Hip-hop, later also referred to as "rap," emerged as an amalgamation of hard funk (a la James Brown and George Clinton), soul and disco. New York City, specifically the Bronx, is known to be the birthplace of the genre, as block parties with DJs such as Kool Herc became popular in the mid- to late-1970s. By 1979, the Sugarhill Gang had released "Rapper's Delight," which is by and large considered the first official hip-hop record.
Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, was a prominent turntablist of the late 1970s who by 1978 started his own hip-hop group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. In 1982, the group released "The Message," a song that remains seminal to this day both for its rhythm and lyrical content. "The Message" was a frank and intelligent commentary on the reality of inner-city living, becoming a marker for hip-hop's political possibilities.
While hip-hop gained prominence in New York, the West Coast (Los Angeles) built up its own specific take on the genre. Rappers such as Ice-T and KRS-One began to dabble in a more violent lyrical styling by the middle 1980s, but it wasn't until the 1988 release of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" that gangsta rap was officially born. Both profane and overtly violent in lyricism, N.W.A. rapped explicitly on the topics of sex, drugs and murder, opening the doors to a new and highly controversial form of hip-hop culture.
In 1992 Death Row Records released "The Chronic" by Dr. Dre, which for the first time broke gangsta rap into the musical mainstream. Tracks such as "Nuthin' But A G Thang" and "Let Me Ride" smashed hip-hop pop artists such as Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer off the charts and immediately paved the way for a second groundbreaking Death Row release, "Doggystyle" by Snoop Dogg. Both albums picked up where N.W.A. left off, dealing heavily in graphic lyrical content that crossed racial lines.
The mainstream popularity of West Coast gangsta rap sent hip-hop into another realm, while at the same time pigeonholing the genre as entirely too aggressive. There is much debate to be had as to the merits of such lyricism and the effect it has on youths, though the plight of inner city residents across America was in some ways first recognized through the blunt and confrontational manner presented by N.W.A. and others. However, the line is often blurred between political motives and glorified violence.