"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang": The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the late 1980s, gangsta rap music emerged in urban America, giving voice to -and making money for -a social group widely considered to be in crisis: young, poor, black men. From its local origins, gangsta rap went on to flood the mainstream, generating enormous popularity and profits. Yet the highly charged lyrics, public battles, and hard, fast lifestyles that characterize the genre have incited the anger of many public figures and proponents of "family values." Constantly engaging questions of black identity and race relations, poverty and wealth, gangsta rap represents one of the most profound influences on pop culture in the last thirty years.Focusing on the artists Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, the Geto Boys, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur, Quinn explores the origins, development, and immense appeal of gangsta rap. Including detailed readings in urban geography, neoconservative politics, subcultural formations, black cultural debates, and music industry conditions, this book explains how and why this music genre emerged. In Nuthin' but a "G" Thang, Quinn argues that gangsta rap both reflected and reinforced the decline in black protest culture and the great rise in individualist and entrepreneurial thinking that took place in the U.S. after the 1970s. Uncovering gangsta rap's deep roots in black working-class expressive culture, she stresses the music's aesthetic pleasures and complexities that have often been ignored in critical accounts.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Since the days of N.W.A. in the late 1980s, gangsta rap has played a critical role in the culture of hip-hop. Quinn (American studies, Univ. of Manchester, U.K.) has written an impressive academic study of gangsta rap's music and culture that traces its roots to antebellum days, through toasting and the legends of the badman and the trickster. Quinn shows that gangsta was a logical progression in the development of urban culture, exploring its meaning in the black community, including its impact on fans, artists, and others involved in creating the music. The biggest flaw is that limited personal insight is given about those behind the music (e.g., Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg). Besides a final chapter on Tupac Shakur, not much is revealed about the lives or motivations of the artists discussed. An interesting, if dry, study of the gangsta culture; recommended for music and cultural studies collections in academic or larger public libraries.-Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Oxford, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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