Is there a difference between hip hop & gangsta rap...

[Turf Hitta]

In my opinion,If there wasn't a difference then gangsta rap wouldn't be catergorized as a genre by itself. Gangsta rap is basically about the reality of the hood/gangsta life so the lyrics are a lifestyle which really sets it apart from Hip Hop. The only element that's used from Hip Hop is rapping. Gangsta rap doesn't involve the rest of hip hop's elements which are art graffit, break dancin, and dj's spinnin(like battlin). Gangsta raps elements is hittin' up the wall(not art),dancin? nope c-walk, b-walk or nothin if u don't bang, battle dj's?lol naw old school cars probably take the place of that on the shaw and broadway. There's a difference and it was clearly noticed when NWA came on the scene.

Hip Hop is more like Talib Kweli
Eazy-E is gangsta rap

Different way of looking at it, thats cool, but wouldnt that mean for example Ice Cube is not Hip Hop?

Yes it would. And it would also mean that this guy isn't hip hop even though he's the asshole responsible for everybody running around saying hip hop is a culture. Tell me how this song differs from "gangsta rap." Show me where in this song the subject matter touches on "the elements."

[Webby05]

In my opinion,If there wasn't a difference then gangsta rap wouldn't be catergorized as a genre by itself. Gangsta rap is basically about the reality of the hood/gangsta life so the lyrics are a lifestyle which really sets it apart from Hip Hop. The only element that's used from Hip Hop is rapping. Gangsta rap doesn't involve the rest of hip hop's elements which are art graffit, break dancin, and dj's spinnin(like battlin). Gangsta raps elements is hittin' up the wall(not art),dancin? nope c-walk, b-walk or nothin if u don't bang, battle dj's?lol naw old school cars probably take the place of that on the shaw and broadway. There's a difference and it was clearly noticed when NWA came on the scene.

Hip Hop is more like Talib Kweli
Eazy-E is gangsta rap

 

Different way of looking at it, thats cool, but wouldnt that mean for example Ice Cube is not Hip Hop?

no he's not.."GANGSTA RAP MADE ME DO IT ?"..WHAT DAT TELLS YOU..

good point lol but we shall agree to disagree

[COMPTONRIDA1]

In my opinion,If there wasn't a difference then gangsta rap wouldn't be catergorized as a genre by itself. Gangsta rap is basically about the reality of the hood/gangsta life so the lyrics are a lifestyle which really sets it apart from Hip Hop. The only element that's used from Hip Hop is rapping. Gangsta rap doesn't involve the rest of hip hop's elements which are art graffit, break dancin, and dj's spinnin(like battlin). Gangsta raps elements is hittin' up the wall(not art),dancin? nope c-walk, b-walk or nothin if u don't bang, battle dj's?lol naw old school cars probably take the place of that on the shaw and broadway. There's a difference and it was clearly noticed when NWA came on the scene.

Hip Hop is more like Talib Kweli
Eazy-E is gangsta rap

Different way of looking at it, thats cool, but wouldnt that mean for example Ice Cube is not Hip Hop?

Yes it would. And it would also mean that this guy isn't hip hop even though he's the asshole responsible for everybody running around saying hip hop is a culture. Tell me how this song differs from "gangsta rap." Show me where in this song the subject matter touches on "the elements."

THATS HIP HOP.. AND I USED TO BANG DAT SHIT BACK IN DA DAYS..

BUT HE'S NOT TALKIN BOUT KILLIN AND DOPE DEALING .. SO THEREFORE ..IT'S NOT CONSIDERED GANGSTA RAP..

HE'S RELATIVELY REPORTING...IT'S NOT LIKE HE ENDORSES MURDER AND DRUG SELLIN..

AND BACK THEN KRS WAS SO CONFUSED AT WHAT HE WANTED TO DO ANY WAY..

[COMPTONRIDA1]

WHERES EIHT IN THE PICTURE..HE WAS THERE AT THIS MEETING.. WHY HE AINT IN IT..IS IT A STORY BEHIND THIS....

[Turf Hitta]

In my opinion,If there wasn't a difference then gangsta rap wouldn't be catergorized as a genre by itself. Gangsta rap is basically about the reality of the hood/gangsta life so the lyrics are a lifestyle which really sets it apart from Hip Hop. The only element that's used from Hip Hop is rapping. Gangsta rap doesn't involve the rest of hip hop's elements which are art graffit, break dancin, and dj's spinnin(like battlin). Gangsta raps elements is hittin' up the wall(not art),dancin? nope c-walk, b-walk or nothin if u don't bang, battle dj's?lol naw old school cars probably take the place of that on the shaw and broadway. There's a difference and it was clearly noticed when NWA came on the scene.

