Ice Cube has shut down Candace Owens’ claim that gangsta rap was “created by the feds.” Last week, the controversial political commentator posted on X (formerly Twitter), suggesting that the popular Hip Hop subgenre originated from the U.S. government rather than the streets. Owens wrote: “Gangster rap was never black culture. It was created by the Feds, who proffered deals to homosexual black men in prison and then turned them into artificial celebrities. The goal was to create false idols to destroy black American values. I will never change my mind on this.”
Ice Cube, a key figure in the rise of gangsta rap as a member of N.W.A in the 1980s, quickly responded to Owens’ statement. He set the record straight, saying: “We called it Reality Rap, the industry coined it Gangsta Rap. The fans wanted gangsta rap and that’s what they got. The Feds didn’t write none of my shit. I’m a real MC.”
Ice Cube has dealt with conspiracy theories about Hip Hop before. Earlier this year, he addressed claims that he knew about a “secret meeting that changed rap.” This theory, first popularized about a decade ago, claims that music industry executives conspired in 1991 to promote rap music that encouraged criminal behavior to supply privately owned prisons with free labor.
When one social media user accused Ice Cube of having “direct knowledge” of this meeting, he fired back, saying: “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one and they all stink! What evidence do you have to make a statement like that?”
While this conspiracy theory remains popular, scholars have determined the “music industry to prison pipeline” is an urban legend, albeit one that highlights complex societal issues.