Gangsta Rap is it to blame?

[KURUPTION-81]

If ure on not from the uk u will prob not have heard about this two gangs had a shoot out in birmingham  and 2 17 year old girls were killed.  A lot of british papers r trying 2 blame gangsta rap one paper even said it was coolios fault because he introduced gangsta rap to the uk with track gangstas paradise lol.

From www.bbc.co.uk
Hip-hop artists have been accused of glamorising guns and violence in their lyrics. Here is a selection.

Snoop Dogg - 20 Dollars 2 My Name

Nothing left to do, but buy some shells for my glock
Why? so I can rob every known dope spot
I got 19 dollars and 50 cents up in my pocket with what?
With this automatic rocket
Gotta have it to pop it, unlock it, and take me up a hostage
(from Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told, Priority Records 1998)

Outkast - Ain't No Thang

I'd do it if I have to
bustin caps with this a heat and load it clip up after clip
I'm packin my gauge, if I feel it
The glock, the gat, the nine, the heaters
See I be bustin caps like my amp be bustin speakers
So how do you figure that Big Boi be scared to blast ya
You 'posed to be quickest draw, but man, I hail em faster
1-2-3, you need to think about the future
Before I shoot your ass and dilute your blood with lead
From my hollow tips, I'll send you to an early grave
(from Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, La Face 1994)

Tha Eastsidaz - Another Day

How much dirt have I done
My life has just begun
I sleep with my gun
My problems weigh a ton...
Live by the gun die by the gun
(from Snoop Dogg Presents The Eastsidaz, Doggystyle Records, 2000)

Big Pun - Brave In The Heart

I'm from where the guns love to introduce theyself
Reduce your health, little bulletproofs get felt
Make way for krill, I don't play I spray for real
Blow your top with the glock, that's my favourite kill
Blaze your crib with like thirty shots
I'm already hot, but my last one is with some dirty cops
Blow a hole through your ribs just for runnin your lips
The street's a trip; either you deep or you sleep with the fish
(from Endangered Species, released posthumously, Loud 2001)

Notorious BIG - Dead Wrong

I shot dread in the head, took the bread and the landspread
Lil' Gotti got the shotty to your body
So don't resist, or you might miss Christmas
I tote guns, I make number runs
I give emcees the runs drippin
when I throw my clip in the AK, I slay from far away
Everybody hit the DECK
(from Born Again, released posthumously, Bad Boy Entertainment 1999)

C-Murder - Constantly 'N Danger

Bulletproof vest on my chest
And bulletproof windshields to catch the rest...
My money bigger, huh, so I got a bigger gun too
I keep a nine with me, if you want me come get me
You shoot first... you better hit me
I keep a close eye on a stranger...
Cause I'm constantly in danger
(from Life or Death, Priority 1998)

Ludacris - Cry Babies (Oh No)

I caught him with a blow to the chest
My hollow put a hole in his vest
I'm bout to send two to his dome
Cry babies go home!
I just bought some new guns my mama said "it ain't worth it"
But I'm at the shooting range just cause
practice makes perfect
(from Word of Mouf, Defjam, 2001)

The Culture Minister of the United Kingdom is being labeled as a racist
after he blamed rap music for the shooting deaths of two innocent girls in
the crime riddled Birmingham area. "For years I have been very worried
about these hateful lyrics that these boasting macho idiot rappers come
out with," Culture Minister Kim Howells said. "It has created a culture
where killing is almost a fashion accessory."

Do u think that rap can be blamed?

I dont think it can be the goverment is just trying to pass the buck rather than looking deeper into the problem like why do these people carry guns and how do they get them. What do u think?

Ive posted this in here coz gangsta rap originally was from the west and populrised it, if u wanna move it do so.

[PLANT]

You can't blame someone else for another person's actions.  

[Funkadelic]

Fuck it...

Just take a look at all these movies with all the violence in it.

[First To Bomb]

"I didnt make Thug Life. I just talked about it. It's like when a doctor diagnoses AIDS. He didnt make it. He aint responsable for all the AIDS cases in the world. He's just diagnosing it. I'm diagnosing Thug Life, which already existed"

"I was given to this world, i didnt make it"

Once again, 2Pac said it in the best way possible.

[KURUPTION-81]

People no the difference between right and wrong thats the basic line. Rappers talk about whats happening in real life, im pretty sure people dont think i like snoop dogg he likes guns so im gonna get one and shoot someone. If they do then they r obviously already messed up.

[The Watcher]

In a way entertainers should take responsibility, but in a way they shouldn't.

Kids need role models etc.. every rapper/entertainer/movie star/whatever going into the business knows they're going to be preaching to kids ears, so they should give some kind of warning.

You can't really put the blame on anyone at all IMO, cause kids are impressionable when they're young, moreso when they become teenagers. You could blame rap music, video games, movies etc.. but you'll end up going on for days. People need to realise the fact that its just life & live with it. Sue the people who make the guns, or better yet sue the people who made the bullets in a joint lawsuit with the people who made the guns! yeah! (<- sarcasm)

[Kaidy]

It's a simple cause and effect argument. The media are trying to tell us urban music is the cause of gun violence, but anyone with the tiniest bit of common sense and/or street knowledge will tell you that music is the effect of society's woes.

You got poor people with little hope of making anything of their life thrown together in enclosed spaces (ie housing estates or 'projects'), alienated from the ruling classes, then you got the police and the media saying they're the cause of society's problems. Is it any wonder people are shooting and killing each other? Extreme frustration is a cause for violence.

But of course the government want to put out their little smokescreen and blame music. Anything to take the blame away from them and their bullshit handling of the country.

[min0rity]

You can't blame someone else for another person's actions.  

[T-Dogg]

^^^^
Yeah.

Also, I'm thinkin' the government is tryin' to point blaming fingers and they refuse to admit there's something wrong with society. It's happening all over the world, here, the UK, the US... All the time fingers are pointed at rap & video games. Parents will never admit that maybe they could've done a better job raising their kid and the governments will never admit that there's problems is the society. It's all about finding a scapegoat for the media to focus on and get it off their own backs...

[Don Seer]

the music came from the culture. not the other way around.

[Nima - Dubcnn.com]

In a way entertainers should take responsibility, but in a way they shouldn't.

Kids need role models etc.. every rapper/entertainer/movie star/whatever going into the business knows they're going to be preaching to kids ears, so they should give some kind of warning.

You can't really put the blame on anyone at all IMO, cause kids are impressionable when they're young, moreso when they become teenagers. You could blame rap music, video games, movies etc.. but you'll end up going on for days. People need to realise the fact that its just life & live with it. Sue the people who make the guns, or better yet sue the people who made the bullets in a joint lawsuit with the people who made the guns! yeah! (<- sarcasm)

hey said it best