LaKeith Stanfield calls out toxicity of gangsta rap

Tell me you’re of a certain age without telling me how old you are…

I despise gangster rap and miss singers who can actually sing!

Gangster Rap, (which I don't even believe it is called by anyone anymore) has been around for over thirty years. He might as well say let's not listen to the devil's rock 'n roll music.

Gangsta rap isn't even a thing anymore so what is this dude talking about?

It's not called gangsta rap because the genre itself went out sometime before 2005.

Was Migos really that violent in their lyrics?

When he talks about gangsta rap he means rap with violent, misogynistic lyrics such as drill music/rap which is popular today. He's right.

Okay, answered my own question. Yes, at least some of their lyrics were about exactly how violent they and their friends were.

Finally, someone telling the black community to take responsibility for their own problems and stop blaming everything on whitey.

LaKeith???

Oh shut up, R8. You don't even understand what he is saying. You're reading your own damn message into it, you racist dummy.

The largest audience for this music, number wise, IS Whitey, funny enough.

R11 That number comes from the fact that there are way more white people than black people in America. We need to compare the percentage of black people listening to rap music vs. percentage of whites to truly get a meaningful statistic out of it.

R8, Dr. William H. Cosby practically made a career out of telling you s black men to pull up their pants in the late 90s, so that behavior doesn’t have the of best track records.

*young black men

This is a problem for the black community. Only they can hold themselves accountable for degeneracy in rap music. If a white person says anything they are labelled as racist so there is nothing they can do.

About frickin time

He’s right but will be attacked, as evidenced by this thread. While there are many exceptions within the genre, rap and hip hop culture, writ large, have been corrosive forces in society. Anger, violence, misogyny, etc. have always been built in. The Black community has suffered the most.

Duh, r12.

I guess it's the same way that heavy metal music, or to put it in terms this author would use "head banger music," makes white people anti-social, aggressive and violent. Now we have a culture of sociopathic mass shooters. I am not saying it's the single cause if it, just as "gangster rap" isn't, but it definitely plays into the rage just as gangster music plays into violent fantasies.

And to the people saying "Finally..." this is a conversation that has been going on for thirty years too. Just no one listens to it when there is money to be made by both black and white people. It's not gonna change and it's not gonna go anywhere. And by the way, the black community isn't the ONLY community with large swaths of people who hate and blame Whitey. So maybe whitey needs to look at himself.

He's absolutely right. An end to toxicity in black music would have a huge effect in reducing pathology in that community. If the number of black children born out of wedlock was reduced by 50%, the effect would even be bigger.

Talented rappers seem to be getting killed weekly either in revenge beefs or robberies. I can't think of anything similiar ever happening to any white artist no matter what their music genre was. The rap culture is really sick.

The best Black music about gang culture are those that show the dangers and de-glorifies it. For example, TLC’s “Waterfalls” and Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

Art and culture can influence people. WHO KNEW. LOL

He's right and the points about thrash metal etc are also right but guess what, ADULTS are also responsible for their own actions.

Perhaps with some education and socialization norms that were standard and not sub-par in the US we wouldn't have to blame the arts for sociopath's actions.

Shouldn’t his name be ElKeith?

LaTuda

In all honesty, I wish you all would stop with this conversation. Most of you aren't speaking from actual first hand experience and are only commenting on information that you are fed. You are speaking on a subject you have very little information on outside of what you read or what crosses your smart phone. Which is a shame because you live in a country surrounded by black people.

The majority of the black community DOES NOT live in the inner city. There are about 40 million black people in America. About 15 million of them live in the inner city. And even that 15 million isn't all the same. So when you speak of "the black community should do this and the black community should do that," you are painting with a very broad brush and it sounds ignorant. And it speaks volumes about the intentionally segregated lives you chose to lead. Most black people listen to gangster rap (it feels so stupid using that term, but there it is) and respond to it the same way most white people do who enjoy it - as a form of entertainment. It doesn't lead to violence nor does is dictate any codes for the way we chose to live our lives. We see it for what it is.

So just as when I actually - (gasp) - interact with white people in my daily life and I don't paint them with the broad brushstrokes of racism, apartheid, colonialism and genocide, globally and historically associated with their community, and chose to SEE them for individual they are, I ask that you do the same. And to start, it would be nice if we put this conversation to bed. Or at least, you should ask questions about things you might not understand instead of speaking from a place of authority.

[quote]That number comes from the fact that there are way more white people than black people in America. We need to compare the percentage of black people listening to rap music vs. percentage of whites to truly get a meaningful statistic out of it.

No we don't. We only need to know that a significant portion of gangsta raps sales are attributable to white people in order to make a valid claim that white people are part of the problem!

Thanks whitey!

