Sarah Ditum on Pop

Rap’s dilemma

● THERE’S A CRUDE DIVIDING LINE that you can run down the middle of rap music. On one side, gangsta rap, which deals with bitches, money and guns. On the other, progressive rap, which puts a political lens on the black American experience. Except, of course, it’s not that simple. Look at 2Pac, who delivered impassioned lyrics about police brutality and teenage pregnancy, and whose bitter misogyny made him a target of civil rights activist C Delores Tucker, who called rap “pornographic filth”. 2Pac retaliated with the line “C Delores Tucker, you’s a motherfucker/Instead of tryin’ to help a nigga, you destroy a brother” on the (pornographic) track “How Do U Want It”. The argument between Tucker and 2Pac — or, really, between Tucker and rap generally — was, in…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2023

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