In my search I plan to find out reasons behind the deaths of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. Was there some kind of connection between both of their deaths? I believe that rap music was never violent until "gangsta" rap came about. What sparked this change and who was behind it? I want to explore "gangsta" rap from the beginning until now. I want to research the major players in the rap game, who they are and what some of their lyrics are saying.

Today our society is bursting at the seams with violence. There is fighting in other count

Murder continued to be a major part of gangsta rap, infact, Suge Knight's next move dropped a bomb on the rap industry and the world. In 1995 Suge Knight paid 1 million dollars in bail money to have Tupac Shakur released from jail on assault charges and in return Tupac signed a three album deal with Death Row Records. In 1993 Tupac

arrived to court for sentencing on assault charges in a wheelchair. Days before he was shot five times during a "robbery" in Manhattan. In 1995 after Suge Knight took him under his wing, they instantly became friends and were always seen together. Tupac was put right into the ongoing West coast/ East coast battle between Suge Knight and Sean "Puffy" Combs of Bad Boy Records, a New York based company. Tupac claimed that his former friend Christopher Wallace ( The Notorious B.I.G) was responsible for his 1993 shooting. Tupac was easily one of the most controversial rappers of our time. His lyrics gave us clues about his lifestyle. In his song, "Hit 'Em Up" he criticizes Bad Boy, blames them for his shooting, and says he had sex with Faith Evans Biggie's wife.

ries like Kosovo, shootings in schools, and violence on television. In my opinion, though, nothing has a greater effect on the youth of America than rap music. However, this isn't a new issue, there has been violence in rap music for years. Such as, gang violence, references to drive-by shootings and homicides in songs. Since this is such a broad topic I will explore the violent side and history of the industry, the lyrics, as well as the artists.

In my search I have learned a lot about N.W.A, for instance I never knew that there was so much controversy surrounding them when they first came on the scene. I

It is obvious how strong his hate was for Bad Boy, he didn't beat around the bush at all. That lyric has some very strong language and is only part of the song, if the whole song was put in this paper the * button would be broken. (The Tupac Tribute Page)

was a dominant force in rap music. Suge Knight, a former college football player for U.N.L.V (University of Nevada Las Vegas), used his 325 lb. frame as a scare tactic. A former employee of Knight, Vanilla Ice ( Rob Van Winkle) recently said in an interview that Knight held him by the ankles over a hotel balcony demanding rights to the song "Ice, Ice Baby." Knight and one of his employees--Mario Lavelle Johnson who helped write the song-- wanted in on the success that Ice was having with the song. Since Vanilla Ice wasn't dumb he agreed to Knight's demands.

"This is how we gonna do this, f*ck Mobb Deep! F*ck Biggie! F*ck Bad Boy as a staff, record label, and as a motherf*ckin crew!...and if you wanna be down with Bad Boy then f*ck you too! Chino XL f*ck you too! All ya'll mothrf*ck*rs f*ck you die slow motherf*ck*r my 44 makes sure all ya'll kids don't grow."(Tupac)

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tupac Notorious, Rest Peace, Dr Dre, Seven Page, Suge Knight, Las Vegas, Tupac Shakur, Ruthless Records, Bad Boy, , death row, dr dre, rap music, suge knight, gangsta rap, bad boy, death row records, row records, snoop doggy dogg, straight outta, los angeles, doggy dogg, straight outta compton, 1995 suge knight, violence rap music,
Approximate Word count = 2183
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)