The perspective of these rappers was rage-filled and frustrated, and rap fans everywhere were exposed to a cultural powder keg that they’d largely missed seeing on the nightly news.ĭuring an appearance on BET’s Video LP that year, 2Pac recounted the incident to host Sherry Carter. West Coast rappers like Ice Cube and 2Pac would give voice to the anger both before and after the April ‘92 riots in L.A. Stories like the 1991 killing of Latasha Harlins, a 16-year-old girl who’d been shot in the head by a Korean cashier who believed she was stealing a bottle of juice, hadn’t made the national headlines. Additionally, hostilities between black residents and many Korean shop owners was reaching a boiling point. Now, the cultural sway that New York had traditionally held in an iron grip was starting to loosen, and more eyes were turning to places like Compton and Watts, as movies like Boyz N the Hood also began to give voice to the oppressive environment wherein the black community had been targeted by a police department that operated like an occupying military force. N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton had blown the hinges off of an already-strong West Coast rap scene. In the late 1980s, Los Angeles-based rappers were becoming more and more visible in the mainstream. When Bronx block parties gave rise to community organizing and a spirit of youthful DIY freedom, hip-hop was forever connected to the heartbeat of the public and even as the culture became more infested with commercial interests that led to the commodification of hip-hop as a genre, it’s soul has always remained intact. Hip-hop’s role as a voice for the voiceless is forged in the culture’s very beginnings.

Now the world would have to reckon with reality. Rappers had been calling out “Fuck the Police” for years. But if one had been listening to the music that was coming from the streets of Los Angeles, they would’ve already known how bad things were in communities like South Central-where police routinely dehumanized black citizens. With news of the acquittal came shock, disbelief and outrage. The case had drawn national attention after video footage of the March 1991 beating was made public, and it seemed certain to many Americans that the officers would be found guilty.

A jury acquitted four officers of assault and three of the four of using excessive force against motorist Rodney King.

Straight outta compton la riots scene