The origin of the "gansta" credo, which is akin to many resistance movements
that have sprung up around the world is precisely defense of one's own
community. Notions of community sovereignty and self-determination are the core founding principles that uphold the "gangsta"
philosophy. Of course,
notions of sovereignty, self-determination, and autonomy are closely tied to the principle of a self-sustaining economy, which in a capitalist context such as the U.S., requires all gangstas to find a way to provide for themselves and for the gangsta unit. The most common resource that is utilized is of course commerce in contraband: illegal
drugs, prostitution, and firearms. Because
illicit commerce requires the gangsta to work outside of the law, a law which
the resisitance movement often does not recognize as legitimate because it
was imposed on them by an outside conquering
force, different norms have evolved that regulate transactions and behavior between "gangstas". Among those norms are the "pass" and the requirement that one "keep it real".
As the gangsta subculture was incorporated into
American Pop
Culture, and inevitably purchased and reformulated for mass consumption by corporate interests, certain principles were exaggerated in order to sell the danger and excitement of the gangsta lifestyle without giving the public any reference to understand gangstaism as a holistic set of principles. Of course those who have been the poster-
boys for mass media consumption of gangsta life or "
thug life", often find themselves the
target of those who are "true to
the game" for "selling out", a phenomenon characterized by the term "
player-hater" or "haterism". A sentiment personified phrase "don'
t hate the
player, hate the
game", an astute observation on the morally relative position of those who
have profited from their assimilation into the popular culture which is the
larger game that most gangstas revile, but those who are "true pimps" are
currently forcing to "turn tricks" in a manner of speaking.
There is a conflict between those who consider themselves "true to the
game" or "true" and those who are "big pimpin" or the "pimps". Each has its own interpretation of the gangsta principles - one that holds the values and foundational principles as absolute and controlling, and those who take a
moral relativist approach and seek a favorable outcome on behalf of "gangstas" with
little regard for the gangsta process. The not so invisible hand of market forces that exploit the gangsta in a quest to pimp the
American
consumer is an aberration to those who are true, but a natural consequence
and in some ways a vehicle for gangstas to "pimp" the
system.
