472019 Soren Baker, the Author of The History of Gangster R.docx

4/7/2019 Soren Baker, the Author of 'The History of Gangster
Rap,' Talks NWA, Kendrick Lamar & the Status of Gangster
Rap in 2018 [INTERVIEW] - Okayplayer
https://www.okayplayer.com/music/interview-the-history-of-
gangster-rap-author-soren-baker.html 1/17
×
At 10 ear old, oren aker wa given a ca
ette tape with an hour’ worth of rap mu ic. From
that point on, almo t ever pare moment he had wa
dedicated to hip-hop. Two ear later,
when he wa 12, oren wa on the a ket all court when one of hi
friend aid “I wonder what
it would e like to hang out with chooll D.”
Within ten ear he would �nd out; chooll

D, the man who invented gang ter rap
(http ://www. outu e.com/watch?v=fQc4A-X z Y), invited
oren, who wa , at that time, an up-
and-coming journali t, to hi hou e. The two pent the da
together.
How did oren get there? ×
Throughout high chool oren pent thou and of dollar
on rap mu ic,
accumulating approximatel 800 al um during thi
period. He wa a le to turn hi pa ion for
mu ic into a career; the rap enthu ia t excelled in not onl decon
tructing rap ut documenting
the per onal torie of rapper , DJ , and producer in the indu tr
.
In a career that’ pan over 20 ear , the LA- a ed journali t ha
picked up line in the New
York Time , Lo Angele Time , and Rolling tone.

R AD: Ron tallworth I n’t Ju t The Real ‘ lacKkKlan man,’ He’
“Hip-Hop’ Fir t Cop” Too
[INT RVI W] (http://www.oka pla er.com/original /who-i -the-
real- lackkklan man-ron-
tallworth.html)
Throughout thi time, oren al o wrote a num er of ook
, including hi I’m The White Gu
erie (http ://www.amazon.com/kindle-d /entit /author/
001K8G578?
_encoding=UTF8&node=283155&o� et=0&page ize=12&
ort=author-page -popularit -
rank&page=2#format electorHeader) and a ook a
out the 2012 champion altimore Raven .
However there i one ook he’ pent hi entire life penning, in
ome ort of fa hion. And it i
now o�ciall complete.
The Hi tor of Gang ter Rap: From chooll
D to Kendrick Lamar, the Ri e of a Great American Art
Form will e pu li hed on Octo er 2nd (http ://www.a ram ook
.com/product/hi tor -of-
gang ter-rap_9781419729157/). The ook take
a deep dive into the evolution of gang ter rap and
it in�uence on mu ic’ mo t popular genre, featuring exclu
ive interview with noop Dogg,

Ice-T, Dr. Dre, and man more pioneer . plit chronologicall
into 16 chapter , the ook touche
on a va t num er of u ject , from the con pirac theorie
ehind the murder of Tupac and The
Notoriou .I.G. to the legac of chooll D to the relea
e of NWA’ ma terpiece traight Outta
Compton.
Oka pla er caught up with oren aker in ur ank, California. We
poke to the veteran
journali t a out the importance of chool D, gang ter rap’ e
t era, and if Kendrick Lamar i a
gang ter rapper.
×
Oka pla er: What i the igge t mi conception around gang
ter rap?
oren aker: The igge t mi conception around gang ter rap i
that it’ mindle . Through

interviewing Ice-T, MC Ren, The D.O.C, Ice Cu
e, and a lot of other arti t , I wa a le to how
the thought that went into it. ecau e the gu that made the mu
ic and till make the mu ic
×
aren’t doing thi to do an thing other than to expre them elve
and talk a out what the went
through in their life, and the thing that the had to overcome.
A lot of the etter gang ter rapper , in m opinion, are the one
who how the negative ide of
eing a gang ter: eing in the treet , eing a dealer, or
eing a killer. The how that ou get
hot. You get incarcerated. You lo e our friend . You lo e
our famil . You lo e our children.
And all thi i included in the ong that are
uper popular. Look at noop. One of hi igge t
ong wa “Murder Wa the Ca e,” and that mirrored what wa

