“Fuck Tha Police” was a “courageous song” (Bittenbender, “Fuck Tha Police”: N.W.A’s Most Courageous Song is Still as Relevant as Ever”) represented young African Americans’ hatred towards the law enforcement system. Due to the message and explicit lyrics, this song stood out from any other song on the album, as well as sparking up some controversy. The song was released in 1988 by Niggaz Wit Attitudes (N.W.A) from their second album Straight Outta Compton under the Record Label, Priority Ruthless. The group N.W.A was initially formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California with their genre being Rap. Their styles of Rap included: Golden Age, West Coast Rap, Hardcore Rap, and their most controversial, Gangsta Rap. N.W.A. consisted of the group members: …show more content…
Left to right: Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre (Massappeal) During the 70’s, there was a tremendous rise in gangs amongst Crips and Bloods along with the drug trade in Compton, Los Angeles (Tse, “How Compton Became the Violent City”). Around late 80’s in Los Angeles, it was a devastating time for colored folks. About 45% of African Americans males in South Central, Los Angeles was left unemployed (Moore, “N.W.A.’s Most Courageous Song”). Consequently, gang activity, violence, and the drug trade kept increasing. Later, in the year 1987, Operation Hammer was launched by the Los Angeles Chief of Police, Daryl Gates (See Figure 2). Operation Hammer was meant to decrease gang violence. Although the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had great motives to execute the operation, LAPD used excessive force, and racist tactics to “solve” the issue. A week before the release of the album, 1,453 people were arrested in South Central, Los Angeles. On August 1, 1988, as part of Operation Hammer, eighty-eight police officers decided to deliver a strong message to gangs by raiding two apartment buildings in South Central, Los Angeles. While raiding peoples’ homes, Los Angeles police officers completely destroyed furniture, food, and clothing. They even went beyond by attacking, beating the residents, and humiliating them in front of everyone else. Additionally, police officers spray painted graffiti with the words “LAPD Rules.” During the period of Operation Hammer (1987-1990), …show more content…
“Huh, a young nigga on the warpath/ And when I’m finished, it’s gonna be a bloodbath.” Ice Cube is tired of the LAPD and wishes to have a war with them to kill all police officers, especially the ones who have killed his friends and family. “Fuck tha police! / Fuck tha police! / Fuck tha police! / Fuck tha police!” The hook in this song is where they vent out their frustration towards the LAPD. Their repetitive use of the word “fuck,” including in the title, symbolizes their hate towards the police. “They put out my picture with silence/ ‘Cause my identity by itself causes violence,” This is a very powerful line because black men in American are depicted as criminals or as a symbol of violence. “Without a gun and a badge what do you got? / A sucker in a uniform waiting to get shot” Police officers are like any other person in a neighborhood. They only feel powerful by carrying a badge and a gun as stated in the lyrics. If police officers did not have a gun, they would have been dead in the dangerous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. “Just sit your ass on the curb and shut the fuck up! /Man, fuck this shit! / A’ight, smartass, I’m taking your black ass to jail!” “This type of commentary is what police officers would tell colored
In the 1980’s crack cocaine hit the streets of Los Angeles for some it brought quick fortune but for many doom. Crack cocaine had become a major source of income for those who had been locked out of mainstream America. Heavily armed the Rolling 60’s were one of the most violent, active gangs in Los Angeles. The Rolling 60’s gang members no longer fought over neighborhood rule but, profit endeavors. Gang members had became both a slave to the business, doing whatever the drugs demanded them to do. Crack cocaine had erased those codes of res...
Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical “ghetto” life, a poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year’s old. The allure of the respect and “glory” that “bangers” got, along with the unity of the “set”(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the “set” for life, and claimed that banging was his life. After many years of still believing this, he eventually realized that the thug life was no longer for him, and that gangs were a problem on society and the “Afrikan” race(page 382-383).
