THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 30, 1996 TAG: 9609280023
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: OPINION
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK
LENGTH: 72 lines
I'm tired of people screaming that ``gangsta rap'' is ruining society.
Parents, preachers and politicians have been criticizing - and at times lynching - the tapes and compact discs of many rap artists. Now that rapper/actor Tupac Shakur is dead, many people are jumping on the bandwagon.
Continuing the assault was Cal Thomas' column (Perspectives, Sept. 21) on Shakur's life and music.
Thomas wrote ``killing police officers'' is a favorite theme in Shakur's music. What is Thomas listening to?
I have the last three of 2Pac's four solo albums plus ``Thug Life Volume 1,'' which features Shakur. No song on these four latest releases endorses cop killing.
Yes, there's the incident of a Texas attorney who claimed his client was provoked to shoot an officer after listening to Shakur's debut album, ``2Pacalypse Now.'' So you're telling me that out of the clear blue sky, this guy listened to a rap tape and just decided to kill someone? Sounds rational and realistic to me.
2Pac, without a doubt, has a slew of songs suggesting bearing arms. But then, again, that's a message of the National Rifle Association.
Many people argue that some of Shakur's lyrics are demeaning and disrespectful to women. He suggests in one of his recent songs, ``Wonda Why They Call U -----,'' that the actions of many women provoke this attitude among men.
I'm not condoning the view Shakur expresses, but how is it any different from ``Frasier'' referring to a woman as the ``B'' word on prime-time television?
People are quick to holler about Shakur's arrest record and constant problems with the law. However, we never see in print or hear on television about his first major police incident as a celebrity - his claim that he was beaten during a jaywalking arrest in Oakland in October 1991. Shakur filed a lawsuit and eventually settled for $40,000.
By no means was Shakur an angel. When a 25-year-old man dies violently following a myriad of public incidents - being shot on two separate occasions, serving time for sexually assaulting a woman in New York, among others - obviously something was wrong. But there are a lot of things wrong with society, too, and that's what 2Pac and others have gotten across in their music.
Rap is an art. Art is supposed to be an expression of life.
2Pac, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Spice 1 and others rap about poverty, drive-by shootings and promiscuity not because they first heard about these issues from an N.W.A. or Too Short album.
No. They see these societal ills as they roll down East 14th St. in Oakland, hang in the hoods of Compton or take the subway to the Queensbridge Projects in New York.
If people want to do something about these performers' lyrics, fix society. Maybe then, the music will change.
For now, as long as people are gunned down with an illegal 9 mm following a crack deal gone bad, rapper Nas is going to rhyme about street violence.
If alcohol and drug use continue to rise among teen-agers, Mobb Deep will say ``Drink Away The Pain.''
And if casual sex and one-night stands are considered acceptable actions, Too Short will always have ``Freaky Tales'' to tell.
Bottom line: Gangsta rappers are detailing - and profiting from - social problems in this country. But many of these artists are simply talking about the environments they grew up in.
Thomas' column is akin to presidential candidate Robert Dole saying the movies ``Pulp Fiction'' and ``Trainspotting'' romanticize the use of heroin. Problem is, Dole has never seen either movie. Get a clue, Cal and Bob.
People should take the time to research and think before they try to enlighten the world. Ignorance - now that's a real threat to society. I'm tired of people screaming that ``gangsta rap'' is ruining society. MEMO: James Black is a Virginian-Pilot staff writer. by CNB