Ice-T’s appearance at Raising Cane’s wasn’t just about sipping iced tea on National Iced Tea Day. It was about celebrating originality, a value he says both he and the chicken chain hold close. The ...

If a rapper were only to be known for one song, it’s hard to beat “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Coolio’s signature No. 1 smash in 1995 was voted the best single of the year in the Village Voice’s “Pazz & Jop” ...

For better or for worse, Gangsta rap has always been one of the most beloved and popular sub-genres in hip-hop for the past three decades. The artists involved have been super polarizing for better ...

Leonard Pitts is one of my favorite journalists, a foot soldier in print, but I found it difficult to reconcile this with his take on rap music, specifically the “gangsta” rap artists and their ...

The late Kobe Bryant had a lot of successes in life. His 2000 recording of a gangsta rap album wasn’t one of them, but it’s now finally out there for the world to judge. Bryant, who will be inducted ...

Just-Ice didn’t do rap beef. He would shoot people. In the 80s. Watch the exclusive convo with The Bronx emcee that says he invented Gangster Rap. Things get really interesting when Just-Ice travels ...

"I call it reality-based rap," Ice-T says of the gangster rap genre. His '92 hit "Cop Killer" was controversial; he later played a police detective in Law and Order: SVU. Originally broadcast in 1994.

Born Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, she was one of the first female rappers to build off the gangster rap image and sound that took off in the 1990s. By Eduardo Medina Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, the Memphis ...

From a bookish, asthmatic child to mainstream hitmaker, the West Coast M.C. charted a distinctive path to hip-hop stardom. By Eduardo Medina and McKenna Oxenden To hear more audio stories from ...

Freddie Gibbs is re-thinking some things. This is not really a rumor, but it’s got the streets and the blogs buzzing. Word is, Freddie Gibbs recently sat down for a conversation at the University of ...

An aspiring rapper's murder of a Las Vegas police officer has prompted a push to ban "gangsta" rap acts from Nevada college campuses and discourage casinos from booking them. Madeleine Brand speaks ...