going on in hi life. We talk
a out that in the ook. I made a point to reall focu on the mu
ic it elf: what it’ a out, where
it come from, wh it i what it i . I think that if ou don’t pa
attention to what the ’re a ing,
ou might hear the profanit , ou might hear the violence. ut
ou might not hear the me age.
The title a from chooll D to Kendrick Lamar. Do ou con
ider Kendrick Lamar to e a
gang ter rapper?
I don’t reall think Kendrick Lamar i a gang ter rapper. He’
more from the environment and
rap a out the environment, ut he doe n’t rap a out it in the wa
that the traditional gang ter
rapper do. ome con ider him a gang ter rapper ecau e the
view him a the evolution of
what gang ter rap i . He’ a kid from Compton that’ rai
ed in and around gang culture… ut he’
not out there. To m knowledge, he wa never out there gang
anging. ut he grew up around it.
o that wa kind of trick , ut I included him in the title to
how how the genre ha evolved to
where people could look at him that wa , even though the
wouldn’t have een gang ter rapper

wa ack in the da .
×
How would ou de�ne gang ter rap?
That’ a tough que tion. I talk a out thi
in the introduction. I focu ed on people that make
gang- anging and gang life t le the focu of their mu
ic. A lot of people talk a out gang teri m
in the traditional en e: eing a criminal,
eing violent, dealing with illegal tu�. ut with rap,
it’ much more a out — o viou l with Lo Angele
eing the prominent thing — lood and
Crip . efore the LA rapper came out, chooll D wa talking a
out the Park ide Killer on
everal of hi earl ong . It’ more a out the dude that rapped a
out eing in a gang and what
it wa a out. There are other people that people con
idered a gang ter rapper that I ma or ma

not, depending on the ong or what the ’re talking a out. The
’re more of the treet, realit , or
thug rapper , which i what mo t of the older rapper con
ider them elve (a oppo ed to
gang ter rapper ).
What i the current tate of gang ter rap?
Gang ter rap i alive and well. You have Dr. Dre, who’ the e
t producer in rap hi tor , till
making mu ic. You have Ice Cu e till touring and relea ing mu
ic occa ionall . You have Ice-T
till relea ing mu ic and touring. ven chooll D ha a new al
um a out to come out. Then ou
have the current generation of arti t like G Perico, who’
doing a great jo , AD, YG, Nip e
Hu le, who are all from the LA area. The all rap a out ome
ort of gang activit .
"The History Of Gangster Rap" By Soren Baker | Book In Stores
Now"The History Of Gangster Rap" By Soren Baker | Book In
Stores Now
×

MC Ren talk a out it in the ook: a long a there’
rap, there will e gang ter rap. There’
alwa tu� going on in the treet and there’ alwa ghetto
. Unfortunatel , the tu� that the
chooll D , the N.W.A , the Ice Cu e , the Ice-T talked a out
ack in the ’80 i till relevant
toda .
What’ omething ou learned re earching thi ook?
I interviewed The D.O.C. and wa alwa curiou a
out the parallel of ome of hi l ric and
ome of noop’ l ric . I have a whole page dedicated to that.
And then m favorite rapper of all time, chooll
D, who I’ve known ince the ’90 . He’ m idol.
M hero. I’ve interviewed him o man time , ut I never a ked a
out the di�erent wa he
pelled and wrote hi name. He explain that in the ook. He’
prett funn a out hi rational
and rea oning for that.
×

