At least if you listen to the style of hip-hop known as gangsta rap. The gangsta rap genre of hip-hop emerged in the late 80s on the West Coast as crack and gangs ruled the urban centers of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Compton and Oakland. The aesthetic alienation of hip-hop has partly to do with perception. Rap is seen as wildly differing from the styles, themes and tones of previous black music. Well, that s true and not true.
Blues music is the style of black artistry most closely associated with hip-hop.
The blues spawned stock characters within its lyrical universe, including the hoochie-coochie man, the mojo worker, the lover man and the bald man bluesman. America renews itself at the altar of devotion to violence as a rite of national identification. It is important to remember this rite as cries go up about the exceptional violence of black youth. Black youth are viewed as innately inclined to violent behavior. The lyrics and images of hip-hop are used as proof of such a claim.