Instead of Gangta Rap...

what if instead of rap music going in the direction of glorified criminal activity, it instead became an afrocentric music that glorified african heritage? How could thius change come about? What would be the cultural impact?
 
No idea, but I would actually leave the TV on the music channels when rap comes on- gangstas, hoes and bling puts me off straight.
 
Rap was very afrocentric in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Then groups like NWA and Dr. Dre came along, and Afrocentric Rap went out of favor. NWA was probably the most influential group with their album Straight Outta Compton. If the group's founder, Easy E, was shot while he was a drug dealer, it's quite likely that Gangsta Rap would have never taken off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_hip_hop
 

Hnau

Banned
That's the kind of world I want to live in. Rap is actually pretty cool, what with techno influences and good solid base beats and rhythms, and you have to appreciate the talent of the lyricists. Its the culture that goes along with it that I disapprove of. :(
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEmKSUUVaMA&feature=related

Poor Righteous Teachers were a big east coast afrocentric/black power/political hip-hop group. They were really into the whole Nation of Islam thing (I mean, look at the song title).

And of course there's always Public Enemy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jym-RtHHG0s


I think that if the mid-80's recession was worse, or if it hits black communities even harder, hip-hop will stay more political. The crack epidemic being butterflied away would help a lot for countering the whole gangsta drug-dealing based culture. Basically there needs to be a social situation where African-Americans feel they are being cheated moreso than in OTL. If hip-hop stays marginalized (that is to say, a niche genre) and there aren't neighborhood-corner heroes making it rich selling crack, there will be more of a political bent to it, or a least a stillbirth of gangsta rap.

A more powerful Nation of Islam, less effective civil rights legislation, or delayed/prevented crack epidemic alongside less social opportunities or more poverty would keep hip-hop afrocentric and political.
 
I think Afrocentrism in the Black community (i use black because i am referring to the descendants of slaves rather than the recent immigrants from Africa) is a bit misleading. I mean it often helps to propagate racism, and definitely helps deepen the divide between ethnic groups in America. Immortal technique says "as much as racism bleed america we need to understand classism is the real issue".

as an outsider to the entire American community looking in, the Blacks are something new, neither African nor European but American. i think that is really important, rather than looking back towards the continent that betrayed them and sold them into slavery and exile. perhaps a focus on a new identity might be better than being trapped in the past?

I agree that the focus on criminal activity in modern rappers is a bad thing, but there are many who discuss other things, Mos Def, Immortal technique, Dead Prez and others are representative of this group. however they are stilled tainted with occasional outbursts of racism.
 
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