Shawn Syed ’28

WUJUR (2025) | Cite this work

Abstract

How should we think of the relationship between Black Power and Gangsta rap? Scholars have long debated the relations between the two, largely dividing into two extremes: one faction positions both as generally progressive experiments that sought to spatially reclaim their communities from neglect and over-policing, while the other presents Black Power as a collective progressive movement and Gangsta rap as one focused on neoliberal entrepreneurialism. This paper seeks to address the tension between these two schools and articulate a more nuanced viewpoint, focusing on the Black Panthers of Oakland, California (1966-1982) as a representative of Black Power, and the music group NWA of Compton, California (1988-1991) as a representative of Gangsta rap, deploying a narrative analysis within the same region. In comparing the two, a shift is observed from Black Power’s vision of communal ownership to ownership of oneself in the streets in Gangsta rap. Ownership, in this paper, is articulated in spatial terms, referring to control of the boundaries of a thing as well as possession of the thing itself. The transition from visions of communal ownership to self-ownership occurred as deindustrialization eroded the economic infrastructure of the Black community and evolving policing practices undermined its spatial autonomy, rendering its physical borders porous. Both frameworks retained a militarized logic, focused on protecting territorial boundaries and waging continual battles with the police. Thus, the convergence of self-ownership with entrepreneurial values in Gangsta rap—as seen in both the conduct of its rap stars as well as the genre’s more materialistic lyrics—allowed for a synthesis of Black Power aesthetics and a neoliberal future. Ultimately, this analysis positions Gangsta rap within the broader category of fusionism—a label applied by historians to describe movements that reconciled pre-neoliberal structures with free-market values and paved the way for a neoliberal age.

Main

This article is viewable by PDF download.

References

References for this work are viewable by PDF download.

Supplemental material

There is no supplemental material provided by the author(s) for this work.

About this article

Citation (APA)

Shawn, S. (2025). From community to self-ownership: Black Power, gangsta rap, and the rise of neoliberalism. WUJUR, 2(1), 71-76.

A DOI link will soon be supplied for this article and added to the above citation.

Author Information

Shawn, Syed. Washington University in St. Louis.
Corresponding Author. Send correspondence to s.f.syed@wustl.edu.

Additional Information and Declarations

There is no additional information or declarations provided by the author(s).

Peer Review

WUJUR thanks the anonymous Peer Reviewers who contributed to the review of this work.

Rights and Permissions

Individual articles © 2025 by their respective authors. Illustrations and images remain the property of their respective authors or rights holders and are reproduced here with permission or under fair use.

The author(s) may grant certain license permissions to the public.

Copyright © 2025. Washington University Journal of Undergraduate Research. All rights reserved for compilation, design, and editorial content.