R26 how would you draw that someone was saying white people are the problem from what was said? The funny thing is that the only people saying white people are a problem on this thread are White People, I am assuming. Black people don't actually use the word whitey, at least not since the 70s.

Black rappers are being murdered by black people. A very prominent and talented rapper died yesterday. There is a violent subculture around rap. Stop pretending otherwise.

In the past 20 years over 50 prominent rappers have been murdered. Please feel free to list,the,names of musicians of other genres who have been murdered in the same time period.

[quote]Black rappers are being murdered by black people. A very prominent and talented rapper died yesterday. There is a violent subculture around rap. Stop pretending otherwise.

He was neither prominent nor talented.

[quote]I guess it's the same way that heavy metal music, or to put it in terms this author would use "head banger music," makes white people anti-social, aggressive and violent. Now we have a culture of sociopathic mass shooters.

Sociopathic mass shooters are not a common occurrence. The last one that happened in my city was four years ago. Blacks shooting blacks however is a daily occurrence.

No one is saying it isn't a problem. What is being said is what does it have to do with you and what authority do you have to speak on it - to even remotely address it as if you really care. In all honesty you don't care. That is the truth. So what would be the motivation behind commenting on something you really do not care about? I guess to point out that I am not guilty for the state of the a certain population of the black community. And guess what, you aren't. It's not your fault. So you can stop pretending to care about something you really don't care about to assuage some guilt that really isn't yours. There are other things I am sure you are guilty of participating in. I would search my heart for those things. But pinpointing one black rapper killing another won't wash away whatever it is that's really troubling you.

Guilt knows no accuser. But your insistence on pointing out faults of people that have nothing to do with you - akin to some Bible thumper talking about the horrors of the gay community - would point to the fact that there is something you are feeling guilty about. It's usually always the case.

Oh God this topic and these discussions here are so 1990’s.

I’ve been listening to “gangsta rap” since I was a kid. I’ve never been violent.

Art is a reflection of the times. “Gangstas” make rap, rap doesn’t make you into a gangsta.

Migos were hanging out with shady ass people. That’s what happened.

R31 What you’re doing is your ignoring the circumstances.

Very few white people are apart of gangs / organized crime. White drug dealers in the city are small timers.

Hes.devastatingly handsome. I'm glad he spoke about Gangsta Rap, too. Ive listened to it, and I do like some of the music. Some of it is good and creative, but it is violent. I can see how peop!e can be influenced by it.

I keep thinking it says Lisa Stansfield.

[quote]Black rappers are being murdered by black people. A very prominent and talented rapper died yesterday. There is a violent subculture around rap. Stop pretending otherwise.

Gang CULTURE is the problem. People blame artists. The music is just a by-product that has been commercialized for profit in America. Gangsta music will always exist, as long as there are gangsters. You have to start at the root of the problem.

[quote]Gangsta music will always exist, as long as there are gangsters. You have to start at the root of the problem.

The music glorifies and celebrates the culture, thereby perpetuating the problem.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love…

What's fucked up about this is that Takeoff was the most lowkey, quiet, and introverted of the three in the group. He wasn't even playing the dice game. He was, apparently, just sitting nearby. Quavo was the one being shot at, and emerged without a scratch.

Off topic but LaKeith Stanfield looks like he's a good fuck but likely beats his partners. He also doesn't like black women, publicly dissing Kamala Harris' weave. Consider the source.

[quote]Was Migos really that violent in their lyrics?

The most violent lyric these dudes rapped was "skrrt!"

Isn't Cardi B married to one of those Migos? Is it the dead one?

Cardi B is married to Offset and hes not the dead one.

DL doesn't care about this guy but will pretend to love him because they're racist old timers who hate rap music

[quote] dissing Kamala Harris' weave

Does she wear a weave?

Lost me at LaKeith ... sorry

R41 He was a bystander.

Gang violence in low income neighborhoods isn’t my problem.

It’s crazy how white people can disassociate themselves from the methed out hillbillies voting crazy lunatics into the government all around the country, because I’m black, I must look at black violence in inner cities and identity with it like it’s my problem.

Nah. Half of Black America is middle class. 47% middle class, 12% upper class.

The difference between the lower class black and white is black hustle in drugs and gang violence cause they don’t want to be like poor white people who have nothing. That’s why you see some fancy cars in the hood.

R49 you are so right. I am in that 12% and have zero relation to the inner city other than the fact that the cops don't know the difference because of my color. My boyfriend is white and grew up in Butler, PA. I hate dropping him off there because there are literally dirty white people coming down from the hills. Pickup trucks, Bowie knives, matted hair. A family will claim one hillside with three broke down mobile homes and a dog chained outside. And why is there always smoke coming from somewhere? Burning leaves? heating up the bathwater? squirrel stew?

