What is the social content of gangster rap?
Gangster rap, like all forms of rap, is apologetically portrayed by an army of liberal intellectuals and black nationalists as nothing more than a reflection of the poverty and violence of inner-city life. A piece in the Guardian describes how deeply these views on rap have been accepted and promoted by the intelligentsia: “The lyrics of Tupac Shakur are dissected in university classrooms; former Public Enemy front man Chuck D has a political talk-show on the radio. Among professional African-American intellectuals, big names such as Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West sing hip-hop’s praises. Literally so with West, a Princeton University professor and probably the best-known black intellectual in the country, who last year cut his own rap and poetry album, ‘Sketches of My Culture.’ ” There is a widespread belief amongst hip-hop devotees that they are taking on a political perspective by listening to the music. This raises the question: Does rap have any real political content, or is it
