Crips  

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-'''Gangsta rap''' or '''gangster rap''' is a [[subgenre]] of [[hip hop music]] with themes and lyrics that generally emphasize the "[[gangster|gangsta]]" lifestyle. The genre evolved from [[hardcore hip hop]] into a distinct form, pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as [[Schoolly D]] and [[Ice-T]], and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like [[N.W.A]]. After the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many (if not most) gangsta rap artists openly boast of their associations with various active street gangs as part of their artistic image, with the [[Bloods]] and [[Crips]] being the most commonly represented. Gangsta rap is closely related to other indigenous gang and crime-oriented forms of music, such as the [[narcocorrido]] genre of northern Mexico.+The '''Crips''' are a [[gang]] based in the coastal regions of [[southern California]]. They were founded in [[Los Angeles]], California, in 1969 mainly by [[Raymond Washington]] and [[Stanley Williams]]. Once a single alliance between two autonomous gangs, they are now a loosely connected network of individual "sets", often engaged in open warfare with one another. Its members traditionally wear blue clothing, a practice that has waned somewhat due to police crackdowns specifically targeting gang members. Historically, members have been primarily of [[African Americans|African-American]] heritage.
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-The subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy. Criticism has come from both left wing and right wing commentators, as well as [[Religion|religious leaders]], who have accused the genre of promoting [[crime]], [[Serial killer|serial killing]], [[murder]], [[violence]], [[profanity]], [[Sexual addiction|sex addiction]], [[homophobia]], [[racism]], [[promiscuity]], [[misogyny]], [[rape]], [[Gang|street gangs]], [[disorderly conduct]], [[drive-by shooting]]s, [[vandalism]], [[theft|thievery]], [[driving under the influence]], [[Illegal drug trade|drug dealing]], [[alcohol abuse]], [[substance abuse]], [[Contempt of cop|disregarding law enforcement]], [[Economic materialism|materialism]], and [[narcissism]]. [[The White House]] administrations of both [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Bill Clinton]] criticized the genre. "Many black rappers—including Ice-T and [[Sister Souljah]]—contend that they are being unfairly singled out because their music reflects deep changes in society not being addressed anywhere else in the public forum. The white politicians, the artists complain, neither understand the music nor desire to hear what's going on in the devastated communities that gave birth to the art form," wrote journalist [[Chuck Philips]] in a review of the battle between "the Establishment" and defenders of rap music. "The reason why rap is under attack is because it exposes all the contradictions of American culture ...What started out as an underground art form has become a vehicle to expose a lot of critical issues that are not usually discussed in American politics. The problem here is that the White House and wanna-bes like Bill Clinton represent a political system that never intends to deal with inner city urban chaos," Sister Souljah told Philips.+
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-On the other hand, some commentators (for example, [[Spike Lee]] in his satirical film ''[[Bamboozled]]'') have criticized gangsta rap as analogous to black [[minstrel show]]s and [[blackface]] performance, in which performers – both black and white – were made to look African American, and acted in a stereotypical uncultured and ignorant manner for entertainment. Gangsta rappers often defend themselves by arguing they are describing the reality of inner-city life, and that they are only adopting a character which behaves in ways they do not necessarily endorse. Gangsta rappers are also famous (or infamous) for appearing more hardcore compared to early concepts and themes of hip-hop artists, and are known for saying things that are often considered [[taboo]]; for instance, the gangsta rap group [[N.W.A]] produced the famous [[Fuck tha Police]] protest song about [[police brutality]] and [[racial profiling]].+
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-In high-crime areas, putting on these made up personas is life-threatening, but the fact that gangsta rappers told the stories of others is often seen as having earned them respect for raising awareness of the severity of inner-city crime. Many gangsta rappers argue that in the world of their genre exists the emotions and perspectives of a people whose suffering is too often overlooked and belittled by society. Gangsta rap, some argue, was an effect of the various wrongdoings perpetrated against African-Americans in underprivileged neighborhoods. The various riots sparked by the [[Rodney King]] beating and the acquittal of the police officers responsible for the beating sparked anger and outrage in an area that was already on the bubble. Gangsta rap acted as an outlet so such people could express themselves angrily and not in fear that they were going to be silenced for telling the truth. They often used gangsta rap to tell the stories of their lives, which sometimes included strong violence, hypersexuality, and drug abuse.+
