Why is "gangsta rap" so popular?

@ alkane:

Amen. That’s my current opinion as well. And in the gangland ghettoes, we have gangsters (“gangbangers”?) running around drunk and/or high, blasting whatever poor soul happens to be in the path of their gun, effectively playing the part of “Nazi” to each other and most disturbingly, to the innocent people that had the misfortune to live in the same area. (btw, my def. Of “gangland”= anyplace with a lot of gang activity.) They should all just wear swatiskas. The Nazis were freaks, and most (real/voluntary) gang members end up as nothing better.

@ barbi_hxc: Thnx. That helped me understand it a little better.

well I’m someone FROM the hood… gansta rap portrays an element that other musics don’t touch on for the people who live there. every day is a struggle. gansta rap is very emotionally driven and gives people, even like me, the feeling of relief and even pride from where you come from

I like a variety of music including gangsta rap. Although I do not agree with how those people act- killing people for killings sake is not a good way of life at all. But I think you can still like the music without saying you support the meaning behind the song.

I think people glorify that life style as there are people such as “50 Cent” who make themselves look as if they own the world whilst living that lifestyle but the truth is it really isn’t that glamorous.

I think ghetto means sort of like the area they live and “control” like how in traditional gang-land new york each gang had their neighbour hood which they controlled.

@ bth_liveyourlife:

But doesn’t listening to the music at all MEAN you support the meanings of the song??? How can anyone listen to music w/ lyrics they don’t agree with…? That’s like saying you’ll vote for someone JUST b/c the can give speeches well! (nudge, nudge…) But seriously, I don’t really get what your saying!

I’m completely with you silent_storm103. My thoughts are that these modern gangsters are cowards. New York city 1903, ok the gangs back then were pigs but they had respect.

I agree as well- gangsters are cowards, they portray themselves as people who are standing up for their neighborhoods and protecting the people there, and that they are responding to the treatment they receive from the government and the police officers. in reality they are the ones that are making things worse for themselves and their communities, they prey on the very people they proclaim themselves to be protecting- they prey on their brothers in the gang, they maintain a criminal lifestyle, and flash money around, they are the root cause of the majority of the bad things that are happening in their neighborhoods.people can’t go in to help anyone from fear of being shot by these idiots. I don’t listen to gangsta rap- to me the whole lifestyle is the same as when we were kids playing cops and robbers- some of us wanted to be cops, but sometimes it was fun to be the robber- so the whole gangsta mindset comes from an element of immaturity incarnated. I listen to most forms of music for the ‘entertainment’ value- I don’t actually have to agree with the lyrics to like a song. if the gangstas of the world suddenly grew up and became a POSITIVE influence in their cities it would go far towards making things better for everyone and ridding the world of the majority of racial stereotypes. what I always enjoy is watching the show COPS, when these HARDCORE gangsta types get caught- they start crying their eyes out, and attempting to lie their way out of the situation- which shows a great deal of immaturityand cowardice. when these hardcore ganstas get sent to prison- the older population sees these guys wearing their pants down below their butts , with their underwear showing and they figure they are ‘b!tches’ and looking for a little bit of male companionship- and they usually get it. I told a friend of mine to watch some of the prison documentaries, and he stopped wearing his jeans down low when he found that out.

I don’t know why rap is so popular, personally I can not stand that kind of music. It seems like almost every rap song has to do with drugs and sex. It’s really annoying.

Write about something meaningful. Something that actually makes sense and people can relate to, in a good way…

@ xmissayx31:

I totally agree… I’m in an english class right now where we have a theme: music. However, b/c of this, I’ve been forced to listen to the milder ones (the ones that deal with life on the streets)…but I’ve heard a few of the more popular ones, and…well, ditto to what you said.