polished away. In the midst of the hiphop boom, something was happening, far away from the shiny pop-focussed mainstream in the Black communities of Los Angeles where people were dancing and partying to a sound that was much darker and more aggressive: something that would later be known as gangsta rap.

N.W.A.

This new sound was first made famous by a number of names, but one of the standouts was N.W.A. who smashed expectations when they released their debut album Straight Outta Compton in 1988. The N.W.A. lineup included ex-drug-dealer Eazy-E (Eric Wright), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson) and Dr Dre (Andre Young), and together, they managed to sum up the feel of the entire country in the space of just ten tracks. The lyrics talked about the neglected southern districts of LA, which had fallen into disrepair, setting the stage for rioting and gang violence. Some of the most famous tracks from the album include Fuck the Police and Gangsta Gangsta (which would give the genre its name) as well as the title track, Straight outta Compton which has since become a modern classic. The songs on the album became the new voice of Black communities, expressing the inexpressible anger in response to decades of racism, mismanaged racial integration and the frequent violence against Black communities from both white Americans and the police.

Death Row

One of the most instrumental labels at the time was Death Row Records, which was started up by Suge Knight and Dr Dre in 1991. Despite the dubious image that became attached to the label, they signed all of the very best of the west-coast talent there was, including Tupac, MC Hammer, Snoop Dogg and Lisa Left-Eye Lopez. Before Suge Knight was convicted and sent to jail in 1997, the label had released some of the most acclaimed albums within the genre, including Doggy Dogg Style by Snoop Dogg. The Chronic by Dr Dre would become a legendary album, as well as All Eyez on Me by Tupac, which included California Love and Holla at Me. The only gangsta rap number ever to reach number 1 was Changes, which was released posthumously by Tupac and talked directly about racism, drugs, police violence and gang life.

Eastside vs. Westside

It wasn’t long before artists from New York joined the narrative. At the beginning of the ‘90s, the Big Apple also had its own thriving gangsta rap scene, but it only really gained real significance when Notorious BIG released the album Ready to Die in 1994. What followed was a rivalry between Eastside and Westside rappers. Dr. Dre was, of course, still part of the Westside, along with Snoop Dogg, IceCube and Coolio, who released the 1995 hit Gangsta’s Paradise, which also featured on the soundtrack for Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pheiffer and the young Lauren Hill. Over on the Eastside, you had Jay Z and P. Diddy as well as Notorious BIG, WuTang Clan and NAS who, in 1996 teamed up with Lauren Hill on the hit If I Ruled the World.

Rivalry

At the centre of the rivalry between the Eastside and Westside (in the press, at least) was the clash between Biggie and Tubac, which didn’t just involve ‘dis’ lyrics, but shootings. In the ‘90s, these two men were the biggest names in gangsta rap and the media at the time obsessed over their rivalry and the East-West rivalry as a whole, until things finally exploded towards the end of 1996 and at the beginning of 1997. On the 13th of September, 1996, Tupac was shot dead in Las Vegas after visiting the world-famous boxer, Mike Tyson and, just a few months later on the 9th of March, 1997, Notorious BIG was shot four times in the chest in Los Angeles. Both murders remain unsolved to this day and have served as fodder for a deluge of theories. In 1997, the now discredited Puff Daddy, together with Faith Evans and the rap group 112, released the ode to Notorious BIG: I’ll Be Missing You.

Next-Gen Gangsta Rap

The new millennium also brought the next generation of gangsta rap and included the name Eminem. Eminem’s first UK hit was My Name Is, which came out in 1999 and, in 2002, his single Lose Yourself wasn’t just a hit but was included on the soundtrack for the semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile. Around the same time, 50Cent was launched to fame after releasing In Da Club and, these days, it’s the names like A$ap Rocky and Kendrick Lamar who are continuing what’s become the gangsta rap tradition. Kendrick Lamar in particular has managed to cross the boundaries of the genre and take it in a deeper, even more personal direction, as evidenced by the hit Swimming Pool, which was about Lamar’s family, alcoholism and environmental pressures. The idea that ‘the right way to do it’ is to dive into a swimming pool full of liquor is a powerful and lingering metaphor.