Hip Hop is more like Talib Kweli
Eazy-E is gangsta rap

Different way of looking at it, thats cool, but wouldnt that mean for example Ice Cube is not Hip Hop?

Yes it would. And it would also mean that this guy isn't hip hop even though he's the asshole responsible for everybody running around saying hip hop is a culture. Tell me how this song differs from "gangsta rap." Show me where in this song the subject matter touches on "the elements."

THATS HIP HOP.. AND I USED TO BANG DAT SHIT BACK IN DA DAYS..

BUT HE'S NOT TALKIN BOUT KILLIN AND DOPE DEALING .. SO THEREFORE ..IT'S NOT CONSIDERED GANGSTA RAP..

HE'S RELATIVELY REPORTING...IT'S NOT LIKE HE ENDORSES MURDER AND DRUG SELLIN..

AND BACK THEN KRS WAS SO CONFUSED AT WHAT HE WANTED TO DO ANY WAY..

That's how NWA and Ice T was described when they came out. They were "ghetto reporters." Take a look at some quotes from the KRS shit:

"...he's the neighborhood drug dealer - my man..."

"...where I'm at if you soft you lost..."

"...I sit down on my bed to watch some TV (machine guns) do my ears decieve me? NO that's the 4th time this week, anotha fast brotha shot dead in the street..."

"...everyday i see my mother strugglin, now its time I GOT to do somethin, I look for work and get dissed like a jerk, do odd jobs and come home like a slob, so here comes Rob, he's gold n shimmery, he gimme $200 for a quick delivery, I do it once, I do it twice, now there's steak with the beans n rice..."

"...my family happy, everything is new, now tell me what the fuck am I supposed to do?"


"...my brother's my partner and were gettin paper, 3 months later we run our own caper..."

"...money's flowin, everything is fine, got myself a uzi and my brotha a nine..."




thats plenty talk about gun play and drug dealin (this is only bits n pieces of the first verse). I dont hear anything about mcing,breakin, beat boxin, graf or djing. Now why should KRS be considered hip hop with these types of lyrics, but Ice Cube is merely a gansgta rapper even though its the same type of subject matter? I guess this is what they call "hiphopcrasy"

[J Bananas]

Hip hop is chingy,nelly shit like that and gangsta rap is shit like dblock

wow that was ignorant.

HIP HOP is like guy said, culture. If you make music that directly reflects all the culture you make hip hop music. It is also the father of several new generations of hip hop, or "rap" which emulate hip hop but with other motives and styles in making that song or album. There isn't really a lot of "hip hop" these days being except for by nerdy white guys. Rap has pretty much dominated the term once known as "hip hop" for the last 20 years.  Gangsta rap is just another sub genre of rap. One getting increasingly shittier at that.

[Big PaybaCC]

WHERES EIHT IN THE PICTURE..HE WAS THERE AT THIS MEETING.. WHY HE AINT IN IT..IS IT A STORY BEHIND THIS....

he behind kurupt my loc...

[Jynxx]

This is a tricky question...i consider myself hip hop but i don't talk but more like on the street type...see there's hip hop like tribe called quest then u got ur wu tang, nas and so on...so its pretty much the same as far as subject matter goes except the beats are different...i know crips and bloods and eses that do hip hop so i dont think it matters if ur a gangsta or not...

[HimselfTheMajestic]

I'll put it like this, so called "gangsta rap" is hip hop but hip hop is not necessarily "gangsta rap." Hip Hop encompasses gangsta rap but is much bigger than that. Gangsta rap is just one type of hip hop. Usually the only people who will tell you that gangsta rap isn't hip hop are nerds and hip hop elitist snobs. Same with the idiot that says Nelly isn't hip hop. I can't fuckin stand his music but that doesn't mean he isn't hip hop. He just doesn't make the type of hip hop I like.

this guy got it down pretty clean.

but what makes gangsta rap, gangsta rap?
i think thats a better question.

is it just lyrical matter? or beats also?
can a rapper from the east and the south be a gangster rapper?
of course. i think it goes with the sound and aesthetic.
gangster rap came from the west but was influenced by the east.
that then went out to the south and the influences have blended over
time. i think the one thing that remains the same is subject matter.

this is where people get split. some people say hip hop is not the music,
it's the name of the culture while rap is the name of the music.
but hip hop is actual music too. thats where it's derived from.
in that sense, gangsta rap is hip hop, but hip hop is not gangsta rap, ya smell me?

ima put it like this, souls of mischief music isn't gangster rap,
but ice cube's music is hip hop, because gangster rap is a sub genre of hip hop.