-==Criticism and debate==+The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States. With an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members in 2008, they have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes.
-The explicit nature of gangsta rap's lyrics has made it heavily controversial. There is also debate about the relationship between gangsta rap and real-world crime taking the form of a [[chicken or the egg]] scenario.+
-Critics of gangsta rap hold that it glorifies and encourages criminal behavior, and may be at least partially to blame for the problem of street gangs. Although this view is often stereotyped as that of [[White American|white]] [[conservatism|conservatives]], it has been shared by members of the [[African-American|black]] community, most notably [[Bill Cosby]].+The Crips have a long and bitter rivalry with the [[Bloods]].
-Those who are supportive or at least less critical of gangsta rap hold that crime on the street level is for the most part a reaction to [[poverty]] and that gangsta rap reflects the reality of lower class life. Many believe that the blaming of crime on gangsta rap is a form of unwarranted [[moral panic]]; [[The World Development Report 2011]], for instance, confirmed that most street gang members maintain that poverty and unemployment is what drove them to crime; none made reference to music. [[Ice Cube (rapper)|Ice Cube]] famously satirized the blame placed on gangsta rap for social ills in his song "[[Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It]]". 
-Moreover, English scholar Ronald A.T. Judy has argued that gangsta rap reflects the experience of blackness at the end of political economy, when capital is no longer wholly produced by human labor but in a globalized system of commodities. In this economy, gangsta rap traffics blackness as a commodifiable affect of "being a nigga." In other words, gangsta rap defines the experience of blackness, in which he locates in gangsta rap's deployment of the word "nigga," in this new global economic system as "adaptation to the force of commodification." For Judy, ''nigga'' (and gangsta rap) becomes an ontologically authentic category for describing the condition of being black in the modern "realm of things."+== See also ==
-Despite this, many who hold that gangsta rap is not responsible for social ills are critical of the way many gangsta rappers intentionally exaggerate their criminal pasts for the sake of [[street credibility]]. [[Rick Ross (rapper)|Rick Ross]] and [[Slim Jesus]] among others have been heavily criticized for this and the gangster rap music has declined in sales and waned in popularity due to piracy.+*[[Black Mafia Family]]
-==Early Gangster themes==+*[[Crip Walk]]
-The [[1973]] album ''[[Hustler's Convention]]'' by [[Lightnin' Rod]] featured lyrics that deal with [[street life]], including [[pimp]]ing and hustling. [[The Last Poets]] member [[Jalal Mansur Nuriddin]] delivers rhyming vocals in the urban slang of his time, and together with the other Last Poets members, was quite influential on later [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] groups, such as [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]]. Many rappers, such as [[Ice T]], have credited pimp and writer [[Iceberg Slim]] with influencing their rhymes. [[Rudy Ray Moore]]'s, aka [[Dolemite]], stand-up comedy and films dealing with his hustler-pimp persona also had an impact on gangsta rap and is still a popular source for samples.+*[[Crime in Los Angeles]]
 +*''[[Hood 2 Hood: The Blockumentary]]''
-==See also== 
-*[[Criminal stereotype of African Americans]] 
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The Crips are a gang based in the coastal regions of southern California. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. Once a single alliance between two autonomous gangs, they are now a loosely connected network of individual "sets", often engaged in open warfare with one another. Its members traditionally wear blue clothing, a practice that has waned somewhat due to police crackdowns specifically targeting gang members. Historically, members have been primarily of African-American heritage.

The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States. With an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members in 2008, they have been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes.

The Crips have a long and bitter rivalry with the Bloods.


See also




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