<p> </p><p>By Malice Intended</p><p>Gangsta Rap was one of the many bi-products of the Crack era and the culture of selfishness and conspicuous consumption that resulted from it. The music played as a soundtrack to the mayhem that unfolded in urban areas around the country during the 1980’s and 90’s.</p><p>Rap music had always playfully flirted with gangster style imagery, but Gangsta Rap was a different beast entirely. Profane, excessively violent and misogynistic, it played a similar role to that of the Black Exploitation films and raunchy underground comedy albums of the 1970’s. Though it produced a few hit albums and notable stars in the 1980’s, it remained something of a low key phenomenon until the early to mid 90’s when it was discovered by the mainstream. It would soon supplant Rock music as America’s official outlaw music of choice.</p><p>Though Gangsta Rap in its purist sense is no longer the most prevalent or profitable form of Rap music, its influence is still evident. The synthesizer heavy grooves popularized by Andre Young and his brethren are still present in much of what is heard on Urban Radio today. So, in honor Of Al Capone’s birthday, Planet Ill Presents the Greatest Gangsta Rap Albums ever.</p>
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