Gangsta rap

Gangsta rap (also called Gangster rap and reality rap) is a subgenre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word gangster. The genre was pioneered in the mid 1980s by rappers such as Eazy-E and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. After the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Many people have criticized gangsta rap for allegedly promoting illegal activities such as assault, murder, and selling illegal drugs.

Gangsta rap
Stylistic origins	Hip hop
Cultural origins	Mid 1980s Los Angeles, California
Typical instruments	Drum machine beatboxing vocals
Derivative forms	Mafioso rap Dirty rap Horrorcore Hardcore hip hop
Subgenres
Mafioso rap drill trap
Fusion genres
G funk
Regional scenes
West Coast hip hop East Coast hip hop Southern hip hop Midwest hip hop Chicano rap
Other topics
Horrorcore

Notable Artists

• Ace Hood
• AZ
• Beanie Sigel
• Big L
• Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
• Boosie Badazz
• Bun B
• Cam'ron
• Coolio
• Daz Dillinger
• DMX
• Eazy-E
• Fabolous
• Freeway
• Raekwon
• Twista
• MC Hammer
• Public Enemy
• 2Pac
• The Notorious B.I.G.
• Ice Cube
• Lil Wayne
• Fat Joe
• 2 Chainz
• Wu-Tang Clan
• N.W.A.
• South Park Mexican
• Scarface
• Silkk the Shocker
• Kid Frost
• Ja Rule
• Rick Ross
• Ganskta N-I-P
• The Game
• Too $hort
• 50 Cent
• Lloyd Banks
• Noreaga
• G-Unit
• Ice-T
• T.I.
• Dr. Dre
• Lil Jon
• Tony Yayo
• B-Real
• The LOX
• Tech N9ne
• Young Buck
• Jeezy
• Waka Flocka Flame
• Three 6 Mafia
• E-40
• C-Murder
• Master P
• Snoop Dogg
• Nas
• Prodigy
• Meek Mill
• Jay-Z
• WC
• Pimp C
• Mobb Deep
• Havoc