Why are you with someone from that background r50? The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree…

r51 I mean...I have family in the hood because that's where I grew up, but I no longer live there. Perhaps their partner grew up in White trashville and "escaped." It's also possible that his family, while living in a bad area, still didn't [bold]act[/bold] like they lived in a bad area similar to my family.

I would love to be able to live around mostly "my people" but unfortunately, that tends to come with nonsense and hood shit and I don't have the time nor patience for it. I was just in the hood earlier this week visiting my cousins and, sure enough, while there I heard gunshots (about 20 of them). In broad daylight. Later that afternoon, I turn on the news and see the breaking story about a shootout that occurred right around the fucking corner from where we were at. I couldn't get back to the suburbs fast enough.

They are still looking for the shooter as I'm typing this because residents won't talk to the police. Something about snitching.

Yeah R51, he is from that area but not OF that area. He has a PhD from an Ivy. He made it his first goal in life to get out of there. His family is still there though.

I am still dealing with the scars of growing up in the ‘hood, where everyone seemingly knew that I was gay before I did, with the ensuing bullying and fighting and othe forms of abuse. I recently reconnected with my brother (another thread in itself) and many of the friends and enemies who I grew up with are dead, dying, in jail or jetted when they had their chance. “You stopped caring about the neighborhood a long time ago, didn’t you?”, my brother recently asked me when I told him that I couldn’t care less about the people I grew up with. I’m in a somewhat nicer, more diverse section of town now and folks believe in live and let live.

What was gangsta rap? We’re any of those guys actual gangstas?

R55 Not in the Bugsy Siegel way you are thinking. But yes, a lot of them if not most were members of actual gangs, sold drugs, shot or shot at, etc... Either a blood or a crip.

RESPECT OUR CULTURE!!!

Yep, it's contributed to generations of bad humans.

Would Snow be considered gangsta rap?

The great thing about this country that some people fail to understand or willfully disagree with is that we all can have opinions that are valid. You don’t have to black or a “person of authority” to have a genuine and knowledgeable opinion on this topic. The fact is rap music by and large glorifies the worst of humanity and until black people turn that shit off and take responsibility then they can keep shooting each other and get locked up. Ain’t my problem.

I read this as Lisa Stansfield and I thought, I’m not sure how much weight that carries, but OK.

All around the world and I, I, I. I can't find my baby.

Arts reflects reality and always will so if you don't want violence in art then you have to eliminate it in your community.

[quote] Nah. Half of Black America is middle class. 47% middle class, 12% upper class.

Source? be nice if it's true.

he's right! nobody says anything because you can't criticize blacks.

[quote]Source? be nice if it's true.

r64

"I don't paint them with the broad brushstrokes of racism, apartheid, colonialism and genocide, globally and historically associated with their community" - no one associates white peolpe with that except racists like you.

R65 just got here from Fox News

Only stupid hausfraus think violence is caused by things like rap music and violent video games

This Lakeith person uses lots of polysyllabic words.

Ms. LaKeith needs to gone ahead and come out the closet

Thanks R66. Pew is a great source! Your #s are slightly off (18% make $100K+, assuming that was whatyou mean by "upper class?" (Though that definition is debatable).

Census says median HHI for Blacks is now $48K so it went up since the Pew 2019 #s. That's good.

You're welcome r71. I'm not r49, but just supplied to source you requested for what they were talking about. And yes, they weren't far off with their numbers.

*the

I think it's very silly to believe that cultural issues will be solved by downplaying or even banning a genre of music.

It's also important to mention that we never hear about the violent white supremacist metal genre, especially since those songs are referenced constantly on the various chans and kuns and farms that violent incel murderers hang out on.

LaKeith, LaKevin, LaMancha, LaLah!

Where's all the ultra maga standing up for rapper's 1A rights? Exactly.

[quote]Most black people listen to gangster rap (it feels so stupid using that term, but there it is) and respond to it the same way most white people do who enjoy it - as a form of entertainment.

Troll, please! "Most" black people listen to gangster rap?? Who? Where? When?

Go sit down in Ignore and count your blessings; finally, hot borsch!

Six hundred mass shootings this year alone.

R77 you have to read the entire sentence. It is not saying that MOST black people listen to Gangster Rap. It is saying that most black people listen to gangster rap AND REPOND TO IT the same way white people do.

Calm Down....

[quote] no one associates white peolpe with that except racists like you.

I would think that a good number of white people think black people associate racism with them (which isn't true, btw). I think when someone hears the word colonialism, they picture a White nation, whether British, French or Dutch, to name a few, going into Africa, India, China and claiming it as their own. I am certainly not the only person who equates white people with Racism, Apartheid, Genocide (Holocaust, Russian Holocaust, Serbia, Native American) , with white people. But I do not paint every white person I meet with this history in the same way a lot of white people paint black people with the single brushstroke of gangster rap loving inner city dwellers.

