When guys like Ice-T and N.W.A. (and Schoolly D if you old heads wanna go all the way back) were making the first gangsta raps, the whole point was to make something like a musical documentary. It's like they were the directors and also the actors of some documentaries about their lives in the gutter. Then a couple of them figured they'd make some fun music for the streets, then corporate influence took advantage of it, we all know the rest.

If hip-hop/gangsta rap didn't exist, things would be basically the same in those environments, but the suburban white kids wouldn't think it was cool. And Greta Van Fleet would sell way more records so maybe it's actually a good thing lmao