Gangsta rap

The portrayal of black women has evolved greatly over time. From Oliva Pope in Scandal to Annalise in How to Get Away with Murder, black women are on-screen professionals now more than ever. Although black women are seen dealing with issues in their stories’ plot, the great majority of these plots take a back seat to the subplot of romance. The success of black women in media is relentlessly measured by their love life. Regardless of the success of their financial, employment, or platonic…

Coast rap, through Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, continued to grow in popularity and became the focus of rap music. When Bad Boy Records and Biggie released Ready to Die, the East Coast got back into the spotlight. However, just two months after the release, Tupac was shot at the New York studio and blamed Biggie, Combs, and Bad Boy Records. This was when the feud took off. Both sides went back and forth with songs and accusations. As Adam Bradley and Andrew Dubois explain, “The West Coast’s gangsta…

Jean-Luc Salib Ms. Borelli English IV 3/13/16 We all experience adversity in our lives. However, for some the deck seems overwhelmingly stacked against them. They face multiple obstacles like poverty, lack of educational opportunities, and hardships within their families. In the novel, The Other Wes Moore, the author recounts the story of two boys with the same name who both came from underprivileged backgrounds, yet end up living drastically different lives. Similarly,…

Many Americans were saddened when JFK was shot in Dallas. Music lovers were shocked to hear about the shooting of John Lennon in New York City. For the hip hop world, however, the shooting of Tupac Shakur is probably one of the saddest, and most controversial shootings of a famous person in recent history. Tupac was shot in Las Vegas on September 7th, 1996. At this time, many eyes were on the city of Las Vegas. Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon were fighting in one of the biggest boxing matches…

The roles of African American actors and actresses in popular Hollywood films can be grouped into three categories: rags to riches, gangsta and hood life, and segregation. When African American actors are portrayed in different roles, they seem to receive many negative reviews. In recent years, actor Kenneth Branagh was cast as a Idris Elba, a Nordic god, in Thor. There was debate about whether or not a man of color should play the character, but Branagh defends himself by saying that Elizabeth…

In this article, the author gathers information on gang members from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, digging deeper into the lives of gangs. The author also gives us a new perspective by adding in many unexpected and surprising statements, including: “The pain,” he said, “seems a small price for a new life. I dream of being clean, even if it means being scarred.” (Quoted by gang member Christian Antunez during a tattoo removal process). By giving us a clear dominant and counter…

In A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men, written by John Hagedorn, the audience sees the connection Hagedorn’s makes between politics, socioeconomic status, racism, and it’s unwavering resistance to change. Street gangs are complex and cannot be reduced to simplistic pathologies, especially with the lack of research and unexplored history by scholars. The book focuses on the more social-cultural psychological concepts, stating straight off the bat that street gangs are not apart of “a subset of…

Violence is everywhere nowadays. It is on our television screens, with all the games we play and the shows we watch. It is on the music we listen to, from death metal to the gangsta rap. It is in our movie theaters, such as the gory horror flicks and the epic fantasies. We as human beings love violence. As Famous movie director Quentin Tarantino famously said “Violence is one of the most fun things to watch.” I myself am guilty of this. I loved violence when I was a kid, I adore violence right…

Political and social leaders are expected to speak out about police brutality incidents that have had an affect on the general public, which tend to further shift individual’s mindsets on the validity of the corrupt justice system that the United States upholds. As time continues to pass and new decades come to life, more American citizens suffer from police misconduct. Through this, more hatred and disdain is created towards law enforcement that unfortunately only worsens the dilemma. In 2014,…

In turkey people say “No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back”, in other words no matter how bad your life is you can turn it around. It’s true you can turn your life around. There have been many people, books, and events that show anyone can turn their life around. No matter how bad it gets you can always make it better, you have to make the change though. You can’t just sit and wait for good things to happen you have to make them happen. There are many people who have…