Hip hop identity in a township reality. - Poppunt

audience, in the mid nineties, it has been the subject of controversy and concern
with parents and politicians alike, especially in the United States of America.
In the last few years there has been a shifting focus in gangsta rap, from an
emphasis on the gangsta element to that of a hedonist lifestyle. Switch on MTV and
there is a huge chance that you will see what we allude to: rappers showing off their
cars, women and jewellery (not necessarily in that order). This evolution is partly
due to the fact that rap music has become more part of the mainstream musical
landscape.
There no longer exists a precise definition as to what exactly gangsta rap is, often
leading to discussions within the hip hop and rap community. We want to make
clear that the search for a definition is beyond the scope of this dissertation, so we
will not pursue this matter. When we refer in this and previous chapters to gangsta
rap, we mean the ‘original’ gangsta rap, as well as the more hedonistic
contemporary variety. We are under the impression that, through considering their
answers, our interviewees also thought the same way as us in our meaning of the
word.
The reason we asked questions about this matter is because what we consider in
Europe as gangsta rap is very popular these days. Everybody knows rappers such
as 50 Cent and Snoop Doggy Dog, who are all to be found in the mainstream music
charts and represent big business with a lot of money involved. When people think
about rap music, it is not unlikely that they will think of rappers like them. It is
also not unlikely that the negative image of hip hop as a violent and misogynist
genre stems from the video clips that one gets to see all the time. We do not want to
put gangsta rap and all its possible negative and positive aspects on trial here,
because that would require its’ own thesis. What we are interested in, are our
interviewees’ views of this rap genre. Do they listen to it? What do they think of its
negative image? Do they think it has a negative influence or is this exaggerated?
As in the previous chapters we will start with an overview of all the answers we
received from our interviewees, hereafter we will link these together in our findings,
to end with a short conclusion.
1. Overview
When Full Stop was asked his opinion about gangsta rap, he did not take an
explicitly positive or negative position towards it, but rather approached it subtly,
with a lot of sense for nuance. He thinks those kind of rappers are just telling