Rap is defined as a style of popular music consisting of improvised rhymes performed to a rhythmic accompaniment. The first rap song was made in the late 70's, the songs were seven to eight minutes long and was mostly used in small clubs to dance to. It didn't really become popular until the early 80's. Over the years it has become mainstream music, everyone is listening to it. In the last four years rap made up 60% of music bought in stores in the United States. In 1989 a local group called N.W.A.(Niggaz Wit Attitudes) came from out of L.A. and changed rap, which was the start of Gangsta Rap. In their lyrics they talked about crime, street violence and killing. Once they were a huge hit, it caught on, and really that's when all this mad

The Web Courier: Rap & Hip Hop Comment: http://www.cs.fsu.edu:/80/projects/sp95sug/group1.4/russ.html

Opposing Viewpoints: Censorship p. 33-35

The third man to take the most heat and who still continues to is Tupac Shakur. They say he was the best rapper alive and the most successful which I also believe is true. He has been in trouble with the law and public since his first album to even now after his death. He was arrested for numerous charges such as battery, attempted murder, and rape. In 1994 two 17-year-olds shot some police officers and said they did because they heard it in Tupac's music. Critics blamed him from the start with his to raunchy lyrics. Why blame him he didn't tell them to go shoot police officers? For the past three years, C. Delores Tucker has been talking and protesting rap lyrics saying that they are harmful to the spirit of black youth. She also filed a $10 million dollar lawsuit against the estate of Tupac Shakur claiming that his songs surrounding her in two songs on the 1996 album "All Eyez On Me" make slander remarks. She went into a court and said that the pain she suffered from those songs has affected her sex life with her husband. What kind of since does that make? Just another person trying to bad mouth rap music for they're own personal gain.

The New Grove Dictionary of American Music REF ML 101.U6 N48 1986

You can't blame rap for everything that goes on, I'm thinking if they could find a way to blame rap for every death they would. Even though they swear up and down that rap is like the worst thing, it has done a lot for the music industry and youth in general. Before rap all kids knew was that you had to know how to sing to become a big music star, but now for those who actually have talent for rapping they can dream of becoming a rapper. You would be surprised at how much more violence would be going on if rap wasn't here. Youth would be out in the street selling drugs and killing people all the time, now half of them are working on demo tapes and their talent so they can have a career of there own. Also rap helps out inner city youth so they can get off the street and play sports and go to camp, it's like for every bad thing you say about how rap is bad and how it should be banned, there is another positive thing that can get thrown right back into your face that would blow your mind and actually make you want to say "hey rap is doing more for us then what the public really tells us." It would be the truth. You don't ever hear about how LL COOL J started a camp for youth in Brooklyn, or how Puff Daddy donated 10 million dollars to Biggie's children. No you hear about how someone got shot and the killer was listening to Tupac right before he did it. People it's time to wake up, even though I can't force you to change your mind on any subject I'm hoping I gave you some type of information that will make you just think before you speak about rap music.

In all these years of rap though there are three people who took the most criticism from the public. Dr. Dre was one, after N.W.A. broke up he went on to do his own thing, and after he released "The Chronic" he became a star. He took rap to a higher level where it never been before and I

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)