Gangster Rap
Gangster rap, usually spelled gangsta rap, is hip hop whose lyrics describe street gangs, crime, violence and life in poor inner-city neighborhoods.
It appeared in the mid-1980s with Schoolly D in Philadelphia and Ice-T in Los Angeles, and N.W.A's album Straight Outta Compton made it famous at the end of the decade. Beats are hard and bass-heavy, and the delivery is blunt and confrontational. The style drew repeated criticism for its violent and sexist content, while its defenders call it reporting from neglected communities.
Artists it is known for: N.W.A, Ice-T, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg.
- Family
- Hip-Hop & Rap
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- United States, mid-1980s
- Also called
- gangsta rap, reality rap
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 15%
About 13,000 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have gangster rap among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Gangster Rap artists
Young Thug
50 Cent
2Pac
The Notorious B.I.G.
Nas
Gucci Mane
Dr. Dre
Snoop Dogg
Ice Cube
A Tribe Called QuestThe gangster rap artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.