Vintage Violence: “What does old-time music have in common with gangsta rap?

But old-time music and gangsta rap have more in common than their homicidal tendencies. Both
forms were born of poverty and cultural isolation. Both have a mercenary attitude towards tradition,
which the individual artist pillages, strips of its context, and reconfigures into something original. Both
are marketed to affluent whites via their gritty, “authentic” appeal. Both are racially charged, to say
the least. Both began as party music, but ended up meaning something more. The more you listen,
the more similarities emerge.” Feed