Gangsta Rap(noun)- a sub-genre of rap which is an evolved form of Hip-Hop whos agressive lyrics express a violent attitued that typically glorifies violence and drugs.

A subgenre of rap music where the lyrics focus mainly on organised crime, prostitutes (referred to in gangsta rap as "hoes"), drugs and life in the slums of the United states.

Gangsta Rap(ping)-(noun, verb): A subgenre of Hip-Hop music depicting the life of violent inner-city youths, marked by large scale profanity, sex, homophobia, racism, promiscuity, misogyny, rape, street gangs, drive-by shootings, vandalism, thievery, drug dealing, alcohol abuse, substance abuse and materialism. The genre was pioneered in the mid-1980s by gangsta rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. Gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop

Gangsta rap was formed...i think it was '87 maybe earlier by N.w.A., the niggas wit attitude. people often get rap and gantsa rap confused when they say all rap glorifies rape, murder, women as sex objects, guns, etc...however when you hear these lyrics you are listening to gantsta rap, not just normal rap. gangsta rap is credited as the reason why hip hop music is so controversial. lately, gangsta rap has become much more tame (although it is still pretty hardcore, look at DMX) then the days of NWA.

The second or third worst sub-genre of hip hop (it's at least better than crunk and snap) and one of the worst forms of music.

Despite the belief that NWA created gangsta rap Ice-T 1987 album 'Rhyme Pays' as well as Schoolly D's self-titled album are what started the genre.

While there have been some decent albums that have been labeled gangsta rap most gangsta rap is complete crap.

Contary to what many people (usually the media and racist black's who don't like gangsta rap and want to blame it's popularity on white people) it's more popular with black people than white people.

Gangsta rap lyrics usually feature criminal themes and are often sexist and racist.

90's rappers like 2pac and Ice Cube had a style which mixed the popular gangsta-rap of the time with political hip hop. 2pac's lyrics were also much more personal than anything your typical gangsta-rappers ever wrote.

An oxymoron. The #1 rule of being a gangsta is to keep you law breakings quite, but #1 rule of being a rapper is to tell everyone about what you did.

bullshit marketing scheme that suburban middle-school fags think is real

in reality, gangsta rappers either talk about
a) activity that gang members often do but doesn't require being a gang member to do
b) being a member of a gang, when it's obvious that if they actually did anything or were anybody of any importance in a gang, they would actually be in jail
c) complete bullshit to sell records

basically, rappers are so much more rapper tahn gangster, it doesn't matter

White man's favorite type of music because its the sound of an entire race of people losing all self respect they ever had.

A genre of rap that sells out and stereotypes an entire race of people, and rap in general. White people like it because it "raps" about gangs, sex, and drugs, something that middle class America doesn't experience in general. Also, because of gangsta rap, other less violent-tone versions of rap are underappriciated and stereotyped.

Subgenre of rap which became very popular in the late 80s and early 90s due to popularity of performers like Ice T and N.W.A. Originally was used to describe harsh realities of life for a modern black male living in poor areas of US. Later, however, the genre expanded and included downright vile messages of violence and hatred against white people, females and so-called "haters" (people who dislike the genre or particular performer).

Features
-Sense that some of performers suffer from severe severe mental retardation (see Nelly, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Snoop Dog, Cash Money Records roster)
-Mumbling (in some cases) see Lloyd Banks, I20)
-Heavy use of profanities - in particular, words like "hoe" or "bitch" (female), "nigga" (friendly black male or female) and to lesser extent "cracker"/"white devil" (applied to white males primarily)
-Heavy use of words "aha" and "what?" in the background.
-Poetic lines similar to the ones below
"Well nigga lets get one thing clear, I don't leave the block without my glock.
Is it because i'm standing with your bitch? Or got all these stones on my wrists?
Don't think you're leavin' here with this. I don't leave the block without my glock."
-Stabs at balladry, usually dedicated to Tupac Shakur (who is currently releasing new material, 10 years after being shot) and to lesser extent to Biggie Smalls (who is recording new material after being shot, but not as often as Tupac). However, some ballads are dedicated to other subjects as love and non-violence (see Ja Rule, DMX)
-Almost total absence of females in the genre. The ones that do rap (see Lil Kim, Foxy Brown) tend to talk about material things and their love of thugs. However, there's a large amount of beautiful black ladies who appear in videos, usually in order to satisfy enormous sexual appetites of male performer.
-Heavy use of jewelry and extremely expensive cars in videos, all of which are discussed in lyrics in detail.