Origins

• Some point to Schoolly D and his 1986 song "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" as the foundation of gangsta rap; others point to Ice-T. Still others tout Boogie Down Productions' "Criminal Minded" (1987) as being the prototypical gangsta rap album.
  
  

N.W.A.

• However, it was a group called N.W.A. (Niggas With Attitude) who popularized gangsta rap with their double platinum album, "Straight Outta Compton" (1988). It yielded the anti-cop manifesto "F**k tha Police" and the hedonist anthem "Gangsta Gangsta" (the subgenre was actually named after the latter song), as well as establish the use of the word "nigga" in rap music.
  
  

Money-Making Machine

• A former member of N.W.A., Dr. Dre, released "The Chronic" in 1992. Selling mroe than 4 million copies, it became the most successful gangsta rap album up to that point, and it made gangsta rap the most lucrative subgenre in hip-hop.
  
  

Criticism

• Since it began to rise in popularity in the early 1990s, critics have lambasted gangsta rap as containing and promoting violent, sexist, racist and homophobic lyrics and images. Gangsta rappers usually counter that they are merely describing the realities of inner-city life.
  
  

Today

• Gangsta rap peaked in the mid-1990s with highly successful stars and albums from Death Row Records. Today, its influence--the violence, sex and materialism--can be heard and seen throughout mainstream rap music and videos.