Gangsta rap

Gangsta rap is a subgenre of Hip Hop containing lyrics from a gangster's perspective, overlapping with but distinct from Hardcore Hip Hop. East Coast Hip Hop rapper Schoolly-D is widely considered the first gangsta rapper, with singles "Gangster Boogie" and "P.S.K.-What Does It Mean?" providing a lyrical blueprint for the genre. Because of the prevalence of gang activity in urban California neighborhoods during the 1980s and 1990s, gangsta rap became popular in the West Coast Hip Hop scene as an answer to the east coast's hardcore style. Ice-T further shaped the genre with his influential B-side "6 in the Mornin'", and N.W.A brought national attention to gangsta rap by rapping about day to day situations in gang-related life such as police brutality and drug dealing, subjects that sparked widespread controversy and even drew a warning from the FBI over their track "Fuck tha Police". Dr. Dre's The Chronic incorporated smooth G-Funk production into the genre, allowing for more mainstream appeal than it had before.