Gangsta rap
Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of inner-city American black youths. "Gangsta" is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word "gangster". The genre was pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. In 1985 Schoolly D released "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?", which is often regarded as the first gangsta rap song, which was followed by Ice-T's "6 in the Mornin'" in 1986. After the national attention and controversy that Ice-T and N.W.A created in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as the mainstreaming of G-funk in the mid-1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially-lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Some gangsta rappers were known for mixing the political and social commentary of political rap with the criminal elements and crime stories found in gangsta rap.