Growing up in a law enforcement family, police brutality and police race relations in the news are both something that have always made me feel uneasy. Nevertheless, in the poem “Cuz he’s Black”, I feel like Javon Johnson makes the problem of young black males being scared of the police obvious. Johnson states, “Still, we both know it’s not about able whether
The early 1990s was a strenuous time, but more specifically, for South Central and its rapid changes in landscape. Immigrants were beginning to move in and the crack cocaine epidemic was having a terrible effect, ripping families apart. 1991 and 1992 were the worst record of crimes. Gang violence would cause 1077 deaths, three times the rate today (Sastry, Anjuli). However, in the watts projects, gang violence would come to an end. Right before the LA riots, there was a large gang truce between the Crips and Bloods throughout the three Watts’ projects. With this, came the outcome of unity against police brutality (Radio, Southern California Public). The arrest began when Rodney king, a taxi driver, was twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. He was pushing 110 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour lane, running red lights to get home and not revoke his parole, resulting in him going back to prison. He
Dr. Dre (b. Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South Central Los Angeles, and making a handful of recordings along the way. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz N the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A. -- an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude -- with Dre and Cube, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company Priority, suggesting that the group should watch their step.
Have you wondered what is the Gestapo? What did they do? Most people confuse the Gestapo with the SS. When Hitler came into power he appointed Herrman Goring the Minister of the Interior of Prussia, a major German state ,which gave him control of the police. The story that started all with one man, Herrman Goring.
The early 1980s was considered the “Golden-Age of Hip Hop”, this due to the fact that the genre was in its infancy and every new record that was released during this time period was seen as an innovation. Before 1982, hip hop records were boastful party-raps that illustrated the perseverance of young African Americans self-confidence even through dire circumstances. After Grandmaster Flash and the furious five released their classic hip-hop record “The Message”, the scope of hip-hop as a genre changed forever. Melle Mel’s verse in “The Message” utilizes Craig Werners 3 step processes by using personal experiences to explain the struggles of African Americans in New York’s inner cities.
African American communities faced issues in a variety of professions, locations, and venues. One of the main differences between Straight Outta Compton and Drumline is the difference in profession and venue between the two films even though the issue of being looked down upon due to their different nature was the same. In the film Straight Outta Compton, the group of musicians named N.W.A are subject to extra scrutiny in the less professional and less intelligent environment of the music industry. This is showcased in a scene outside of their studio where they are chastised by the two police officers who force them to get on the ground and be searched just because of the fact that they were African American youth in an area that African Americans would not usually be thought of as needing to be in that area (Gray, 2016). Another scene in Straight Outta Compton that relates to this is when N.W.A is read obscenity laws by law enforcement behind the stage of their concert (Gray, 2016). To further illustrate that point, one of N.W.A’s songs “informed Americans about police brutality in South Central, Los Angeles. In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sent a letter to NWA warning them about the violent content of the song”(Canton 3). All of these things are done in broad daylight to once again showcase that this behavior towards young African American men was not abnormal and that the dialog in the scenes is often extremely derogatory which signify the views of African American youth in the eye of the average non-African American. In contrast to Straight Outta Compton, the issue of being looked down upon exists in a far different situation. The situation in which the main character Devon faces the issue of being seen as a hoodlum, is conducted in professional school setting. Devon is a young man who is seen as a
In America there has been a history of police treating black men unfairly and the Rodney King beating brought this problem to the forefront of the national conscience. Even popular music at this time commented on the mistreatment of black males by the Los Angeles Police Department, specifically NWA’s 1988 song “Fuck Tha Police.” Most black people believed
CNN presents the documentary, Homicide in Hollenbeck, spotlighting gang activity in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollenbeck. This documentary explores the subculture of gangs existing within Hollenbeck from a several perspectives. The people documented include a mother who lost both of her sons to gang violence, a priest that has tried to help rehabilitate gang members, a police officer that has worked in Hollenbeck for five years in the gang unit, and a current gang member. For a conclusion, Homicide in Hollenbeck focuses on a juvenile exposed to gang life on the cusp of decided where they want their life to lead; gangs or freedom. Problems attributed to the high rate of gang activity and number of gangs in Hollenbeck are the high poverty rate, low employment rate, and broken families that make up the majority of Hollenbeck. The crime most discussed, as per the title of the documentary, is homicide The number of gang related homicides has risen even though the criminal behavior of gangs has ultimately decreased in the neighborhood. In order to fight the overwhelming gang presence, the police believe in increasing the amount of gun power on the streets and number of jailed gang members. The priest who runs Homeboy Industries stated that he feels most gang members are just young men who can’t get out of the gang life. With more funds and opportunities, he thinks the problem could be decreased. In the end, the documentary mentions that the FBI has formed a gang center where local law enforcement agencies can share information to gain more knowledge and to better fight the presence of gangs.