What are the three mo t underappreciated gang ter rap al um
of all time?
chooll D’ elf-titled al um, which include hi �r t two ig
ingle , “P K, What Doe it
Mean” and “Gucci Time,” i ver important ecau e of tho e two
ong . The are two of the
mo t ampled ong in rap hi tor . That’ al o the �r t al um relea
ed on chooll D Record ,
which he tarted in 1983. He’ the �r t rapper to have hi own la
el, which wa ver important
for the u ine ide of thing . It al o howed an arti
t taking control of hi career. That al um
i ju t phenomenall important.
×

az - ’ az -Duz-It i an al um that get overlooked ecau e
traight Outta Compton tole a lot
of the glor . That’ ver much an important al um and actuall
for a long time had out old
traight Outta Compton. I have a great interview with Gla e
Malone a out the al um in the
ook. We did a whole ide ar on it.
La tl … I’d a Compton’ Mo t Wanted’ Mu ic to Drive
. One, I think it’ one of the e t
cover in rap hi tor , ut then the mu ic. It’ an al um onicall
that ver much �t the title of
the al um. It’ the t pe of mu ic ou could imagine
omeone would drive to. Al o, MC iht
doe an amazing jo howing
ou the emotion and the thought proce that goe into gang
anging, and the high and the low of it. That al um i ju t ver
dark and menacing…it’
phenomenal. The ample the u ed on there are incredi
le and done in a ver di�erent wa . It
ha an amazing colla oration with carface called “N 2 Deep.”
The mo t underrated cit for gang ter rap?

I’d pro a l have to a Philadelphia ecau e chooll
D created gang ter rap. chooll D i
from Phill . chooll D laid the lueprint for gang
ter rap. You have a lot of the gu later on
that came out, that ecame more thug-i h and had the criminal
tu�. ven if the weren’t
promoting gang peci�call , the had what ecame known a
gang ter rap. ome od like
eanie igel, even Cool C and tead when the did the C. . . al
um, the went from the
other t pe of rap the had done to morphing into gang ter rapper
. That’ a ver important cit
and omething that people overlook.
×
What wa gang ter rap’ e t era?
The e t era of gang ter rap i the e
t era of rap in general to me, which a icall tart in ‘88

and then ou can end it kind of wherever ou want. If
ou want to end it in ‘93 with Dogg t le
ecau e then ou till get everal of Ice Cu e’ project ,
ou get Compton’ Mo t Wanted
project , ou get DJ Quik project , ou get chooll D project ,
everal Ice-T al um . I’d a ‘88
to ‘93 i the e t �ve- ear period, if ou want to go that wa .
×
Who i a gang ter rapper that’ een hugel in�uential ut ha
n’t gotten their prop ?
chooll D. [laugh ] I think chooll D i one of rap’ mo
t important �gure . I talk a out in
more detail in the ook, ut iggie remade one of hi ong , Pu�
ampled him, DJ Premier
ampled him, the ea tie o have ampled him, Nicki Minaj u
ed one of hi �ow in one of
her ingle . chooll D i hugel , hugel , in�uential and ver

important. I’m reall excited to
detail hi legac in the ook ecau e he’ m favorite arti t, m
hero, and m idol. I wa glad to
e a
le to get him that mention, and to even include him in the title o
f the ook and put hi
name on the cover. That wa amazing to me.
How important i image when it come to eing a gang
ter rapper?
Image i ver important ecau e latel , we’ve
een a lot of people who aren’t gang ter tr to e
gang ter rapper . The tr to hold up rag or claim a
et or what have ou, that either didn’t
grow up in outhern California or got famou and then tarted tr
ing to do it. People like to e
a�liated with it and proclaim it, even when the ’re not. That
how the power of it. That how
how igni�cant it i . That how wh
traight Outta Compton can come out o far after that
al um came out. The movie came out in 2015, the al
um came out in ‘88, and that image till
re onate with people. The thing that chooll D, Ice-T,
oogie Down Production , Ju t-Ice,
and N.W.A, were doing ack in the mid 80’ i till

uper prominent. Look at ever od . It’ cool
in a lot of people’ e e to e a gang ter.
__
hirle Ju i a Lo Angele - a ed writer who grew up in the a
Area. he live , reathe , and leep
hip-hop, and i literall on top of new mu ic the moment it i
relea ed. If there’ a how in L.A., ou can
�nd her there. Follow the late t on her fomo
log.com (http://fomo log.com/) and on Twitter @ hirju.
(http ://twitter.com/ hirju)
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472019 Soren Baker, the Author of The History of Gangster R.docx

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472019 Soren Baker, the Author of The History of Gangster R.docx