Gangsta rap was—and remains—controversial. One of the more striking criticisms a
ID: 359557 • Letter: G
Question
Gangsta rap was—and remains—controversial. One of the more striking criticisms about gangsta rap was that gangsta rap is a “modern-day minstrel show.” (Spike Lee and Stanley Crouch are two examples of prominent figures who have discussed gangsta rap in these terms.) Minstrel shows were an American musical theater genre popular from the early part of the nineteenth through the beginning of the twentieth century. Minstrel shows caricatured black people for the entertainment of white audiences. White performers would blacken their faces with burnt cork or greasepaint and then perform songs and skits that mocked African Americans as lazy, buffoonish, dumb, and superstitious.
[Before writing your post, please explore this website http://exhibits.lib.usf.edu/exhibits/show/minstrelsy for an in-depth look at minstrelsy.]
How do you respond to this criticism? Why do you think this comparison to minstrelsy was made? What demographic are/were the largest consumers of gangsta rap? What bearing does that have on this criticism of gangsta rap?
Given the sensitive nature of this topic, I will remind you all to be thoughtful and sensitive in your discussion.
Please write about 200-250 words, this topic is about Music Hip-Hop. Thanks
Explanation / Answer
The criticism in my view is fair one which denounces gangsta rap as the kind of songs, music, lyrics and the screenplay actually depicts and presents the black community in poor light. It basically builds on the image that portrays the black people as those who indulge in lousy lifestyles and are cutoff from the society at large.
For the reasons presented above, the comparison with minstrelsy is inevitable as minstrelsy also presented the black community negatively. As far as consumption of gangsta rap is concerned, the target group is essentially that of teenagers and research has also shown that the typical customer is a white teenage boy of around 14-15 years.
The consumer segment obviously has an important bearing on the criticism as a mixed consumer group with good representation from blacks would mean that hip hop is a genre which is enjoyed by all and not representing a community in a poor manner. But the very fact that this genre is not very popular among blacks and is primarily watched or listened by whites imply that hip hop rap may actually be offending to the black community. However one point to be noted is that most of the artist is these songs are also from black community.
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