Location
Northwestern College, Rowenhorst Student Center
Abstract
The mid 1980s through the 1990s, during the War on Crime Era, was marked by radicalized fear regarding the observed threat of criminality to society. Politicians voiced their intentions to crack down on crime, and a close association of young African American men in low-income areas with criminality became widespread. During this period when anti-crime rhetoric, arguably manifesting as racism, permeated American media and culture, gangsta rap surfaced in predominately African American, urban neighborhoods throughout the U.S.
Gangsta rap played an essential and highly complex role in shaping political rhetorical discourse surrounding the criminal justice system in the mid 1980s and 1990s during the War on Crime Era. It became a vernacular tool for resistance, giving influence and power to minority voices. The appearance of gangsta rap on the cultural scene flipped the “mark of criminality” on its head. What once was a means for discrimination became the root of gangsta ethos, as crime came to represent power, credibility, and prosperity. Gangsta rap was met with great success and controversy: artists profited immensely from promoting the same lifestyle and themes that drove the politicians to wage this war on crime in the first place. Thus, two opposing notions of criminality were held in contention in the eyes of the urban African American community and the predominately white “tough on crime” advocates.
Henry Louis Gates’ postmodern theory of Signifyin(g) as the master trope of African American discourse helps us analyze the rhetoric of gangsta rap. “Signifying implies the art of expressing ideas, opinions, feelings, and so forth, by indirection and is, therefore, a culturally specific form of irony. One who signifies says without explicitly saying, criticizes without actually criticizing, insults without really insulting” (Oxford Companion to African American Literature). Gates’ theory helps make sense of the shifts and disparity in the meanings of the “mark on crime” for different groups. I contend that while the pitfalls of gangsta rap must not be overlooked, gangsta rap was successful in raising a sense of awareness and urgency for anti-prison and anti-racist politics during the War on Crime era, as crime became a mode of political and rhetorical discourse. Moreover, this rhetoric can speak to us today, as the incarceration rates in the United States continue to rise, compelling us to consider new solutions to mass incarceration and attempt to truly listen to the rhetoric of marginalized voices in context, even when presented in rhetorical form that makes us apprehensive, such as gangsta rap.
Included in
Gangsta Rap as Political and Rhetorical Discourse
Northwestern College, Rowenhorst Student Center
The mid 1980s through the 1990s, during the War on Crime Era, was marked by radicalized fear regarding the observed threat of criminality to society. Politicians voiced their intentions to crack down on crime, and a close association of young African American men in low-income areas with criminality became widespread. During this period when anti-crime rhetoric, arguably manifesting as racism, permeated American media and culture, gangsta rap surfaced in predominately African American, urban neighborhoods throughout the U.S.
Gangsta rap played an essential and highly complex role in shaping political rhetorical discourse surrounding the criminal justice system in the mid 1980s and 1990s during the War on Crime Era. It became a vernacular tool for resistance, giving influence and power to minority voices. The appearance of gangsta rap on the cultural scene flipped the “mark of criminality” on its head. What once was a means for discrimination became the root of gangsta ethos, as crime came to represent power, credibility, and prosperity. Gangsta rap was met with great success and controversy: artists profited immensely from promoting the same lifestyle and themes that drove the politicians to wage this war on crime in the first place. Thus, two opposing notions of criminality were held in contention in the eyes of the urban African American community and the predominately white “tough on crime” advocates.
Henry Louis Gates’ postmodern theory of Signifyin(g) as the master trope of African American discourse helps us analyze the rhetoric of gangsta rap. “Signifying implies the art of expressing ideas, opinions, feelings, and so forth, by indirection and is, therefore, a culturally specific form of irony. One who signifies says without explicitly saying, criticizes without actually criticizing, insults without really insulting” (Oxford Companion to African American Literature). Gates’ theory helps make sense of the shifts and disparity in the meanings of the “mark on crime” for different groups. I contend that while the pitfalls of gangsta rap must not be overlooked, gangsta rap was successful in raising a sense of awareness and urgency for anti-prison and anti-racist politics during the War on Crime era, as crime became a mode of political and rhetorical discourse. Moreover, this rhetoric can speak to us today, as the incarceration rates in the United States continue to rise, compelling us to consider new solutions to mass incarceration and attempt to truly listen to the rhetoric of marginalized voices in context, even when presented in rhetorical form that makes us apprehensive, such as gangsta rap.