The first chapter of Policing Gangs in America is entitled, “Studying the Police Response to Gangs.” The primary purpose of the chapter is to establish how police agencies; Inglewood, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Phoenix in specific, respond to gang problems in their respective areas. This chapter served as an introduction, giving a brief history of gang-related policing, how the public and media see the gang problem, research studies done regarding gangs and the recent declaration to shift away from suppression-oriented strategies as a result of overly aggressive actions toward citizens. Examples of this misconduct are given in the forms of gang units from Las Vegas, Chicago and Houston.
However, in Crips and Bloods, the Los Angeles Police Department under the direction of Chief Officer William Parker regulated the Los Angeles area in a forceful way. One of the ways he did so was by locking down African-American neighborhoods. Also, in the time of the Watts Riot, many African Americans were being killed for small crimes. There is a difference between the documentary’s order-maintenance and the order-maintenance in “Broken Windows.” Small crimes or disorder were to be treated, but people in the documentary, specifically whom were African Americans were being killed for small crimes. Where does the broken windows speak about this issue? And though the theory thinks that crime is the issue, what if the problem is that there were not enough jobs for the minorities? During the 1950’s when industrialization started to come about, African Americans found themselves displaced in the job market because they did not have the skills, knowledge, or education to perform high-end jobs due to discrimination and lack of opportunities. They also felt they should not have to perform low-end jobs because they felt they were above the immigrant low level jobs. This resulted in total displacement from the labor market. Eventually, by the late 1960s, jobs and factories disappeared from Los Angeles regions. The consequences were
These are the kinds of music that often use violent lyrics and violent beats, depicting urban street gangs. Typical themes and ideas deal with street life including pimping, and hustling as well as killing and shooting (Malek 108). “I’m bout to bust some some shots off. I’m ‘bout to dust some cops off” (Ice-T). The lyrics of Ice-T’s Cop Killer evoked a loud outcry about whether ideas about killing police officers should be expressed publicly. It is not only the violent ideas expressed within the lyrics, but the context of which they are expressed. Rap is criticized because rappers are known to “sing of guns with almost lascivious glee”. They talk about their “pieces” or “glocks”, “ninas” or pistols as the “object of their affections”
“L.A.S.M.” is one of the cleverer skits on the album, like “Are You Mad,” that seemingly opposes the duo. The women interviewers asked “serious questions” and the team laughed it off. In Coleman’s book, they said its intentions was to set a distinction between them and real gangsters that may genuinely have this stance against women (54). “Black With N.V” is one of the few songs that are both serious and direct with the message. The lyrics speak of the struggle that is attached with the African American community. A lifestyle where the system is against them. “For Doz That Slept” was a clear response to the system and to anyone who doubted the group. This rebellious spirit was seen throughout the album and follows the theme of being a “black sheep.” The choice is truly yours in deciding if you are with or without them. However, the group has made it clear it does not need your consensus to make there
Otero, Juan. “Curbing street gang violence,” National League of Cities. 21 Dec 1998. General Reference Center Gold. Jan 2007