If you keep up with the latest music, you may have noticed a trend: Rap is
back.
  Once pronounced dead years ago by people who assumed that rap had lived out
its course and was merely a passing fad, "hip-hop" and "gangsta" culture are
not only back in the mainstream, but indeed, they are stronger than ever
before, with more music of this genre, and more people listening to it.
  Some of the characteristics of this culture puzzle me. What are "gangstas",
really? Besides people who listen to rap, that is. The word gangsta, of
course, derives from "gangster"; quite simply, someone in a gang. And indeed,
gangs are an important theme in rap culture.
  Rap has several sides to it. And gangs are one of them, to be sure. By all
accounts, crime is on the rise in America, and despite the best efforts of
law enforcement, there are still many dangerous sectors in major cities where
it's best to just not go because of urban decay. (This is particularly true
of Los Angeles, of course, but the same could be said of any major city
today.) Perhaps this has something to do with the upsurging of popularity in
rap; More people are becoming involved in gangs and illegal activity, and rap
fits right in with that.
  Another, similar aspect of rap is self-portrayal as a "tough guy". Many rap
lyrics rotate around the rapper attempting to describe himself as ruthless or
dangerous, someone to be feared. This is probably related to the gang aspect,
as intimidation is an important part of gang warfare.
  Then there is the frequent and deliberate misspelling of words, or
substitution of numbers for words (for example, using the number 4 for "for",
or 2 for "to" or "too"). Despite my best efforts, I have a hard time
understanding the significance of this; How odd, to embrace deliberately
trying to make yourself look stupid. Does this fit in with being a tough guy,
perhaps? Maybe the idea is that tough guys are too busy being tough and
never learned to spell. I don't know.
  Equally unsettling, but more understandable, is the portrayal of women as
sex objects. The gangsta attitude towards woman seems to be that they are
merely "pieces of ass", which every rapper must have as many of as possible.
And the women seem to enjoy this; They actually like wearing very little
clothing, being regarded as sleazy sex objects, and hanging onto their man
despite any abuse he may lay upon them. I am not a feminist (partially
because I am not a female), but if I were, I would be even more disgusted
than I already am by this blatant display of inequality and sexism.
  Overall, the whole scene seems to be some kind of reversion to a primal
caveman state, in which the males are foul brutes who fight amongst each
other a lot, while the women serve merely to pleasure them.
  This is not a tirade against rap music. Anyone has the choice to listen to
whatever kind of music they may wish. It is a tirade against rap culture. In
a world where this kind of mentality has become mainstream, it can only be a
sign of problems in the public mindset. Where has civilization gone, when
a life of crime and violence is no longer an underground element, but a
mainstream one? It used to be that a person in a gang would try to keep their
affiliation hidden. Now they display it proudly. What has become of the
world, when this is considered not only acceptable, but desirable? What about
"one love", a concept which many gangstas express, but which seems to extend
only to people who are in their gang? It seems that the new anthem of the
youth is "one hate". Over time, this kind of attitude can only do a huge
amount of damage to everyone involved, both the gang members and the people
they harm with their precious toughness. All I know is, I hope gangsta's
second wind is another fad.