Hip Hop and Ethnicity Term Paper

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Gangster Rap Responds to Police Brutality

Gangster Rap Speaking Out Against Police Brutality

Art often reflects life. When life creates situations that are dire, the art projected from that experience echoes that sense of urgency for change. In today's modern existence, the values of various subcultures do not always correlate with that of the dominate culture. This can often result in a clash of cultures, where minority groups are left to deal with the judgment of the majority group. A prime example of this is the gangster rap coming out of Los Angeles in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. At the time, gang violence was increasing, thus prompting for up scaling of law enforcement strategies. Ultimately, this led to LAPD acting out often much too aggressively in order to curb the increasing violence of the region. The art coming from such circumstances thus illustrates a clear defiance for law enforcement as a survival strategy for the urbanites that had to live with the constraints of a modern society without leeway for individual circumstances.

Los Angeles has always been a hotbed for controversy; especially in regards to the musical genres it is so infamous for producing. They city is not always in balance. In fact, alw enforcement strategies have often only exacerbated already damaging situations. In both riots, it was the community that was acting out against the law enforcement and government agencies that were supposed to represent it. Inner city Los Angeles was in serious trouble during the heyday of gangster rap. Throughout the 1980s, gang and drug violence had increased dramatically within city limits. Increasing drug related violence threatened the growth and well being of the city. Drug profits began to become so lucrative that they became the best job opportunities for those who had no other opportunities to thrive. As such, the rising crime in inner city Los Angeles neighborhoods cannot be specifically tied to the presence of illegitimate businesses. As drug profits became more lucrative than ever, the culture of regions depending on its income became representative of the drug trades basic elements.

However, it was not only the potential success of the drug trade that was represented within the context of gangster rap. The primary demographic that was creating the genre of rap was also under heavy persecution by local law enforcement. As the city wanted to be seen as more lucrative to the rest of the world, it began cracking down on what it thought was the ultimate aggressor. There was a clear move to reign in the gangster type in Los Angeles, among other cities. This correlated with an increase in crime seen throughout the region. In response to increasing violence and crime, the Los Angeles Police Department initiated a highly controversial strategy, known as Operation Hammer.

In an attempt to really crack down on gang violence, the LAPD provided its officers with greater licensing to prevent crime, which in theory was beneficial.

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Yet, in reality, this strategy often violated the civil rights of inner city urbanites and was largely based on strategies of racial profiling. For example, Project Hammer was an initiative implemented by the LAPD to help prevent gang violence and associated crime. This new legislation allowed for law enforcement to stop and arrest potential subject of interest purely based on proximity and stereotypical characteristics. As such, police officers in urban areas like Compton and South Central began to attribute racial characteristics with criminal behavior based on misrepresentation of data from the field. Such regions began being labeled as stereotypically associated with gang activity. This ultimately led to an enormous crack down conducted by the LAPD. When quotas for gang-related arrests began to increase, so did the expectation of a stricter implementation of law enforcement in various areas. This often led to blatant abuses of power, where police officers would threaten and harass young adults within certain areas already deemed as potentially dangerous, Rather than trying to work with the community, many neighborhoods began sticking to themselves, as the criminal enterprises were often more beneficial than police.

Clearly, there was an obvious distrust between members of the community and law enforcement. This is a clear theme echoed in the basic messages found in gangster rap. The genres is essentially an action taken against the very strong police force that was misdirecting the public's desire to see a reduction in crime and justification for those affected by the drug epidemic of the time. Artists of the time began to speak out against the societal powers that wanted to subdue them. Thus, local gangster rap groups began to explicitly speak out against local law enforcement in Southern California. This only placed extra pressure on the LAPD. Eventually, federal agencies became involved as the controversial message of gangster rap became more popular for the wider audience of the United States.

Despite heavy law enforcement demands, there were many southern California rappers that were not willing to sit idly by and allow an external force dominate the beliefs of the specific society. There were so many abuses conducted by the LAPD on minority races that it was only natural; for the art coming from such minority groups to reflect a defiant nature against the hegemonic regime. Groups like NWA took a direct stand against law enforcement in Los Angeles, citing the gross abuses of power witnessed on an every day basis by Angelinos. When the LAPD was using racial profiling and extreme bias within its law enforcement strategies, communities around the city began to suffer. Thousands of youths would be arrested, only to be let go with bail corrected. This only solidified the LAPD as an external boss of the community that….....

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