Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It

"Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It" is the first single from Ice Cube's studio album, Raw Footage. It was released with a music video directed by Jonathan Silver. In the song, Ice Cube comments on the exploitation of gangsta rap as a scapegoat for society's problems.[1]

"Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It"
Single by Ice Cube
from the album Raw Footage
ReleasedJanuary 3, 2008
Recorded2007
GenreWest Coast hip hop, gangsta rap, hardcore hip hop, political hip hop, comedy hip hop
Length4:45
Label
Songwriter(s)O'Shea Jackson, Vaushaun Brooks
Producer(s)Vaushaun "Maestro" Brooks
Ice Cube singles chronology
"You Gotta Lotta That"
(2007)
"Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It"
(2008)
"Do Ya Thang"
(2008)

A remix to the song was made featuring Nas and Scarface. It is featured on the soundtrack to the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Music video

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The video was directed by Jonathan Silver and[2] begins in a classroom set in the year 2020 (12 years after the song's release). A teacher wearing a uniform, flanked by two American flags, condemns gangsta rap for the vices of society, rape, murder, etcetera. When a child asks if Compton was dangerous before the emergence of gangsta rap, the teacher yells, "Wrong! Compton was a nature preserve for bunny rabbits! When gangsta rap came along they tore down the country clubs and put up housing projects!" The room darkens and Ice Cube's face is projected on a screen smoking a cigar, rapping that gangsta rap is allegedly the root of all crimes. Several video clips of actual shootings in the U.S. and Iraq are shown, as well as the Virginia Tech Massacre including the infamous image of Seung-Hui Cho pointing a gun at the aforementioned massacre. It also features footage of the Michael Richards Laugh Factory incident (during the lyric "If I call you a nigga"), Don Imus ("If I call you a nappy-headed ho") and Chris Benoit (referring to the Benoit murder/suicide). The video features cameo appearances by WC and DJ Crazy Toones.

List of video clip images

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References

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  1. ^ Ice Cube – Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It, retrieved 2021-05-19
  2. ^ "NEW RELEASE: Ice Cube "Gangsta Rap Make Me Do It"". VideoStatic. 29 December 2011.