Contesting the Mark of Criminality: Race, Place, and the Prerogative of Violence in N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton

Abstract

This essay reads rap group N.W.A.'s 1988 album Straight Outta Compton as a parodic enactment of the racialized discourses of law and order during the late 1980s, or what I am calling the mark of criminality. Its release constituted a watershed moment in black popular culture that coincided with the devastating consequences of surveillance, containment, and spectacular scapegoating associated with Reagan-era crime control policies and rhetoric. I argue that the album and its reception by the law enforcement community of the late 1980s functioned as a confrontation over the meanings of race, place, and crime in the twentieth century. In addition to revealing the contingent meanings of criminality in popular and political culture, the legacy of Straight Outta Compton provides insights into the role of criminality in processes of social transformation.

Keywords:

• Gangsta rap
• N.W.A.
• Crime
• Race
• Violence
• Parody

Acknowledgments

He derived this essay from his doctoral dissertation and presented an earlier version at the 2010 National Communication Association Convention in San Francisco. In addition to his dissertation committee, chaired by Dana Cloud, the author thanks Adria Battaglia, Casey Kelly, Kristen Hoerl, Jonathan Rossing, Ashley Mack, editors Jackson and Ono, and two anonymous reviewers for excellent feedback and suggestions.

Notes

1. On the politics of crime and punishment during this era, see Gottschalk, 2006; Simon, 2007. On the policy ramifications thereof, see Hartnett, 2008; Pew Center on the States, 2008.

2. Neoliberalism privileges privatization, trade liberalization, and austerity measures in struggling economic sectors. For excellent studies of this philosophy, see Davis, 2006b; Harvey, 2005; Klein, 2007.

3. On race, gender, and crime, see Enck-Wanzer, 2009; Stabile, 2006. On crime and normative gender roles, see Hasian, Jr. and Flores, 2000; Pearson, 2007; Picart, 2003. On crime and spectacle, see Yousman, 2009. On rhetoric and the punishing state, see Hartnett, 2010; Hartnett and Larson, 2006; McCann, 2007; Sloop, 1996; Wood, 2003.

4. Also see Foucault, 1977.

5. On gangsta and commerce, see Quinn, 2005. On the criminality and Los Angeles, see Davis, 2006a; Gilmore, 2007.

6. On the evolution of sampling and other uses of musical technology in black cultural production, see Weheliye, 2005.

7. “Jackin’” generally refers to larceny, whereas “crops” can refer to either marijuana or a pejorative term for police officers. See Urban Dictioniary (2010).

8. The letter is reprinted in its entirety in Chang, 2005, p. 325.

9. For a more measured take, see Rose, 2008.

10. dead prez also participates in numerous contemporary social movements (“Hip-Hop Artist M-1 of Dead Prez,” 2006; Springer, 2007).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bryan J. McCann

Bryan J. McCann (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Wayne State University