Since "Gangsta Rap's" inception, many have argued whether or not it is a part of Hip Hop culture or if it belongs in its own seperate category completely. Most recently, a fierce argument broke out when it organizers of New York's Hip Hop museum questioned the inclusion of gangsta rap in their exhibits. This is one of the many arguments that has raged on over time. Is Young Jeezy, 50 Cent, The Game and other Hip Hop? While many "hip hop purists" explain that Gangsta Rap does not follow with the revolutionary origins of Hip Hop culture, Immortal Technique feels differently and delivers this riveting essay on the subject...

Gangsta Rap Is Hip Hop
By: Immortal Technique

The connection between Revolution and Gangsta Rap is not only unquestionable in my mind but also historically speaking. So much so that I'm forced to begin to elaborate on it now as I go to more prisons, juvenile centers and schools to talk with young people with uncertain futures about the industry. They ask me about the messages and images in the music. They ask about the origins of this street sound that seems to define what they see as their life and destiny.

It is therefore my duty to remind them the way I must remind myself and all of you that even though I'm in my twenties, I am old enough to remember being in grade school and hearing the Ice Cube albums, Public Enemy, NWA, The Geto Boyz, Ice-T, and others. They, and those behind the scenes at the time, created projects that defined their prospective region for their hard-core sound but much more so for their rebellious nature, storytelling and political discourse. Just like most of our originators (RUN DMC didn’t start Hip Hop) Schoolly D is often overlooked as the person who in the mid 1980’s actually carved a niche and started to include these hardcore gangsta phrases into his music. But the expansion of the type of sound he made and the vivid imagery of the streets created by others such as Melle Mel helped the 80’s and early 90’s Hip Hop Artists take these building block concepts and become master masons of words. I personally always loved it-- curses, crazy concepts and all but I could see how some people who are not familiar with the culture of Hip hop could be apprehensive. They are filled with vulgarity, they're disrespectful to women, and they are horribly violent, but tell me isn't Revolution sometimes the same way? It's not what we would like it to be, because now more than ever it is romanticized and idealized. But even for the most just-cause there are innocent people that are killed or imprisoned and the theater of war always has a rape scene regardless of how beautiful the victory parade is weeks or year's later celebrating newfound freedom. Continued on page 2 »