No Fondness for Gangsta Rap

I have no fondness for rap, but I thought the article on N.W.A might be interesting reading nonetheless (“Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics,” by Terry McDermott, April 14). Once I read it, the only thing that came to mind was a lyric from another song that was, as far as I know, very popular among rap fans: “Don’t believe the hype.”

Tom Orr

Huntington Beach

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Why do a cover story on N.W.A without showing how much damage it did? This misguided musical junta did the Ku Klux Klan’s work with its genocidal ethos of black men killing black men, blacks abhorring their own women and hating themselves. “Rat-tat-tat-tat tat ta tat like that, and I never hesitate to put a nigga on his back . . . .” Are these the words of “Papa Doc” Duvalier? No, they’re from Dr. Dre.

Cursed lyrics such as these work like a voodoo spell on the weak minds of at-risk youth. They helped turn our communities of color into terrorist zones long before 9/11, with kids running wild and blowing away each other and innocent bystanders. I suppose it’s no coincidence that the words “Los Angeles Times Magazine” and “N.W.A” on the magazine cover are written in blood red.

Francisco Newman

Los Angeles

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McDermott does not get it. When Johnny Cash sang, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” his listeners knew that a character was speaking. The young, impressionable listeners of gangsta rap believe that the rappers themselves are living their lyrics of violence and misogyny. The murders of famous rappers such as Tupac Shakur, and the convictions and near convictions of major gangsta rap stars on both coasts, seem to confirm that impression. McDermott is wrong in his assertion that the rappers are simply misunderstood hedonistic artists like the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys may have popularized hot rods and surfing through their music; gangsta rap stars have popularized murder and mayhem in communities across America.

Charles Manley

Oak View