[h2k4]

Hip Hop is a culture (MC'ing, DJ'ing, Graffiti, B-Boying)

Gangsta Rap is just one of many sub-genres under the umbrella called Rap.

Rap is under the umbrella called Hip Hop.

[Turf Hitta]

I love KRS One's music as much as anybody, but I hate how he got everybody calling hip hop a culture. I also hate how he has people running around acting like hip hop can only have subject matter that relates to "the elements." So then is Boogie Down Productions not hip hop since their subject matter touched on issues such as homicide, drug dealing, poverty, hoodrats, jewelery, cars, etc, etc (street shit)?

[Webby05]

I love KRS One's music as much as anybody, but I hate how he got everybody calling hip hop a culture. I also hate how he has people running around acting like hip hop can only have subject matter that relates to "the elements." So then is Boogie Down Productions not hip hop since their subject matter touched on issues such as homicide, drug dealing, poverty, hoodrats, jewelery, cars, etc, etc (street shit)?

I seen a recent video of KRS One calling Soulja Boy Hip Hop, so I dont think he means rap must be about the elements. All he says is one of the elements is MCing, rap comes under that, and under rap comes different styles such as Gangsta Rap and Hip Pop (Soulja Boy ect.)

[COMPTONRIDA1]

WHERES EIHT IN THE PICTURE..HE WAS THERE AT THIS MEETING.. WHY HE AINT IN IT..IS IT A STORY BEHIND THIS....

he behind kurupt my loc...

I COULDNT NOTICE HIM WIT DA LA HAT.. I WAS LOOKIN FOR A COMPTON ONE...

[Turf Hitta]

I love KRS One's music as much as anybody, but I hate how he got everybody calling hip hop a culture. I also hate how he has people running around acting like hip hop can only have subject matter that relates to "the elements." So then is Boogie Down Productions not hip hop since their subject matter touched on issues such as homicide, drug dealing, poverty, hoodrats, jewelery, cars, etc, etc (street shit)?

I seen a recent video of KRS One calling Soulja Boy Hip Hop, so I dont think he means rap must be about the elements. All he says is one of the elements is MCing, rap comes under that, and under rap comes different styles such as Gangsta Rap and Hip Pop (Soulja Boy ect.)

I'm not saying thats what KRS means, but if  you look through the thread you'll see that people are in here saying that in order for a rapper to be a hip hop artist, he must talk about the elements, otherwise its "just rap."

[HimselfTheMajestic]

I love KRS One's music as much as anybody, but I hate how he got everybody calling hip hop a culture. I also hate how he has people running around acting like hip hop can only have subject matter that relates to "the elements." So then is Boogie Down Productions not hip hop since their subject matter touched on issues such as homicide, drug dealing, poverty, hoodrats, jewelery, cars, etc, etc (street shit)?

I seen a recent video of KRS One calling Soulja Boy Hip Hop, so I dont think he means rap must be about the elements. All he says is one of the elements is MCing, rap comes under that, and under rap comes different styles such as Gangsta Rap and Hip Pop (Soulja Boy ect.)

I'm not saying thats what KRS means, but if  you look through the thread you'll see that people are in here saying that in order for a rapper to be a hip hop artist, he must talk about the elements, otherwise its "just rap."

no one said that my dude, people was saying the opposite.

everybody said that dudes who rap about street shit is hip hop too.
no one really raps about "the elements" nowadays.
in fact if you look at the early days of hip hop/rap, its ALWAYS been
about the streets. although they repped the culture more.
like foos would make songs just so people could break to,
beats developed out of djs cutting back break beats and loops.
so it was more of a total package back then.

to me, its all hip hop. and street rap, gangster rap, mafioso rap,
crunk, buck, hyphy, whatever the fuck you wanna call that shit,
its all hip hop still. i don't seperate that shit. each has its own dance,
its own slang and lyrical approach, its own flow and way of dress.
but all that shit is still hip hop.

i think what krs-one advocates is keeping hip hop with essence of what it was.
like keeping the artform true to the roots. not necessarily breaking and tagging,
cuz new styles of dance and expression have developed in hip hop over the years,
but keeping it true and real, and not on some commercial bullshit. not on some
fake ass whack made up bullshit. not having whack lyrics, not having this pop
music lame shit thats made hip hop a ignorant parody of itself.


you can see that shit. look at gangsta rap when it first came out,

they were actually saying something! it was true. it was from the heart.
now, every body a big time drug dealer gang banger in their mid twenties,
can't rap for shit and talking about some bullshit nobody wanna hear ya smell me?