Qualification

Learners Name

Btec Extended Diploma in Music

Caroline Thompson

Unit number and title

Unit 43: Special Subject Investigation

Research Title

Does Hip-Hop & Rap Music influence Gang Culture and Gun Crime?

Justification for research title

My research title refers to how Hip-Hop and Rap music influence gangs. I researched different crimes that had happened due to gangs, and I looked into whether there was any evidence or speculation that these genres of music had influenced it. It was relatively easy to stumble across many websites speaking out about how Tupac had influenced the LA riots in 1992. This became my main research. Due to there being lots of information about Tupac and the LA riots, I was also able to find out about how his death was also related to crime and rap music. This also made the Notorious B.I.G a big suspect in my research, and I had to research his death alongside Tupacs. I found out a lot of information about how Rap music definitely caused the death of both rappers. This was evidence proving that the answer to my research title was yes, Rap music most definitely influenced gang culture and gun crime. However, it was clear that not everybody who listened to Rap music & hip-hop was influenced into gang crime. There will never be a clear answer to my question, as everybody is influenced by music differently, however the main point is that these specific genres of music definitely influence SOME people into committing gang crimes such as the LA riots.

Breakdown of topic

1 History of hip-hop. Gangsta rap introduced in 1990s with Tupac, Biggie, 50 Cent etc. This genre was merged together from funk, soul, and RnB. 2 Does hip-hop influence gangs? History of gangs in LA and NYC. Deprived areas where poor African, Latino, Mexican and Italians lived. They rivalled with each other due to racial differences, which caused gangs. Often involved guns, drugs, and discrimination of women. Hip-hop was born in these gangs, they have rap battles and many of todays biggest rappers had come from the gangs in these areas, which they spoke about in their music. This related to people still in those gangs and influenced them to do more crime to get famous. 3 LA Riots. In 1992 a middle-aged black male named Rodney King was dragged out of his car and beaten by four white police-men. This was a regular occurrence in the deprived areas of the city, however it had never been caught on video before. The video of the beating went viral and caused an outrage. When the case went to court, the judge named the four white males innocent, and claimed that they had not beaten Rodney King, despite the video having been seen by everybody in the United States. This caused outrage in the deprived cities and the gangs decided to speak out. This was the start of the LA riots. 4 LA Riots continued. The riots lasted for 6 whole days, and also spread across to other black-populated areas such as Brooklyn in NYC. After the riots, the LA police department had to ensure that they changed the way they treat the black community or else more rioting would occur. 5 Stats about the LA riots. 53 people were killed, four of which were white males. This contradicted the fact that they were speaking out against violence, by using violence. 2,383 injuries occurred in LA alone, and over 7000 gunshots were heard over the period of those six days. 6 Tupac and the LA riots. A man named Kool G Rap spoke out about how he was with Tupac in the riots looting stores and stealing cars. At the time, Tupac was a huge rap-star and often spoke harshly about the

police in his rap music. In 1995 he released a song called Runnin From The Cops which was related to committing gang crime in LA. He often spoke about the gang culture in both NYC, where he had grown up, and LA where he spent most of his later life. His music videos often gave violent messages to his fans, with images of him with guns and drugs. 7 The Notorious B.I.G. He came from the deprived areas of Brooklyn, NYC and was brought up in an area full of gang crime. Heavily involved in the east coat/west coast rivalry between himself and Tupac. His videos showed him with guns and drugs, much like Tup acs did. His lyrics also involved him admitting to many crimes such as rape and drug dealing, however many people still followed him religiously as the best rapper. 8 The Feud. In 1994 Biggie and Tupac became rivals. They had previously performed concerts together and had a lot in common since they both grew up in deprived areas of NYC. However, the record labels were keen to set up a feud in order to inspire and battle for music sales. Bad Boy Records (Biggies NYC based label) and Death Row Records (Tupacs LA based label) were fighting for the top spot on the charts with both of their top rappers. This eventually resulted in violence, and Tupac Shakur was shot dead in 1996. There is no evidence to conclude who it was that killed Tupac, however there is plenty of evidence of how much rivalry there was between the two record labels and how involved they both were with gang crime. 9 The Feud. Tupac had been shot months before his death but survived that shooting, not long afterwards Biggie released a song named Who Shot Ya? aimed at Tupac. This caused speculation later on when Tupac was actually shot dead, and many people believe that Biggie had information on who had killed Tupac. 7 months later, Biggie was shot dead too. Again, there was never any evidence towards who had shot him, or why. The most obvious reason would be that Death Row Records had ordered somebody to kill him due to the fact that they believed that Bad Boy Records had ordered somebody to kill Tupac. This is huge evidence towards the fact that rap music influences gang culture and gun crime. If it wasnt for the feud due to music sales, both of these rappers may still be alive. 10 Did Hip-Hop influence gangs? It definitely influenced the LA riots, and many interviews with young black males had exposed that they were heavily influenced by the gang crime in rap music and it influenced them to join their brothers and commit gang crimes. I cannot say that everybody that listens to hip-hop is influenced by it in a bad way, however many unfortunate individuals will look up to it and allow the rappers to influence them.