Lakeith is a homophobe, but he’s also right on this.

Lakeith was a supporting cast member on ATLANTA. The Minos trio appeared in a season 2 episode, playing themselves, hunting a black man in a forest to murder him.

I think my personal turning point was a song by Playboi Carti where he rapped about shooting people indiscriminately. Don’t know if he’s ever done that, but the casualness he used to talk about ending the lives of innocent bystanders… because he was drunk? High? Bored? I realized I had to be careful about the artists I support.

Migos

And next people will say I am saying that only white people commit genocides, practice racism. Of course not. That is something that humans do to each other. But white people have proven, literally on a global scale, their penchant for dominating and subjugating other races of people and bringing them under their control. That is just a fact of world history.

The danger of gangster rap now is that generations are becoming increasingly more sociopathic with their complete detachment from a human experience. So this mentality combined with a music that casually promotes it is a recipe for disaster. So artist need to be more responsible with the way they chose to reflect the reality around them. They either need to promote alternatives to the lifestyle or not sing about it at all instead of just embracing it wholesale as means of making a buck to escape it.

The problem is most of the people in this thread can’t name any popular “gangsta” rappers or songs, which is why this thread is so ignorant.

The first major Gangsta Rap album came out about 37 years ago. That's why when people mention it now, protest it now, it sounds like people protesting the Devil's Rock 'n Roll music in 1988. But NWA was the first major group with Ice Cub, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E with Snoop Dogg as a Dr. Dre protege to follow. That is gansta rap. Today's music talks about taking percocet, stacking racks (one banded rack of bills = $1000) and bustin nuts and taking down anyone who gets in the way of you living your best life. Not sure what you would call it. I know Trap is a part of it - music played in Trap Houses (abandoned houses where drugs are cut, prepared and packaged). But I haven't listened to it for a while to even know if that is still a thing.

[quote]But white people have proven, literally on a global scale, their penchant for dominating and subjugating other races of people and bringing them under their control. That is just a fact of world history.

If you include Arabs in "white people" then you're right.

Arabs pretty much stick to their own turf R85. They are not sailing half way across the globe to discover new people to subjugate. I mean when you reached Australia to subjugate the native people there - you really know you're way around the subject.

Really? “Their own turf” includes half or more of Africa, Indonesia, most of the Middle East, and Spain?

Why does anyone have to check in with gangstas when one enters a city?

r80 what has he said that's homophobic. Im not super familiar with him

[quote] most of the people in this thread can’t name any popular “gangsta”

That's because they don't use the English language. And few of them have names which are comprehensible to those who use the English language.

[quote]Why does anyone have to check in with gangstas when one enters a city?

This is why.

^ To keep it simple, it originated with mafia shit, specifically the Italian mafia. Gangsters from other crime families, when traveling, would check in with other crime family bosses if they knew they'd have to go to their area for business, leisure, etc. If a mafia member from one family (say NY) neglected to do that and called themselves wanting to prance around a place like Chicago without getting the okay from the leader of the crime family that runs that city, they may have found themselves in the morgue lamenting something about "how they massacred my boy."

Oh, and by the way, that's who these gangsta rappers and street gangs got most of their "rules" from; the mafia. If you research street gangs and the NY mafia, you'd see huge similarities. Street gangs are usually looked upon as "less sophisticated." Meanwhile, the mafia literally had people elevate themselves into politics and had actually pull on legislation and the law (coughCuomofamilycoughcough).

Don’t the Arabs still engage in the slave trade with certain sub-Saharan African countries?

[quote]Oh, and by the way, that's who these gangsta rappers and street gangs got most of their "rules" from; the mafia. If you research street gangs and the NY mafia, you'd see huge similarities.

So blacks didn't even create street gang culture, they appropriated that from white people too.

Gangsta rap was replaced a long time ago with songs about strippers and Cristal. Rap has been about sex and being/getting rich since the mid-2000s.

[quote]So blacks didn't even create street gang culture, they appropriated that from white people too.

So white people are claiming southern italians now? It's funny my husband's granddad used to say Italians aren't nohting but N-words turned inside out. Ha! Big ole French Canadian racist.

What r96 said. Can we just let this thread die now? Half of you don't even know any black people IRL.

I'd rather discuss Miss LaKeith Stanfield, who hides in plain sight. If he comes out next year I will point to this thread to let you bitches know how you are always talking about the wrong thing!

[quote]Gangsta rap was replaced a long time ago with songs about strippers and Cristal. Rap has been about sex and being/getting rich since the mid-2000s.

Nah...it's just both, now.

I didn’t know that Stanfield was a homophobe…not surprised at all though…