Define "gangsta rap"

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This spins out of the Tom Petty thread because I am absolutely bewildered that anyone would describe Busta Rhymes as "gangsta rap", or even "playa rap". I mean, he's had ONE playa song; "Pass The Courvoisier". Everything else has been, well, on crack. I don't know what I'd describe him as, but his lyrics focus much more on partying/MC boasting than gangsta themes or playa themes. It almost seems like the fact that he worked with P.Diddy and The Neptunes and Hype Williams does his videos makes him a playa, regardless of what he's talking about. I don't agree with this.

When you think of "gangsta rap" or "playa rap", what are the signifiers that come to mind? Who are the artists that epitomize these signifiers? Where do things like Wu-Tang Clan or solo Q-Tip fit into the picture?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 28 October 2002 18:46 (twenty-three years ago)

anyone who samples the knight rider theme tune can be anything they like dan.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Monday, 28 October 2002 18:48 (twenty-three years ago)

"anyone who samples the knight rider theme tune can be anything they like dan. "

yes but Timbaland & Magoo are playas.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 October 2002 19:29 (twenty-three years ago)

'Dangerous' is quite a playa anthem tho isnt it? i think Busta overlaps that realm definitely but then what is the theme of 'playa rap' if not something that includes partying and boasting...i guess those two things are par for the course in all hip hop...ultimately tho i think Busta is too 'hard' and 'manic' to be pidgeonhold in the same category as the likes of Jay-Z, Biggie and even Q-Tip who i think drifted into playa rap considerably and lamentably after the demise of ATCQ.

Gangsta Rap: N.W.A. and Ice T primarily...after focussing on violence and the reality of grim urban existence for a few years Dr Dre, Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg and Tupac steered things more in the sex n drugs direction to boost flagging sales i figure...resulting in a west coast branch of 'playa rap' still rawer and dirtier than the smooth slinky 'bling bling' brand endorsed gratuitously by Puff Daddy, Notorious and Jay-Z

Wu-Tang flirted with both but i think they were really out on their own because their main influence was martial arts and cult fiction

what about Master P? and Noreaga? not gangsters, but thug playas?

i'm not sure if this 'playa rap' idea is still present as things seem to have evolved further with the domination of the Neptunes and Timbaland who along with Irv Gotti pretty much account for 75% of whats selling on the urban front...but the only real sign of gangsta rap's decline is the move away from violence as the main theme i'd say

― blueski, Monday, 28 October 2002 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

'Dangerous' is quite a playa anthem tho isnt it?

Does rapping about enjoying the success of your last album and your friend's success make you a playa? He spends more time talking about investments than he does about a big car and buying Cristal for the whole bar.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 28 October 2002 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

anyone who samples the knight rider theme tune can be anything they like dan.

Has anyone told the Chemical Brothers this?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 28 October 2002 21:18 (twenty-three years ago)

but if you asked Busta 'do you, for sales and image purposes if nothing else, like to consider yourself a 'playa'?' wouldnt he say yes? if not then what? i appreciate what you're saying Dan and i think Busta's hard to define like that, maybe Xzibit is too cos they're tough and manic and just seem like they wouldnt get into Diddy's VIP suite cos they're too raucous...but they're not as 'street' as Noreaga., DMX or even Nas (sometimes) anymore either

― blueski, Tuesday, 29 October 2002 11:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Dan, would it be easier if I had just said "mainstream rap"? The confusion lies in the fact that gangsta/playa/mainstream are all lumped together now. Summarily excluding Busta from that crowd for rapping about different stuff sets up something of a self-fulfilling prophecy regarding the genre's limitations of subject matter

Or to put this another way: has what we call "gangsta" or "playa" rap grown to the point where those terms are not sufficiently representative of the overall scene, which is far too culturally, geographically and behaviourally diverse to fit a single paradigm?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 12:45 (twenty-three years ago)

yeh maybe so, a bit like the way UK garage has affected so much pop music in the UK over the last couple of years, yet there dont seem to be any actual UK garage tracks or artists selling any records - just hybridisation.

― blueski, Tuesday, 29 October 2002 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

That may be more the point that I'm aiming at; the lines have blurred to the point where a term like "gangsta rap" has become meaningless. For example, would you call Eminem a gangsta? How about a playa? What is LL Cool J? Nelly comes off like a playa, then busts out with a melancholy love song like "Dilemma"; where does that fit in?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 29 October 2002 14:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Eminem is really on his own level - nobody else talks about the things he does (i.e. himself and his role in music/society with remarkable, for good or bad, wit/personal intimacy/abandon/whatever) in the way he does yet remain both quintessentially pop but somehow retain the respect of the majority of the hip hop community

obviously he doesnt fit into the gangsta genre but is more like its afterbirth (!) - the bastard spawn of gangsta rap and a heritage of mischievous, parodical pop music

Nelly doesnt seem to have as much of an edge as his contemporaries (either in the style of Jay-Z or that of Ludacris) and just seems to be a popstar with inevitable hip hop roots attached...also how Jay-Z and LL Cool J appear now, and have done for some time

Ludacris is the bridge between Busta and Outkast maybe, again its hip hop with mass appeal but retaining some 'underground credibility'

to cut a long story short yes it seems tags like 'gangsta' and 'playa' are outdated on their own, and certainly when applied to these hybridized artists

― blueski, Tuesday, 29 October 2002 16:01 (twenty-three years ago)

five years pass...

http://www.adrianjohnson.org.uk/gallery/images/1195489635.jpg

― jaxon, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 02:21 (eighteen years ago)

http://6e.img.v4.skyrock.com/6ea/datgangsta67/pics/26189377.jpg

― stephen, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 02:42 (eighteen years ago)

(sorry)

― stephen, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 02:42 (eighteen years ago)

wtf

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 02:48 (eighteen years ago)

lololol @ blueski pretending he has any idea what the hell he's talking about

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 02:50 (eighteen years ago)

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