Gangsta rap evolved from Hip hop then shortly became a huge sensation in California putting Compton on the map. Dr.Dre was one of the biggest influences on rap. "Still, even if Dre's patented G-funk defined the West Coast sound and style for many," (http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/west-coast-rap-ma0000002932) Other artists that were influencial to the gangsta rap phenominon were Ice T, Tupac, Snoop dogg, N.W.A, Ice cube, and more. Each one of these artists rapped about their everyday lives growing up in the hood. Their songs would talk about, violence, sex, gangs, and even police brutality that went on in the ghetto. Many people percieve this genre of music as negative due to the messages that they are sending, but in actualiity they were rapping about what they experienced growing up in the hood.

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Once N.W.A (Niggas with attitude) came out in 1989 the music industry was flooded with music about gang life, street violence, drugs as well as patriarchy towards women. Police were constantly trying to get these artists in trouble because they were nothing but "gang members" to them. "Even the FBI took notice, issuing them a stern warning to watch their step." (http://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20040216rap0216p1.asp) At the end of the day people from all over loved this group and their music style."The early nineties were upon us, Gangster rap had put the city of Compton on the map. N.W.A.’s “ Straight Outta Compton “ album that featured the song “ Fuck The Police “, made the city well known across the world." (http://www.comptonpolicegangs.com/rap-history.htm) These young men did not become successful easily, they had to deal with police brutality, they fought due to gangs being located in thier area and Eazy E even started his record label by his saved up mney that he got from selling cocaine in compton.
 

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Tupac started his journey as an artist in 1991 and was apart of a group called Digital underground, in the same year he was recognized for his album 2pacalypse Now. That album was the beginning of his infamy as a leading figure of the gangster arrangement of hip hop. His songs also referenced sex violence and cop killing. He was a gangster that was deeply loved by the people of California but unfortuantely was shot and killed in 1996 and didn't get to fullfil his potential of having a successfulc career.

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Ice-T played an important role in the West side gangster lifestyle, he expressed it through his music. He not only rapped about the street life but also about racsim. One of Ice-Ts songs the "Cop Killer" displayed a message of the cultural battle that went on in the 1990s. "As a musician, Ice-T played a major role in the creation of the gangsta incarnation of hip-hop music and was a colossus of the West coast hip-hop scene, despite his east coast, greater New york origins." (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001384/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm)

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Snoop dogg is known for his accomplishments as a gangsta MC. Snoops music career started when he met Dr.Dre, in 1993 he made his first album Doggystyle. His album was released by Deathrow records and critics seemed to love his style of hip hop. "Critics have praised Snoop Dogg for the lyrical "realism" he delivers on the album and for his distinctive vocal flow. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggystyle) Snoop dogg had a wide variety of fans in the west coast and his music became very popular in the 90s. Like most rap artists Snoop dogg smoked weed and a lot of it, since he portrayed the image of a gangsta pothead the image started to spread and smoking weed became huge, especially in California. Getting high and listening to rap/ hip-hop was the trend in 90s.

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Suge Knight was a dangerous man and displayed the violence that went on in California. He is the co-founder of deathrow records but abused people who worked for him. He was a scumy guy and only cared about his money. "In the early Nineties, he allegedly shook down Vanilla Ice into handing over publishing profits, walking the rapper out to a hotel-room balcony to show him how far his fall would be. ("I needed to wear a diaper that day," Ice said later.) In his memoir, former N.W.A manager Jerry Heller alleged that Knight and his cohorts, bearing baseball bats, intimidated Eazy-E into releasing Dre from his Ruthless Records contract." (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/suge-knight-endless-fall-20150706) Suge Knight was the perfect image of a gangster that didn't mind to kill, he was all about money and that's it.

 

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