The telecommunications act of 1996 and the overdevelopment of gangsta rap

Folami

pp. 209-231

in: Lovalerie King, Richard Schur (eds), African American culture and legal discourse, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009

Abstract

This chapter explores how the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has contributed to the proliferation of gangsta rap on broadcast radio and has affected hip-hop by dissuading the voices of more "positive" rappers who might contest gangsta rap. Specifically, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has contributed to stifling the discourse within the hip-hop community by increasing and solidifying corporate media conglomeration and control of the nation's radio airwaves. Such media conglomeration has been instrumental in creating the dominant gangsta image that has become, for the most part, the de facto voice of contemporary hip-hop culture. Moreover, the Telecommunications Act has contributed to limiting access to the radio airwaves to those that would challenge gangsta rap and the resulting gangsta image, which is steeped in racial and sexist stereotypes.