MUSC 2019 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Snoop Dogg, Death Row Records, Gangsta Rap
Lecture 22 - Hip Hop (end), Indie Rock, Grunge
April 18, 2018
2:48 PM
Rise of Gangsta rap - roots in LA, Compton
Profanity - laced lyrics from NWA
• Adopts the baaad man persona to represent black people stereotypes to use them to their benefit
as a way to demand respect
Dr Dre
• Albums: The Chronic
o Idea of mentioning and using your position to help others
• Did what was very common in hip hop
• Co-founder of Death Row Records with Snoop Dogg
o Suggests people who have been put to death via capital punishment, even though people
previously put to death in the past were wrongly convicted
o Name of record references black men who were murdered by law enforcement, killed
wrongly
• He used his position to bring up other artists, in this case, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
• First album goes to #1 on list
• Introduced by Dr Dre
• Large audience was white middle-class kids who tried to experience the thrill of violent culture
through recordings but not real life
o Slumming
• Those at Death Row Records played up Snoop Dogg as a dangerous man and used slumming to
their advantage
o He was well known from a murder trial though he wasn't convicted
• G-Funk (Gangsta Funk)
o Released a new kind of style
o Laid-back gangsta life-style
o Slower groove
o Melodic synthesizer
o Lyrics often glorify street-culture, misogynistic views toward women
o Counters the fast speed of gangsta rap
• Song: "Gin and Juice"
o Glorifies partying, sex, sexist to women in the way they refer to them
o More tame than other releases
o Flaunting wealth from illegal activities
o Seen by many to glorify sexists, drugs, criminals, violence, that was going on
• Very successful formula - many labels realized it was a good way to maintain success
▪ Successful and well beyond the African-American community - many white
middle class kids imagined living an exciting life like depicted in the lyrics
"Your Mama" jokes come from this community, sparring with each other between the East coast and
West coast duels. When mixed with violence, it resulted in violent results.
This Gangsta rap style gives women a platform.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
